Home playoff spot in sight

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/09/2017 (2910 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers inched closer to their goal of hosting a playoff game with a 29-9 win over the defending Grey Cup champion Ottawa Redblacks at Investors Group Field on Friday night. The Bombers improved to 9-3 with the victory and are now just five points back of the Calgary Stampeders for first place in the West Division.

Ottawa looked nothing like the team that won four of its previous five games, unable to find a spark with third-stringer Ryan Lindley at quarterback. The Bombers outplayed the former champs for the better part of four quarters, with the game seemingly destined to end in a Blue and Gold victory by halftime.

Winnipeg returns to action this week to play the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. It will be a big opportunity for the Bombers to further separate themselves from an Eskimos club that started 7-0 but has since dropped their last five games.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look back at five takeaways from Friday’s game.

● ● ●

The victory was the Bombers’ seventh in their last eight games and fifth straight at home.

With the win Friday, the Bombers ensured their first winning season at IGF. They’re 5-1 in 2017 — the loss coming against the Calgary Stampeders in July’s home opener — with three more games at home left to go: the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Oct. 6 and then twice with the B.C. Lions, Oct. 14 and Oct. 28.

The Bombers are on pace to clinch a home playoff berth for the first time since 2011, so it bodes well they have finally found their groove on home turf.

A win in Edmonton would all but confirm that fate, giving the Bombers a six-point edge in the standings and the season series over the Eskimos. Winnipeg already has that cushion over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, including the season series, and is six points up on the B.C. Lions with six games remaining.

● ● ●

There was plenty to be distracted by prior to kickoff, including lightning that shortened on-field warmups and forced a 20-minute delay. But the biggest obstacle from Mother Nature would come during the game, with rain so severe, at times it appeared too risky to throw downfield.

While the Redblacks never seemed to get things going, with just 266 total yards of offence, the Bombers, under offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice, orchestrated a clever attack to amass a whopping 553.

Matt Nichols finished 23-for-34 for 319 yards and two touchdowns; Andrew Harris accounted for 132 yards — 83 on the ground, 49 through the air — and added his sixth touchdown of the year on a 24-yard rumble up the middle. Winnipeg had seven different players rush the ball, totalling a season-high 192 yards.

Timothy Flanders continued his streak of hot play, working both as a receiver and in the backfield. The Bombers’ No. 2 running back had seven carries for 55 yards — an average of 7.9 yards per run — and caught five of six targets for 28 yards.

● ● ●

Darvin Adams quietly snuck into the top-five leading receivers after a breakout performance against the Redblacks.

The third-year Bomber caught seven passes for a career-high 195 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to seal the game. Adams found the end zone on an earlier play, but the touchdown was called back following a hands-to-the-face penalty by Jermarcus Hardrick.

Often overshadowed by the arm of Nichols or the legs of Harris, Adams was the clear star on this night. It was the first game this season he’s eclipsed 100 receiving yards in a game, even if he has come close, registering at least 80 yards five other times.

In 12 games in 2017, Adams has 65 receptions for 961 yards — an average of 14.8 yards per grab. He’s on pace for more than 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns, both of which would be career bests.

With Weston Dressler likely out for some time — he was forced to leave the game in the first half and was later seen wearing a sling over his shoulder — the Bombers will lean on Adams even more to produce the way he did on Friday.

As for Dressler, the 32-year-old has already missed three games this season due to injury and hadn’t been the same since returning to the lineup, averaging fewer than 40 yards receiving in his last five games.

● ● ●

It was the Bombers’ first game without star defensive end Jamaal Westerman, who, earlier in the week, was ruled out for the remainder of the season with an upper-body injury.

And though one game is too small a sample size to determine what his absence will mean in the long run, the early signs were positive.

The Bombers didn’t record a sack on the night, but they did bring ample pressure from the edges, with rookie Jackson Jeffcoat, who forced and recovered a fumble, and Tristan Okpalaugo leading the way.

Canadian Trent Corney also saw some added snaps, and his development from his rookie season last year is obvious in his comfort at the line of scrimmage. Faith Ekakitie, this year’s first overall pick, also recorded his first CFL tackle.

There is a lingering concern after what the Redblacks were able to do in the run game, with William Powell rushing 14 times for 107 yards and a touchdown.

But when those totals make up close to half of Ottawa’s total yards, the worry quickly diminishes, especially when you consider the tough conditions brought on by the rainy weather and the fact the Bombers often dropped back a lineman into coverage with the plan to force third-string quarterback Lindley to throw the ball.

● ● ●

The Redblacks fell to 5-8-1 with the loss and by the end of the weekend had been supplanted as top dogs in a dismal East Division.

The Toronto Argonauts (6-7) disposed of the Montreal Alouettes 33-19 on Saturday to leapfrog Ottawa for first place and are likely to stay there. At least for as long as the Redblacks are forced to roll with Lindley.

Lindley, a former NFLer with 10 games and six starts between the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts, was downright awful in his first start north of the border.

He completed just 16 of 36 pass attempts — 44 per cent — for 151 yards and an interception. Bombers linebacker Maurice Leggett accounted for the pick, as well as a forced and recovered a fumble on Lindley.

It was just the most recent example of how success in the NFL doesn’t always translate to the CFL. At least not right away.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca  

twitter: @jeffkhamilton