Bombers’ defensive play driving their success

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/10/2018 (2546 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Have you ever had someone over, and when you opened the door for them, told them “come on in, and make yourself at home?”

Well, the Bombers went into the house of the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday, and they didn’t take their shoes off. They tracked mud all over the carpet, threw their coat on the floor, spent an inappropriate amount of time in the master bathroom, and walked to the fridge and drank the last beer. And they didn’t blink. They then turned to their accommodating hosts and asked them to make them a sandwich.

The “brick” hasn’t been a tough place for the Bombers to play of late, and even when they lost virtually every measurable offensive statistic on this night, they still managed to win walking away, because of the elite play of their defence. And when you’re this good on one phase of the football team, you can be mediocre in others without consequence.

Edmonton had more first downs, more rushing yards, more passing yards, and more net offence on the night, but because the defence took the ball away seven times, Winnipeg won the game, with authority.

This was a throwback defensive performance, of legendary regular-season proportions, something not to be forgotten anytime soon. Not many who follow the Blue and Gold will ever lose sight of the night the Bomber defence held the Eskimo offence to three total points and were largely responsible for the 27-point margin of victory. So what jumped off the page about this performance? Well, this secondary is starting to bash their way to prominence.

As stated during the in-game broadcast, Marcus Sayles became my favourite defensive back on Saturday, simply for the way he plays the position. He plays defensive back like a middle linebacker. He hits people. Let me rephrase: he punishes people and exacts a physical toll on them. In fact, when you take a step back and look at the secondary now starting for the Bombers, they may be the most intimidating bunch in the league.

Chris Randle can punish you, without question, against the run or the pass. Brandon Alexander frequently launches himself like a missile all over the field, and when he uses his laser guidance, he pops people with a passion. Taylor Loffler built his entire reputation daring receivers to expose themselves in his vicinity, and Kevin Fogg probably had the best game of his career against Edmonton.

It’s looking more and more like when you face this defence, you’re assured someone on your roster will get lit up. We are talking about separated from the football, cringe-worthy, clean, highlight-reel-calibre collisions. And the more the offensive opponent is contemplating being blown up on a sports highlight loop, the more likely a moment’s hesitation appears between the hashes — and that’s often the difference between a big play and no play. Yes, intimidating physical football is live and well again in Winnipeg, and this team just reaped the benefits of it against Edmonton like few have ever done.

While the inevitable conclusion of most receptions in football is obviously to be hit and tackled, a lot of receivers have no taste for the rough stuff and shy away from it. Essentially, they are — with rare exceptions — quarterbacks running pass routes. Milt Stegall would be the first to tell you he’d still be playing receiver today if nobody had the opportunity to hit him anymore. Well, that, and his 40 time. When teams start watching film of this bunch swarming to the football and playing with their self-preservation instincts turned off, they’re going to be more reluctant to enter the fray.

And when that starts to happen on a weekly basis, we are going to see more lopsided wins of this nature.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears weekly in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97