Blue boast destructive ‘D’

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This article was published 17/08/2021 (1518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Thirteen points in two games.

Not bad for a defensive unit that’s rolling with a handful of CFL newcomers in the secondary and has some reliable veterans out with injury.

So, what’s been the most impressive thing about this dominant defensive play so far?

“Umm, 13 points in two games, pretty much,” laughed defensive back Nick Taylor in response to the obvious question asked by this reporter.

“We’re sticking together, we’re communicating. We have each other’s backs. We’re just out there, trying to play hard.”

The thing is, they haven’t made too many mistakes. It’s pretty surprising considering last week Taylor had Josh Miller to his left at corner making his first career CFL start in the team’s 20-7 victory over the Toronto Argos. Over on the other side of the secondary was Deatrick Nichols and DeAundre Alford, a pair of first-year players, who were making their second career starts. Nichols shined the brightest of them all, especially in the fourth quarter, as he intercepted Toronto quarterback Nick Arbuckle and made a fumble recovery.

For the 33-year-old Taylor, it doesn’t feel like he’s surrounded by newbies.

“They had to learn fast. The CFL game is one you don’t just throw people in there,” said Taylor.

“There’s a lot of different tricks and nuances to how the formation’s going… They have to figure all that out on the go. And they’ve been doing a great, great job at coming in and learning and picking up the pieces as we go. Because we really have no time to wait… But their play is like veteran guys already. I’m impressed by all of them.”

Canadian linebacker Jesse Briggs has also taken notice.

“I would say overall as a whole, with all of them, I’ve been extremely impressed with their maturity and communication. A lot of times you get guys who go out under the lights and they freeze up,” Briggs said.

“They still play football, but they freeze up before the snap… Communication is super important on defence and their maturity level overall and their communication and ability to talk things out pre-snap has been, I think, very, very, very well done.”

But it’s not just the new guys stepping up. With Kyrie Wilson and Jontrell Rocquemore out with injuries, the veteran Briggs made the start last week. Briggs is a 31-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., who’s in his seventh CFL season and traditionally plays on special teams. His performance at weak-side linebacker showed he can fill in admirably on defence when needed. Briggs made one of the plays of the game when he tackled Argos running back John White and punched out the ball — leading to Nichols scooping it up. It was the first time Briggs forced a fumble on defence in his CFL career.

“We do a good job here emphasizing to take away the ball. Richie (Hall’s) always on us about that. It was just an effort play. Running to the ball, trying to put a good stick on him, and throwing my hand around him trying to punch that ball out,” Briggs said.

Briggs believes going from special teams ace to starting linebacker isn’t as big of a difference as one might think.

“You go out there and play on all four special teams (plays). You’re playing a full game of football. I know it’s less plays, but, you’re going out there and playing a full game of football. Physically after the game, mentally after the game, you feel just as tired, if not more,” he said.

“It’s always nice to get in there on defence and contribute but at the same time, I take an enormous amount of pride in what I do on special teams and doing that week in and week out for the last six or seven years. It’s an enormous source of pride for me.”

The Bombers defence will look to keep their spectacular play going on Saturday when they head to Toronto for a second straight date with the Argos (1-1). It’s still unknown which quarterback they’ll face, but all signs point to Arbuckle, as he was working with the first team on Tuesday instead of last week’s starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson who struggled mightily against the Bombers.

“Any time you play these back-to-back games it’s tough. They’re gonna come out super hungry, obviously. We just beat them,” said Briggs.

“That team deserves a lot of credit. They’re a very good football team this year. They run the ball well. They do a lot of things that challenge us and we just got to come out and clean some stuff up this week and play a real solid game in their place this week.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31