Stressed in the West

If they aren't worried yet, Blue, O'Shea should be

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Monday, Sep. 8, 2014

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea insisted repeatedly last week he wasn't worried -- not about his porous run defence; not about key injuries on his special teams, and especially not about the fact his team had lost three of four games coming into Sunday's Banjo Bowl at Investors Group Field.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/09/2014 (4031 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea insisted repeatedly last week he wasn’t worried — not about his porous run defence; not about key injuries on his special teams, and especially not about the fact his team had lost three of four games coming into Sunday’s Banjo Bowl at Investors Group Field.

Well, if O’Shea wasn’t worried, he should have been. Because when the smoke settled on a 30-24 Bombers loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, O’Shea’s defence had given up a season-worst 196 yards rushing; his special teams yielded 16 points to the Riders, and a Bombers team that ran to at 5-1 is now 1-4 in their last five and dead last in the West Division at 6-5.

So, coach, are you worried now? “No, I don’t think so,” O’Shea insisted. “I don’t look at it that way, I don’t. Being a first-year head coach is good like that, isn’t it?”

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
mike deal / winnipeg free press
Bombers quarterback Drew Willy was sacked five times and intercepted twice, both times snuffing out potential late-game winning drives. — MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS mike deal / winnipeg free press Bombers quarterback Drew Willy was sacked five times and intercepted twice, both times snuffing out potential late-game winning drives.

Perhaps. But even O’Shea cannot ignore the West Division standings, which are speaking loud and clear about a team that has gone from the penthouse to the cellar in the last five weeks thanks to three losses to the Riders and another to the Toronto Argonauts.

So what now? Good question, said Bombers offensive tackle Glenn January.

“This will be a good test for us. And I do think we have guys in this locker-room who can pull us out of this drought. There’s a lot of football left to be played and our destiny is still in our hands.”

Unfortunately, Winnipeg will have to meet that destiny in the West Division, where the Bombers are a division-worst 1-4 this season. Winnipeg will face West Division teams in five of their final seven games, including Saturday in Vancouver against the Lions.

Special teams? Not so special

With regular long-snapper Ian Wild out with an injury, the Bombers gave up a safety in the second quarter when replacement Kyle Jones fired a snap over punter Lirim Hajrullahu’s head and into the Winnipeg end zone, forcing Hajrullahu to chase it down and boot it out of bounds.

As bad as that was, it was actually the least of the damage the Bombers special teams inflicted on their team’s chances during a first half in which they also had a field goal blocked and returned 60 yards for a TD by Rod Williams and a punt returned 75 yards for a TD by Weston Dressler.

Break the rules much?

A sellout Investors Group Field crowd of 33,234 was all over the officials for most of the game — and there were a couple of marginal calls and non-calls that went against the Bombers, especially a hold that wasn’t called on Dressler’s punt-return TD.

But at the end of the day, a Bombers team that was hoping the big crowd would give them an emotional lift was perhaps too jacked up, taking 13 penalties for 158 yards — including six for unnecessary roughness or roughing the passer.

Three of those majors were called on Bombers linebacker EJ Kuale. “I’m emotional. They call it the Banjo Bowl for a reason,” said Kuale. “Coach O’Shea brought me here because I’m an emotional leader. I’m not going to stand for no foulness or no crazy stuff on the field.

“As a vet, I shouldn’t have taken those penalties. But it’s all a part of the game.”

Got the Runs

For the third consecutive game against the Riders, the Bombers run defence looked a lot like France, circa 1940.

The Riders ran at will all afternoon, racking up 196 yards on the ground to bring their three-game rushing total against Winnipeg to 542 yards.

That’s an average of 181 yards per game, which is ridiculous. But Kuale — like his head coach — continued to insist the run defence wasn’t the problem in a game the Riders scored just one offensive TD.

“It doesn’t mean nothing to me,” said Kuale. “Who cares about yards — that’s just a stat. It’s a vanity stat. Our defence did what we needed to do — we just came up short. Football is the ultimate team sport and there’s three phases to the game. And Saskatchewan was the better team in all three phases.”

Up Next

The Bombers (6-5) play the B.C. Lions (6-4) at BC Place Saturday in what will be a battle for fourth place in the West Division.

Winnipeg beat BC the last time the teams played at BC Place in late July. The Lions are expected to once again be without starting QB Travis Lulay, who reinjured his shoulder Friday night in what was his first start in almost a year.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek