All steak with no sizzle in Bombers win

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This article was published 14/08/2017 (3144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HAMILTON — There were no fourth-quarter comebacks and the game lacked a little in the sizzle department, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers weren’t apologizing for the sparse entertainment value of their 39-12 throttling of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday night.

Heck, there was even some relief in the visitors’ locker room after the Bombers put the hammer down in the fourth quarter Saturday, grinding out the game with a withering ground attack on the soon-to-be 0-7 Ticats.

After cardiac-episode-inducing finishes in Weeks 6 and 7, Winnipeg won with a patient, slow build and the kicking prowess of Justin Medlock, who booted six field goals and piled up 21 points for the second consecutive game.

Winnipeg, now 5-2, has won 10 of its last 13 road games.

“That’s football — you’re not going to play a perfect game,” Winnipeg tailback Andrew Harris said. “And they gave us some struggles, offensively, at certain points in the game. We knew they had good guys on defence and they were going to make some plays… Offensively, we need to be better at converting those drives into touchdowns.”

Here are five takeaways from Saturday:

RUNNING AWAY WITH IT

Harris, who has been most effective catching passes out of the backfield this season, had his most productive rushing day of 2017, rumbling for 107 yards — averaging 7.6 yards on 14 carries Saturday.

Leading 22-12 after three quarters, the Blue Bombers offence went into lock-down mode and Harris took control.

“That’s a running back’s dream,” Harris said. “Wind is in your face, you’re up in the game, you know the ball is coming to you. The defence knows it’s coming to you, the O-line knows you’re running the ball and it’s just who wants it more… I love playing in those situations and I know the O-line does, too.”

Winnipeg, with the help of Timothy Flanders, who had 20 yards on six carries and backup quarterback Dan LeFevour chipping in with 14 more, piled up 141 yards on the ground. That diverse attack, which also included 267 passing yards from Matt Nichols, was in stark contrast to Hamilton’s paltry 31-yard rushing total. It was no wonder Ticats QB Zach Collaros was running for his life most of the game.

“The O-line started to take over the game a little bit,” Nichols said. “It’s always great when they know you’re going to run the ball and you’re still running the ball effectively. It just speaks to how well our O-line was playing and honestly, to be able to keep Tim and Andrew both fresh, rotating them through. It seemed like they were running on fresh legs every time they touched the ball.”

A CASE FOR THE DEFENCE

The Ticats are winless for many reason reasons (injuries, a roster in constant flux and bad protection come to mind) but the Winnipeg defence showed little mercy, limiting the hosts to an average of 2.8 yards per rushing attempt while keeping Collaros on the run with five sacks and 11 quarterback hurries. The Tiger-Cats’ two TD scoring drives were their only significant offensive output and they finished with 216 yards passing.

“I think this is the best we’ve played defensively,” said Winnipeg cornerback Chris Randle, who chipped in with a sack and a team-high four tackles. “As far as getting five sacks, three turnovers — I don’t think we’ve had a three-turnover game yet… To win in this fashion is a testament to our work and what we’re doing.”

Winnipeg’s D had help from playmakers all over the lineup.

Reserve lineman Trent Corney contributed with a sack, linebacker Mo Leggett had three tackles and a forced fumble, rookie halfback Brian Walker had an interception and three tackles, linebacker Kyle Knox had a sack, safety Taylor Loffler chipped in with three tackles and a fumble recovery and first-year defender Roc Carmichael seems to have found a home at corner, registering three tackles.

Canadian defensive tackle Jake Thomas, in the midst of perhaps his finest season as a pro, was a big presence again — producing a sack, two tackles and a fumble recovery.

“I think the biggest thing is we have a really young group,” said Thomas. “We have a lot of veterans but, especially in the secondary, we’ve had like three or four new guys there all year. As the season gets going, we’re going to get more and more comfortable with each other. Hopefully, we’re going to see more results like this.”

NICHOLS, MEDLOCK ON A ROLL

Nichols played his third straight mistake-free game and looked poised throughout, even though his passing numbers were not overwhelming. Going 25-of-35, Nichols didn’t throw an interception, which has been a hallmark of his success. He even took two early drive-stalling sacks because he was unwilling to force the ball into coverage — and that patience paid off later in the game.

“Why am I going to try and squeeze one into a window as I’m getting hit, rather than taking a five-yard loss and trying to get it on second-and-14? Especially when we’re in the kicking zone — Justin is so automatic,” said Nichols, who is now 15-5 since taking over as the No. 1 QB last season.

“They got home on a couple of blitzes early in the game and stalled out our drives. I’m not just going to chuck the ball downfield blindly, under duress. That’s how you make mistakes and lose points.”

Medlock was good on six of eight field goal attempts while hitting the upright on one miss and had another blocked. He is the most reliable kicker in CFL history and the Bombers use him accordingly.

“They want more (touchdowns) obviously, but they understand that points are points,” head coach Mike O’Shea said. “We’ve got the best kicker in the league for a reason. As long as we’re getting points and finishing drives with points, they can go to the sidelines and figure it out from there. Of course, we want touchdowns but at least we’re finishing drives with points.”

DURABILTY, CONTINUITY WORKS

Since offensive lineman Travis Bond was inserted into the lineup after Winnipeg’s 1-4 start in 2016, the offence has enjoyed an unusually high level of continuity.

It’s no coincidence that Stanley Bryant, Bond, Matthias Goossen, Sukh Chungh and Jermarkus Hardrick, have formed the starting O-line for the last 21 regular-season games, going 10-3 for the remainder of 2016 and 5-2 so far this season.

In addition, 18 of the club’s 24 current starters have played all seven games. Wideout Darvin Adams, one of those starters, was steady and superb. He made six catches for 83 yards, including a circus catch on a 35-yard toss from Nichols as he outwrestled defender Don Unamba for the ball in the end zone.

Another more recent addition, slotback T.J. Thorpe, started his fourth straight game since returning from injury and caught five passes for 34 yards. He now has 25 catches for 221 yards, which projects to 112 catches and 994 yards over an 18-game regular season.

ELITE STATUS FOR BLUE?

At 5-2, the Blue Bombers are perfectly poised for a second-half run to the post-season, but until recently, haven’t received much credit for being an elite squad.

“You know what, it doesn’t matter, right?” said defensive end Jamaal Westerman, who added a sack and a forced fumble to the cause Saturday. “It doesn’t matter what we want to call ourselves or what people what to call us. “We’re a team, we’re going to fight throughout the season, fight next week. That’s what we do. We’re a gritty team and it doesn’t matter what our record is – the way we look at it is the next play, the next game.”

Winnipeg will get its toughest test of the season so far on Thursday, when the Edmonton Eskimos, 7-0 and first in the West, visit Investors Group Field. Game time is 7:30 at Investors Group Field.

The game, which is serving as the club’s annual Military Appreciation Night, will feature a flyby of two Canadian Forces aircraft immediately before and after the national anthem and a special halftime performance by the Treble.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca 
Twitter: @sawa14