Offence coach seeing red in the zone

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This article was published 04/08/2011 (5558 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The unvarnished bluntness of the response was refreshing.

Asked this week how close his offence is to finally hitting its stride, Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive coordinator Jamie Barresi did not mince words.

“Not close at all. We have a long way to go. We’re getting better, but even this past week against B.C., we should have been much better than we were. Toronto (in Week 4) was good, but there were still things against Toronto I didn’t like. Our scoring production was not what it should be, we’re not efficient down there. We’re (missing) opportunities to put a lot of points on the board.

“I told (the players) that in the CFL, we should be averaging 40-45 points a game. We’ve had those opportunities, we just have to finish drives.

“So no, I’m not pleased with where we are.”

Any other questions?

Now, in normal circumstances, hearing that kind of blunt talk from your offensive co-ordinator in Week 6 of a CFL season might be cause for alarm.

But this is no ordinary CFL season — and especially not here in Winnipeg. Consider: heading into Friday night’s contest against the undefeated Edmonton Eskimos at Canad Inns Stadium, Barresi’s offence is last in the league in touchdowns scored (nine), rushing touchdowns (two) and passes completed (89); second-last in average yards passing (234.2), average yards per rush (4.8) and sacks given up (13); and first in the league in field goals (15) and number of punts (41).

Yet despite it all, the Bombers are 4-1 and alone in first in the East Division heading into the Edmonton game.

And so rather than setting off alarm bells, Barresi’s obvious dissatisfaction with his offence — and the seriousness with which he is obviously taking it, even with the enviable win-loss record — might instead be cause for reassurance for Bombers faithful who know too well that it is hard to win a championship on defence alone.

Now in his second year as the Bombers offensive co-ordinator, Barresi is no student of the game. He has a doctorate in exercise and sports science from Penn State, where he also served as receivers coach under the legendary Joe Paterno.

Like Paterno, Barresi sets the bar high for his players and his frustration has been palpable this season with an offence that has stalled more often than an ’85 Chevette when the goalposts have come into sight.

That maddening inefficiency in the red zone — hence all those Justin Palardy field goals — has been priority No. 1 in practice this week as the Bombers offence has spent much of its time working in the shadow of those posts trying to figure out ways to turn 3s into 7s.

“That’s something we’ve been working really hard at,” said running back Fred Reid. “We need to improve on our red-zone (offence), most definitely.”

While discussions on the merits of the Bombers offence have centred this season on the health and performance of quarterback Buck Pierce, there is also a discussion to be had about Winnipeg’s running game.

Reid was last year’s leading rusher in the CFL and is holding down that position once again this season (374 yards). But it’s a misleading figure, made possible thus far only because Reid’s carried the ball 84 times, 21 carries more than the next busiest running back in the league and 30 carries more than Montreal’s Brandon Whitaker, who is in second place and trails Reid by just 30 yards.

Barresi’s offence runs best when Reid is running his best and setting up the pass. But at 4.5 yards per carry, just one touchdown and a lone 20-yard run standing as his biggest gain this season, Reid is the first to admit he can do more.

“The scheme is good. None of these problems has anything to do with the scheme. We just have to execute better as players,” Reid said.

“We’ve just got to keep grinding away at it and I’m going to start getting my big-gainers and start getting my 100-yard games.”

Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice hopes so. “There’s a lot of room for improvement,” LaPolice said Wednesday. “We haven’t popped any big runs…Last year, we hit 50-yard runs, 30-yard runs, we haven’t done that as much this year. Whether we’re facing better tacklers or better defences, we’d like to get more explosive in that aspect…

“It’s a work in progress.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca