O’Shea stands behind third-and-one call

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This article was published 17/10/2015 (3732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — So why, in a league in which the defence has to line up one yard away from the ball on the line of scrimmage, would you hand off three yards deep in your backfield on a third-and-one?

Because, says Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, it was the right thing to do at the time — even if the result proved to be a disaster.

“Why didn’t we hand it off? Because it was a full yard and that’s what Cameron Marshall is here for,” O’Shea said Friday night following his team’s 27-24 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks,

Here was the situation: After recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff, the Bombers found themselves two plays later in third-and-one from the Ottawa 18-yard line.

Instead of simply plunging forward on a QB sneak, the Bombers instead handed off to running back Marshall, who went nowhere.

Ottawa got the ball back and whatever opportunity the Bombers had to author a quick start in a hostile stadium went up in flames as the Redblacks promptly pounded out a withering 92-yard, 14-play touchdown drive that gave them a lead they would never surrender.

Still, O’Shea remained unapologetic for the play call. “We just had a slip in the backfield. We missed a block up front and a guy came scot-free.”

O’Shea also insisted the miscue — and ensuing momentum swing — wasn’t decisive.

“That early? I don’t think so.”

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With the Bombers cutting fourth-string quarterback Tajh Boyd Friday for what O’Shea cryptically termed “off-field issues,” the larger issue of when injured starting QB Drew Willy might start practising again came up again Friday night.

O’Shea said Willy is “moving around better” but still not yet running and is unlikely to practice the coming week in advance of the Bombers hosting Ottawa Saturday. “But I don’t like to limit people. We’ll see in three days what he looks like. But he’s not running right now.”

And about those off-field issues with Boyd? “I’m not going to get into it.”

***

Linebacker Khalil Bass added to his team-leading tally of defensive tackles in a big way Friday, registering a dozen to bring his season total to 86.

Bass was third in the league in defensive tackles as of Saturday.

Defensive end Jamaal Westerman also added to his league-leading sack total, hauling down Redblacks QB Henry Burris to bump his total to 15 for the year.

Linebacker Tony Burnett also had a big game for the Bombers, recording a sack, a forced fumble, a defensive tackle and a special-teams tackle.

Defensive back Demond Washington also recorded 10 tackles, although that had more to do with the Redblacks receivers turning the Bombers secondary into a track meet than anything special Washington did.

***

The Bombers held an Ottawa defence that leads the league in sacks to just one. That performance came two weeks after the Winnipeg O-line shut out an Edmonton defence that was second in the league in sacks at the time.

Alas, both those performances by a much-maligned offensive line came in losing efforts and no one is exactly celebrating.

Right tackle Patrick Neufeld said inexplicably slow starts in each of the last three games are killing his team.

“I don’t know what it is, but it’s repeating itself and it’s what’s losing us games,” he said. “We’re not putting up points and we’re not taking advantage of opportunities in the first half.

“At some point, we just have to buckle down and fix it. We have to.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek