Balance, growth key ingredients of Bombers’ offence

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This article was published 06/10/2021 (1431 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There have been more good showings than bad for the 7-1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers this season.

Few seemed as convincing as last Friday’s 30-9 road victory over the B.C. Lions. The defence put up another strong showing that night, limiting the Lions to three field goals and zero points in the fourth quarter.

It was the play of the offence, however, that stole the show, posting a season-high 508 yards of offence by executing a balanced attack through the air and on the ground. Quarterback Zach Collaros threw for 417 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Andrew Harris averaged 5.8 yards per carry, totalling 81 yards on 14 rushes.

Many after the game credited the play calling of first-year offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce, who appeared to have his offence dialed in all night. Pierce is as humble as they come in the CFL, so it came as no surprise that when he was asked where the game ranked among others, he had already moved on.

“Oh, man, I’m so far past that already,” he said after practice Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s home tilt with the Elks. “It’s interesting. I think with any professional or anybody that’s been in this business, what you see are the areas for growth. Obviously, you put a game plan together and you go out there and execute the game plan. But you see where you have to improve, and you see those margins.”

He added: “What’s exciting for a coach is to see those margins each week get smaller and smaller and be a little bit more consistent in certain areas of the field for four quarters. But there has been growth. We just want to keep building on that. But very, very excited for the success of our offence last week.”

Collaros was named the CFL’s top performer of the week for his dominating display against the Lions, which included completing 85 per cent of his passes, finishing 28-for-33. He’s now 11-1 as the Bombers starter, seemingly elevating his game each week.

“Free is a good word. Confident is also a way to describe Zach,” Pierce said. “When you hear people say, ‘Well, the quarterback is really seeing it well,’ I think that’s a mixture of his preparation, his film study, his understanding of the offence, understanding of what we’re trying to do and what he’s seeing on a weekly basis. And, also, it’s a trust factor that he’s continuing to develop with myself and the coaches and the offensive line and everybody that is part of this offence. He’s just continuing to grow each week and take those strides and it’s showing on the field.”

Collaros had yet to throw for 300 passing yards in a game before playing the Lions, but the air attack was still consistent. The running game has also caught up, as Harris returned in Week 4 from a calf injury suffered in training camp.

Pierce knows the importance of playing complementary football. And what’s good today, can always be better tomorrow.

“I really don’t feel we’re ever at its peak, with anything. We’re still growing and trying to improve in every area of our system and of the game,” Pierce said. “Understanding that week in and week out winning looks different. Understanding that last week looked like last week and this week can look different than it had before. Everybody’s always in search of that balance and complementary football, between the run and the pass.”

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Speaking of Harris, under Paul LaPolice’s offence in 2019, while Pierce was the quarterback’s coach, a lot of the offence went through the future Hall of Famer, with Harris dominating in the run and pass game. But that hasn’t been the case this season.

“It’s interesting, because I’ve been asked that question a little bit more as of recent, but I said when I took this job a couple years back that the players are going to show you what this offence is going to be,” Pierce said.

“As coaches, we continue to push that narrative of being balanced and playing complementary football and winning whichever way that looks. So, I think it’s just a growth process for us and everybody and you see with other teams as well, they’re still learning what your players do well, what your guys are capable of doing. When you look at the last couple of weeks, there’s been a growth process in certain areas of our game and we’re going to continue to strive to improve on those and play complementary football.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.