Stamps just too much to handle

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This article was published 07/07/2017 (3014 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All week the Winnipeg Blue Bombers downplayed the significance of their opponent Friday night. It didn’t matter the Calgary Stampeders had never lost at Investors Group Field in eight trips there, nor did they feel overmatched by the fact Calgary had won 16 of the last 17 matches between the two teams.

It was a new year, they said. The Bombers were a new team, they said. History doesn’t matter, they said.

But after all was said and done on this night, history repeated itself once again, with the Bombers falling 29-10 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 30,165.

Those numbers will continue to haunt the Bombers’ history books until the two teams meet again in the final week of the regular season, even if the view inside the locker room after the game remained the same.

“I don’t know that they have our number,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea after the game. “I don’t think this group of guys needs to prove anything to themselves about Calgary, about beating Calgary.”

With a seemingly improved roster from last year, the Bombers feel they can contend with the best teams in the Canadian Football League. Every year the goal is to win the Grey Cup, but this year the Bombers truly believe they have the group to do it.

But that belief will hold little water outside the confines of IGF if they can’t prove they can beat the Stampeders.

What made the defeat especially disappointing was it came at a time when the Stampeders were reeling from injury. Already missing a number of key pieces on the defensive line, including last year’s sack leader Charleston Hughes, Calgary lost another piece of their front four when Kashawn Fraser went down on the very first play.

With the loss, the Bombers now sit 1-1 with another home game against the Toronto Argonauts set for Thursday night. As for the Stampeders, they will take a 2-0-1 record into Montreal next week against the Alouettes.

The Bombers preached all week the need for a strong start after stumbling out of the gate in Regina. Against the Riders, Winnipeg recorded four three-and-outs and one interception in their first five series and didn’t register a first down in the opening quarter.

On Friday, it would take just two plays to move the chains. In fact, Nichols completed seven of his first eight passes through the Bombers’ first two drives. But it was his ninth throw that had him tossing his arms up in the air in disgust. Nichols, having gained momentum after a gamble on third-and-one that earned the Bombers a fresh set of downs on the Stampeders’ 12-yard line, was intercepted by defensive back Josh Bell in the end zone. Bell took advantage of what appeared to to be a miscommunication between Nichols and rookie receiver L’Damian Washington.

“I saw something a little bit different than what happened,” Nichols said.

It would be the first of three consecutive turnovers for the Bombers, who were foiled on a second gamble on third down on the next drive. When it looked like things couldn’t get any worse, Ryan Lankford started a promising return of a missed field goal, only to have the ball pop out of his hands and recovered by the visitors.

“I thought we shot ourselves in the foot more than they outmanned us,” said running back Andrew Harris, who was one of the few bright spots on the night for the Bombers, combining for 101 yards between 10 carries (32 yards) and six receptions (69).

The Stampeders were able to earn points off two of the Bombers miscues, taking a 9-0 lead with a 17-yard field goal by Rene Paredes and a one-yard run by Kamar Jorden. The Jorden touchdown came on the sixth attempt at the Bombers’ goal line, a drive that was extended due to an offside penalty by rookie halfback Roc Carmichael, who struggled for a second consecutive week.

Despite the Bombers’ penchant for errors, they managed to crawl their way back, even taking the lead, 10-9, at halftime.

T.J. Heath provided the spark for the second straight game, intercepting Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell at midfield and returning it into enemy territory. It was Heath’s third interception of the season — he picked off the Stampeders on a two-point conversion earlier in the game — with this one leading to a Julian Feoli-Gudino 21-yard touchdown reception. Justin Medlock’s 24-yard field goal with 1:24 to go before halftime would prove the final points for the Bombers on this night.

Mitchell also did a fair share of downplaying heading into this one. The 28-year-old, in his sixth CFL season, is viewed as the league’s best pivot, an accolade that was further cemented last season when he was named the CFL’s most outstanding player. He has dominated almost every field he’s played in but has been particularly good at IGF. Heading into last night’s game, Mitchell was a perfect 5-0, throwing for 11 touchdowns compared to five interceptions, while completing three-quarters of his passes for an average of 318 yards per game.

Though it took him a little bit longer to find his groove this time around, Mitchell orchestrated a second half that kept his offence on the field and the Bombers’ attack off it. He finished the game 22-for-34 passing for 332 yards and one touchdown.

His lone touchdown pass came early in the fourth quarter — a 22-yard stike to Jorden, who finished the night with six catches for 97 yards and two scores — but it all but ended the Bombers’ night. The drive went 94 yards downfield, summing up the kind of dominance Calgary boasted late in the game.

Nichols said before the game he didn’t see the game as a competition between he and Mitchell, both of whom attended Eastern Washington University — albeit at different times — and have developed a strong friendship ever since. A battle or not, the clear winner was wearing a Stampeders jersey as Nichols ended his night 27-for-40 passing for 267 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His second interception came late in the third quarter, the ball landing in the hands of Maleki Harris, who returned it 27 yards for a touchdown.

“I don’t think any of my teammates would say this but I’m going to put this loss on me,” Nichols said. “I felt like I played a pretty solid game for most of the game but I made two bad decisions that ultimately cost us big time.

“Fan deserve better, my teammates deserve better and I will be better.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton