Blue Bombers more than just comeback kids

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This article was published 19/08/2017 (2951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have made a habit of staging fourth-quarter comebacks, but their two most recent victories show they are capable of wearing out opponents.

To do that, quarterback Matt Nichols and his offence have been using a precision short passing game combined with a two-headed ground game of Andrew Harris and Timothy Flanders. Long drives capped off by a touchdown or a Justin Medlock field goal are often the result.

Thursday’s 33-26 win over the Edmonton Eskimos was a case in point, with the Blue Bombers nursing a seven-point lead with 5:36 left in the game and Nichols knowing he needed another scoring drive to lock up the victory.

“Everyone understands what the situation is,” Nichols said. “And we felt we wanted to go down there and give us more than the touchdown lead that we had. We had a couple of big second-and-long conversions and we ran the ball well, took off a lot of time, put up three points to give us a 10-point lead late in the game. So, we did exactly what we wanted to do on that drive and those are the kind of drives that win football games.”

Nichols, who matched a career high with 390 yards on 32-of-40 passing, directed the Winnipeg offence on a 10-play, 52-yard drive that sliced 4:12 off the clock and ended with a 33-yard Medlock field goal.

The drive included a crucial too-many-men penalty by an exhausted Eskimos defence (their fourth of the game, which doubled the previous high in a game since CFL statistician Steve Daniel began tracking penalties seven years ago) and a 12-yard run by Harris, putting the tailback over the century mark in rushing.

Although the Bombers stalled on the Eskimos’ 26-yard line, the damage was done.

The visitors paid a heavy price for the Blue Bombers’ no-huddle, uptempo offence, which Winnipeg often employs after a first down. The quick play calls had Edmonton defenders on their heels, often with the wrong players on the field.

“With that tempo offence, everybody’s gotta be in shape — even the offensive line,” Winnipeg left tackle Travis Bond said.

“I mean, it’s tough on all of us. I love it because I ran it in college. To keep pressing the issue like that is a good thing for us.”

Nichols, meanwhile, was in his comfort zone.

“We felt like we’re a very well-conditioned offence,” Nichols said. “We practise those things a lot, so it’s easy for us. It’s very difficult on defences. In order to do that, though, you have to string drives together.”

Harris finished the game with 105 yards on 11 carries, but he also collected 120 yards through the air on eight receptions.

Cracking the century mark for receiving and rushing was a career first for Harris.

Flanders, meanwhile, chipped in with 45 yards on 11 carries and 26 yards on two catches.

“It seemed like every time I’m standing back there, I’m watching Andrew running down the field, breaking tackles, so he’s a difference-maker for us and the guy’s been one of the best — if not the best — for the last number of years,” Nichols said.

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Winnipeg’s 170 rushing yards were a season high. The Bombers also finished with 38 first downs.

“We’ve still got a lot to prove,” Bond said. “You know, we left a lot of mistakes out there, a lot of points. At the end of the day, we want to learn from it and keep going and get some more wins.

“It shows a lot of who we are, with our identity. We’re going to come out pressing the issue, moving the ball. Thirty-eight first downs, that’s a lot. It might be a record or something. I didn’t know we had that many, but I mean, once we move that ball and move that line of scrimmage, it opens up things for passing yards. Everything just opened up and we just want to keep that going.”

The Blue Bombers, who improved to 6-2, head to Montreal for a Week 10 matchup with the Alouettes Thursday at 6:30 p.m. (TSN, CJOB). Four of Winnipeg’s six victories have come against East Division foes.

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