The Fifth Quarter

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2009 (5923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GAME BALLS:

�ñº OFFENCE

The pickings were pretty thin in this department but we’ll toss the offensive game ball to Argos running back Jamal Robertson, who gained 101 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown. Toronto quarterback Kerry Joseph did enough to get his team the win with a line of 14-for-28 for 144 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

�ñº DEFENCE

Veteran linebacker Barrin Simpson was outstanding as he totalled 13 tackles to tie the Bombers’ record for tackles in a game. The defence hung tough in this game and that made the end result much closer than it could have been. Bombers rookie defensive tackle Dorian Smith had a night to remember collecting three sacks. Smith’s big statistical night likely came as a result of Doug Brown’s dominance in the middle.

�ñº SPECIAL TEAMS

Toronto’s Justin Medlock was the difference-maker in this game as he went 4-for-4 kicking field goals with a long of 46 yards. Medlock did a nice job punting as well and was certainly a candidate for a game ball in the Argos’ locker- room. Punter Mike Renaud was Winnipeg’s best special teams player making three tackles as he courageously raced downfield and sliced to the ball-carrier.

CRITICAL NUMBERS:

1

That’s right, just one lousy first down in the first half for the Bombers under starting QB Stefan Lefors. Certainly LeFors is not responsible for all of these offensive woes but in the CFL, the buck starts and stops with the man under centre. One first down? It’s almost unbelievable for a pro offence to be so ineffective.

5 and 119

The Bombers turned the ball over five times and were only able to scrape together 119 total yards of offence. Those two numbers will result in a loss on just about any night in the CFL. Both need to be fixed if this club is going to make anything happen.

FAN-O-METER:

The call-in shows and chatboards screamed for more offence all week and when the Bombers came out of the gate slow there was booing from the stands after the second Winnipeg offensive possession. The fans cheered their defence all night but were much harder on the offence and seemed to have run out of patience with starting quarterback Stefan LeFors and head coach Mike Kelly. Kelly’s play-calling was jeered all night and when backup QB Bryan Randall trotted out to run the offence in the third quarter, the house gave him a full roar. LeFors led the Bombers to just one first down in the first half and Randall picked up a new set of downs on his first play of the game and that got a second round of applause for the backup pivot. Randall, however, lasted only a quarter and made way for Richie Williams for the fourth. A contest was announced in the third quarter with the winning ticket-holder in line to receive a LeFors jersey and even this drew boos from the crowd. Expect the folks on the street to be calling for Kelly to give up his gig as offensive co-ordinator and for Randall or Williams to get the start next Saturday against the Argos back in Toronto.

— Gary Lawless