Spotlight shines on defence

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/08/2015 (3999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will line up against the Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders Saturday night minus their starting quarterback, running back, right tackle, deep threat and — still to be determined — possibly their centre.

As far as offensive continuity goes, Robert Marve — the man replacing QB1 Drew Willy behind centre and making just his second professional start — has likely spent as much time over the last couple of weeks memorizing names in his own huddle as he has the details in the playbook.

Just to further compound things, the special-teams unit, save for the odd blip, has essentially been playing a big, fat pi±ata all season, with CFL rivals taking their turns whacking the snot out of them.

All of which brings us to the Bomber defence, easily the one component of this 3-5 football team that could still be represented by an upward-pointing arrow.

So, given all this — the revolving door on offence, the woes on specials — it could be said the Bombers’ defensive dozen will need to play out of their collective skulls if the home side is to have a chance against the champs Saturday night.

Right, Bryant Turner Jr.?

“It’s a team effort, for sure, but the defence needs to step it up,” said the veteran defensive tackle. “There were times at the beginning of the year where the offence stepped it up when our defence wasn’t playing at its best. So this is the time where our offence is going through some things with injuries and so our defence has got to step it up.

“I feel like you always want a defence to become the identity of your team. You want everybody to feed off your momentum. We need to get that going and keep it.”

The same questioning was taken to defensive back Chris Randle and head coach Mike O’Shea, this theory it will be up to the defence to rally the troops and stop a two-game losing skid from bleeding to three. The Edmonton Eskimos have done it that way with their defence this season. Same goes for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, whose defence now routinely turns mistakes into scores.

Randle wouldn’t bite — “Everybody needs to raise their level,” he said — and neither, really, would O’Shea.

“There’s always trying for that,” said O’Shea, when asked if the defence had to win a game for his squad. “One of the things they talk about is making sure the opposition is kicking field goals or getting nothing. Making sure they’re turning over the ball.

“So, I don’t think that’s a new mindset for them. I don’t know if there’s an extra sense of urgency amongst the group. They’re all intelligent guys, they all understand the situation, they all would like to do whatever they need to do to help us win games.

‘I feel like you always want a defence to become the identity of your team. You want everybody to feed off your momentum. We need to get that going and keep it’

— Bryant Turner Jr.

“But,” O’Shea added, “they don’t want to play outside the system in order to achieve that. As I said before, they don’t want to grip the stick too tight and make mistakes trying to get out of the system just to make plays. When the play comes their way, they want to make it.

“The idea of holding teams to as little points as possible is something we talk about every single week.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

That’s all well and good, just as the offensive discussions every single week likely involve lighting up the scoreboard, and the special teams… well, that bunch would likely just as soon avoid the video evidence of their handiwork for much of the season.

But the point here is it’s a big ask to expect Marve & Co. to move the ball up and down the field against the Stamps, especially given the changes to the offensive personnel. And the special teams have hardly wrapped themselves in glory.

So, whether they’ll admit it publicly or not, the spotlight is turned on the defence. They’ll need to do all the heavy lifting in the next few weeks until Marve gets comfy at the controls and the foot soldiers on special teams get their act together.

“I understand what you’re saying,” said Randle, “but the whole goal is to become a complete team. If you ask the guys on Hamilton and Edmonton, they want to be known as complete. I don’t think any team takes pride in being known as an offensive or defensive team. All our phases need to be good. That’s what makes championship teams.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait