Aerial disaster

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/07/2009 (5926 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Grab the latest CFL statistics and look down, way down, and you’ll find Terrence Edwards, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ leading receiver in 2009.

No. 27 on the charts, with five catches for 105 yards. There are five Edmonton Eskimos with more receiving yards, five Stampeders, five B.C. Lions and four Argonauts ahead of Edwards.

But in perusing the stats, Edwards preferred to focus on the big picture, noting that every one of the aforementioned teams were 1-2.

"That’s what matters," Edwards said. "Wins and losses. This is a passing league, but it’s about wins and losses at the end of the day."

True, but anyone with a working knowledge of the quaint, old CFL understands that the ability to eat up large hunks of real estate through the air is paramount to success. Not victory, necessarily, but success.

Besides, Mike Kelly made his bones as an offensive co-ordinator back in the day with aerial attacks that were prolific. Even set a few gaudy records.

So… No. 27 is your No. 1? Sorry, that can’t sit well with anybody, much less a head coach with a Matt Dunigan mentality; throw until your arm goes numb… then throw half as much.

"To be honest, the word ‘horrific’ is on the tip of my tongue so I might as well spit it out," Kelly acknowledged Tuesday. "We’ve had dropped balls, we’ve had poorly thrown balls. It’s just a matter of, No. 1, myself not trying to be so fancy… and simplifying things a bit."

Kelly identified the culprit as intermediary routes that haven’t been working. Not to be sarcastic, however, it would be safe to say if your starting quarterback has a 47 per cent (eeep) completion rate, a lot of route trees aren’t producing much fruit.

"I hate the way we’re throwing the ball right now," Kelly concluded. "It’s not something I’m used to. But I think I can fix it."

Edwards, for one, echoed the need for some patience.

"We’ve only been playing together for three games now, plus exhibition," he allowed. "If anybody’s realistic, it’s not going to come overnight. It’s going to take repetitions.

"They (management) brought in nice players to help us win and it’s going to take time to gel. Nobody’s doubting anything we’re doing. We just have to come together as an offence to string together some points."

Of course, at the risk of being rational or realistic, can anyone profess utter shock that, three weeks into the season, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are having a little trouble throwing the ball? A brand new quarterback throwing to brand new receivers (at least, to Stefan LeFors), all the while implementing an offensive scheme that even Kelly has admitted might have been too ambitious given the well-documented turnover.

My, if only that realism could have been better harnessed in June. Because there was LeFors out on the practice field at Canad Inns Tuesday, seemingly making all the right reads, throwing with accuracy and velocity. No wonder Kelly might wonder, "Geez, kid, how about a little help? Do that in a game, could ya?"

Still, it’s a long way from horrific to prolific, right? It’s still far too early to tell, but either a light is going to go on with LeFors — within the next few games, the Bombers hope — or it’s not. If it’s the latter, LeFors will eventually be replaced.

Yet it’s curious how coaches and players — and perhaps it’s instinctual — must believe it’s going to work immediately. Or at least that was the story back in June. Even with all the new moving parts. Even though the quarterback had all of five CFL starts under his belt before arriving in Winnipeg. Even though every other player should have a "Trainee" tag on his uniform. But this is professional football, so the tendency is not to be patient. Results are wanted yesterday. Besides, this is the CFL where "rebuilding" is a curse word more despised than anything to do with someone’s mother or such.

So that’s a contradiction, isn’t it, reasonable expectations versus harsh reality. And the reality is the Bombers aren’t very good at passing the ball right now. And some would say that’s being very polite. Meanwhile, LeFors might be light years away from ever repaying the faith shown by his head coach. He might be inches away.

We only know, for a fact, that the most productive Winnipeg receiver is currently ranked 27th in an eight-team league.

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Yes, those are only numbers.

But until they change, the rest are only words.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

today’s bomber report D3

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

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