Five storylines

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This article was published 18/10/2014 (4063 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five story lines to ponder before tonight’s Stampeders at Bombers matchup:

1. BRIAN’S SONG

The Bombers will trot out Brian Brohm as their starting QB, marking the first time since the lid was lifted on the 2014 season Drew Willy has not taken the first snap. Brohm, who makes his first start since leading the Buffalo Bills in their regular-season finale in 2010 — a 38-7 loss to the New York Jets — becomes the seventh QB to start for the Bombers in the last 52 games. The others? Willy, Buck Pierce, Max Hall, Justin Goltz, Alex Brink and Joey Elliott.

“The same belief I had in Brian Brohm coming out of training camp is the same now,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea this week. “Look at that second half of our last game. He stood in the pocket well, he moved if he had to, he took some shots to deliver the ball, and in just over a half he threw for 220 yards. He’s got a tremendous amount of poise in the huddle, he’s got confidence. The players have confidence in him in the huddle because he just has that demeanour. He’s a good leader.

“Forget talking about the number of games he’s played and that kind of experience… he’s been around a lot of pro camps. He’s been in that setting. He just brings that pro calmness that helps his teammates out.”

This will be Brohm’s first CFL start, FYI. He came to the Bombers after spending last year on Hamilton’s practice roster and after catching the eye of Danny McManus. And the comparison between the two might — MIGHT — be similar. Brohm will move the pocket, but is more of a quick-read, quick-strike pivot.

“My job is really just to get it to the playmakers and let them make plays,” said Brohm. “Hopefully you’ll see a lot of that when I’m in there.”

2. SIX IS MORE THAN THREE… RIGHT? RIGHT!?

A five-game losing streak… no, wait… a six-game losing streak tends to blur things a tad. And it certainly makes the Bombers’ 5-1 start feel like it came straight from the pages of some sort of Star Trek alternate-universe script.

That confident, never-say-die squad from late July — a bunch that rallied for dramatic wins and also scored on defence and special teams — has taken some serious body blows over the last nine weeks. They were stung by three close losses to Saskatchewan, couldn’t find their last-second magic against Hamilton three weeks ago and have since been hammered in Ottawa and Edmonton by a combined score of 83-29.

But even with the nasty nosedive, the Bombers have doubled their win total of a year ago — from 3-15 to 6-9 — have found their quarterback of the future in Drew Willy and a clutch kicker in Lirim Hajrullahu.

So why does 2014 feel so much like 2013 right now? What’s really changed?

“The difference is the character guys we have on this team,” said Bryant Turner Jr. “I feel like we’ve got a great team, I feel like we’ve got a great staff. I really feel like we have the best team locker-room-wise. We have a really sound group of guys and that’s the difference between last year and the year before last year.”

Right now, however, that isn’t translating at all on the field. And in a week when the team’s leading rusher is cut and the second-leading receiver remains benched, it must be that much more difficult to get the troops to guzzle the Kool-Aid.

3. THE O-LINE SHUFFLE

The Bombers have made two changes to their offensive line, inserting Jace Daniels — who was signed Oct. 7 — at left tackle and first-round draft pick Matthias Goossen at right guard. It will represent the ninth different O-line combination this season. Cohesion? These guys must go through boxes of those “Hello, my name is…” stickers before every meeting of the big eaters.

“The wonderful thing is you get guys who are capable of playing,” said Chris Greaves, the left guard. “So, when things happen that you can’t control — somebody gets hurt or whatever circumstances happen — you just have to shuffle the deck. We work hard all week to practise being on the same page. And that’s it.

“Jace has been here for a couple of weeks… he knows what he’s doing. He’s a helluva football player. He’s a very intelligent guy and he understands the system well.”

4. THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCE MEETS THE MOVABLE OBJECT

No team in the CFL rushes the ball more successfully than the Stampeders, who average 143.6 yards along the ground per game and have 19 rushing TDs. And no team in the CFL has been more vulnerable to the run than the Bombers, who average 129.3 yards against per contest.

The Bombers have made some defensive adjustments to try and limit the damage of Jon Cornish, who just so happens to be second in the CFL with 817 yards rushing and averages 7.7 yards per carry — despite missing seven games.

Johnny Sears Jr. will move up from halfback to play linebacker alongside Ian Wild and Dan Unamba with Bruce Johnson back starting in the secondary. That pushes Desia Dunn and Teague Sherman out of the starting 12 and gives the Bombers, potentially, some bigger and stouter bodies in their front seven.

“We’re just trying to shake up some things and see if we can find some guys who can make some plays together,” said Sears Jr. “This is the first time this group has been together, but we had a good week of practice. It should be interesting.

“(Cornish) is a good runner, but his line helps him be a good runner. You can see sometimes he doesn’t get touched until he gets to the second level, and for any running back, that’s great. He’s not one of those skinny guys, or little. He’s thick, so you’ve got to bring your pads with you when you come to tackle him.”

5. HOPE FLOATS OR HOPE SINKS?

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Finally, just to recap: The Bombers have lost six straight, eight of their last nine. They have been crushed in their last two games and have lost nine in a row against the Stampeders. Today marks the second-last home game of the 2014 season and the Bombers are just 4-12 at their spiffy new stadium in south Winnipeg since it opened last year.

Yet the faithful will be there again today to support a club that has posted just two winning seasons in the last 11 years. What Bomber fans want more than anything is to not have to watch the game with their hands over their faces. They want signs of compete, not a white-flag of surrender.

Last word on that to Sears Jr: “We’ve got to make sure we do what we need to do to change the minds, if there’s any doubt around this team and this community, that we can get it done.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait