Bombers look vulnerable to ground attack

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This article was published 16/11/2011 (5391 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When measuring how the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence looks against the suddenly resurgent Hamilton Tiger-Cats offence for the East final Sunday, consider the following:

1. Winnipeg owned quarterback Kevin Glenn this year, picking him off five times with three of those interceptions returned for touchdowns. Glenn was yanked from two of the games, as well.

2. The Bombers defence has struggled against the run.

Weighing those two factors, it should come as no surprise when members of the Bombers defence mention the Hamilton rush — and not Glenn — as the point of emphasis this week. Watching the Ticats rush 23 times for 161 yards against the league’s best run defence in Montreal last Sunday all but confirmed what the Bombers need to control regarding the Tabbies attack.

“We want to take care of both,” middle linebacker Marcellus Bowman said after the Bombers officially returned to the practice field Tuesday. “Obviously, if you can run the ball it makes the offence that much more dynamic, so we want to stop the run first.”

Winnipeg’s challenge on the ground comes in the form of spunky veteran Avon Cobourne and, to a lesser degree, the uber-quick Marcus Thigpen. Cobourne, who does most of the heavy lifting for the Ticats ground game, ran the ball 14 times for 97 yards against his former mates in the East semifinal.

If that quality showing, not to mention the 52-large put up by the Ticats offence, didn’t get the attention of the Bombers, this certainly did: Before the semi, the Tiger-Cats only averaged only 90 yards rushing per game in 2011 (last in the CFL).

They nearly doubled that last weekend.

On the road.

Against the defending Grey Cup champs.

“I wasn’t too surprised at how they ran it; playoffs are when everyone raises their game,” Bowman said. “They have some athletes out there. It’s no secret they have some serious speed with Thigpen, and Cobourne is a seasoned dude. He knows what to do in the playoffs; he’s been through this before.”

Can the Ticats pull it off again? That’s the big question coming into the East final and if they can, the concern for Winnipeg in slowing this new-found ground game unfolds like this:

The Bombers have struggled against the run over the last month, allowing an average of 124 yards against in the last four outings (holding a 1-3 record in that span). The high came when Toronto rushed for 149 yards in the final home game of the season (Oct. 28), while the low mark was when Winnipeg stuffed Edmonton to just 97 yards on Oct. 15.

Winnipeg has turned to a few different packages in recent games in an attempt to turf the problem, but the results have been mixed. Dorian Smith, who’s made his reputation as a run stopper in the middle of the defensive line, has been healthy for weeks but he can’t get back on the field. Meanwhile, defensive end Odell Willis has been relegated to a pass rush specialist as the coaches think he’s a liability in run situations.

Judging by the latest numbers, the tinkering hasn’t worked.

That said, Winnipeg has handled the Ticats run game with relative ease this season (the Bombers held the Ticats to an average of 79 yards rushing in three wins) and feels like it has shored up its run defence to a degree.

Head coach Paul LaPolice took that thought a step further, believing his club can return to the run defence dominance it had earlier in the year.

“It always starts with making teams one dimensional, and then you can go from there,” he said. “Stopping the run is going to be important, but keeping Kevin Glenn out of rhythm is important, too.”

All of which brings Hamilton’s impressive showing against Montreal back into the conversation: Winnipeg wants to make Glenn have to beat their secondary. That’s the matchup they like. That’s the matchup they believe can get them to Vancouver.

“We all know about the cold weather in Winnipeg,” Bowman added. “It’s difficult for quarterbacks. If we can stop the run, that’s going to give us a great chance to win the game.”

The Bombers are practising indoors at the University of Manitoba today.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny