Blue defence steals the show

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This article was published 16/08/2021 (1519 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers remain perfect on the 2021 CFL season, improving to 2-0 following a 20-7 win over the Toronto Argonauts at IG Field Friday night.

With the victory, the Bombers share top spot in the West Division with Prairie rival Saskatchewan Roughriders, as the Riders defeated Hamilton Saturday night at home following a Week 1 win over the B.C. Lions. The Argonauts dropped to 1-1 with the loss and were unable to make history as the first club in Toronto’s storied past to start a season with back-to-back road wins.

The Bombers and Argonauts will be back at it in Week 3, this time at BMO Field in Toronto Saturday afternoon. But before we spend the next few days setting up the rematch, let’s look back on what happened Friday night in this week’s edition of five takeaways.

1) I thought the offence took another positive step forward, even if the points weren’t exactly piling up and the game seemed in reach for much of the evening.

Zach Collaros was once again on point, connecting on a sparkling 80 per cent (32-for-40) of his passes for 292 yards — the most passing yards he’s registered as a Bomber. The run game dipped from Week 1, with Brady Oliveira finishing with a team-high 29 rushing yards on 13 carries, but it mattered little. Kenny Lawler continued his stellar campaign, recording 10 receptions for 99 receiving yards.

Many will look at the lack of points — the Bombers had just 10 through three quarters — but a strong end to the game made up for it. Also worth considering is Nic Demski had a fumble in Toronto territory, the offence ran out of clock before halftime and had to settle for a 21-yard field goal and Collaros was intercepted in the end zone, meaning points were left on the board.

Those curious about the pick in the end zone, the refs missed a clear offside by Toronto on the play and Collaros thought he had a free shot at a deep ball. You can’t challenge a would-be offside, so the turnover stood.

2) While Lawler was again the standout receiver on the night, I was super impressed with the play of Demski, even if he did cough up the ball. The Winnipeg native has had a strong start to the season, with eight catches for 68 receiving yards and one touchdown against the Argos. He now has 13 catches for 138 yards and the lone score through two games.

While the numbers alone have been impressive, the way Demski has been stacking up the yards — driving with his shoulder, running over would-be tacklers — has me thinking this might be a career year for the 27-year-old. Of his 138 receiving yards in 2021, 78 have come after the catch.

Demski has also developed into a reliable blocker at the line of scrimmage and is used as a formidable rushing option as well. It will be exciting to see how offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce continues to use the versatile receiver.

3) For a second straight week the Bombers defence stole the show, and there’s little reason to think they’ll be slowing down anytime soon.

After shutting Hamilton out on their last 13 offensive series in the season-opener, they blanked the Argonauts in their first 10 drives Friday night. And while Toronto did find the end zone courtesy of a 30-yard run by tailback John White, the Argonauts didn’t have a single trip to the red zone all night. They finished with 292 total net yards.

The defence showed up big throughout the night, stealing momentum back with turnovers at critical moments and setting the tone with crushing hits. The Bombers recorded two fumble recoveries in the fourth quarter, including one in the dying moments to ice the game; had a key turnover on downs on a third-and-short on their own 46 early in the third; and registered an interception with 4:30 remaining in the game, leading to a 22-yard field goal by Tyler Crapigna.

To have such a performance with a number of key starters out with injury, including the loss of defensive back Josh Johnson and defensive lineman Steven Richardson in Week 1, it’s obvious the Bombers possess an incredible amount of depth. Some more good news: there were no significant injuries suffered in Week 2.

4) Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie called Willie Jefferson a human highlight reel and the Bombers defensive end didn’t disappoint in Week 2, ending the evening with a tackle for a loss of four yards, two pass knockdowns and a fumble recovery. The Bombers are extremely lucky to have Jefferson, both for his talents on the field — I’m not sure there’s any other defensive player in his talent tier — and for his affinity for the city and fans off it.

But while Jefferson will attract a lot of deserving attention, I’d be remiss not to single out a few other standout defensive performances. That includes defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, who had the game-clinching sack-fumble on Arbuckle late in the fourth and would have had another sack had it not been called back owing to an illegal contact penalty by Deatrick Nichols.

Speaking of Nichols, he, too, had a brilliant evening in just his second CFL game, finishing with four defensive tackles, two pass knockdowns, an interception and a fumble recovery. Finally, there was Canadian linebacker Jesse Briggs, who was elevated to starting weakside linebacker. Briggs had three defensive tackles and came up big early in the final frame, forcing the fumble that would lead to the Demski touchdown and a 17-7 lead for the Bombers.

5) It should be safe to assume that when the Argonauts take BMO Field for the rematch Saturday it will be Nick Arbuckle working the controls on offence.

It was a solid 2021 debut for McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who led Toronto to a 23-20 Week 1 win over Calgary with a league-high 354 passing yards. He wasn’t nearly as sharp against the Bombers, though, completing only 10 of 20 passes for 96 yards and an interception before Arbuckle took over with four minutes remaining in third quarter.

Arbuckle made an immediate impact, driving the field 75 yards on six plays for a touchdown on his first series under centre — a drive he went a perfect four-for-four passing. He would eventually cool off by night’s end but did show enough poise to warrant his first start this week.

Arbuckle was Toronto’s prized free-agent signing over the off-season after things went south in Ottawa for the 27-year-old former Georgia State product. He’s been battling a hamstring issue he suffered during training camp, but Dinwiddie said prior to Friday’s game that he was an option to play if Bethel-Thompson hadn’t earned a second straight start. He doesn’t warrant a third this week.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton