Bombers have abandoned bomb

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This article was published 08/09/2015 (3991 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT’S a number that speaks loudly and clearly about the struggles of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offence:

The Bombers finished with 230 yards total offence in Sunday’s loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders — a sorry number, but a vast improvement on the 136 total from a week earlier against the Calgary Stampeders.

But the 230 is also misleading: 91 of those yards, including a Cam Marshall TD run, came in the final 2:25 of the game with the Riders ahead 30-11.

More disconcerting was the lack of a vertical game: the Bombers’ longest plays from scrimmage were two 18-yard completions, to Darvin Adams and to Marshall.

Clarence Denmark, one of the team’s deep threats, finished with one catch for four yards — that reception coming with just 23 seconds left in the game.

“I’m frustrated,” said slotback Nick Moore, who led all Bomber receivers with six catches for 57 yards, half of them in the final 2:25. “We were up 10-0 and had every opportunity to put our foot on their throat and didn’t.

“This game, it got away from us little by little. Unlike some of the other games, it was 21 points against out of nowhere. With that being said, that doesn’t matter. We have to find some way to fight back. We have to find some way to score and get back into the game.

“As a whole offence — O-line, quarterback, running back, receivers — we have to come together and find a way.”

SLICK NIC: Former University of Manitoba Bisons star Nic Demski scored his first TD as a pro in Sunday’s win, returning a punt 60 yards to tie the game at 10-10. He also started to celebrate before crossing the goal-line, a move that caught the eye of new head coach Bob Dyce.

“I talked to him about that fairly quickly,” said Dyce. “Even at the 20-yard line holding it out… that’s not how we play. We respect the game and we respect our opponents. I told him to do what you like, but to do it in the end zone.”

Demski, the Riders’ first-round selection this year, said he was wrapped up in the moment but also got the message from his boss. There was some question whether he had crossed the goal-line before throwing the ball.

“I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Demski said. “It was my first touchdown and I got away with it.”

HENOC TO GIANTS?: Colleague Gary Lawless reported Monday night former Bomber linebacker Henoc Muamba, released by the Indianapolis Colts on the weekend, will work out with the New York Giants today. His agent also told CFL teams — Muamba is a CFL free agent — he would like offers by today.

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