How good is ‘good’?
Stumbling Bombers lost on the path of their own expectations
Andrew Harris insists the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a good football team.
They’ve clearly lost their way and their quarterback situation is a hot mess, but somewhere deep down are the remnants of the team that was expected to contend for the Grey Cup this season.
“We are good. We’re a good football team,” the Blue Bombers running back said Saturday after his team lost its fourth game in a row, 32-27 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“It’s frustrating because we are good. I know that. As much as the media, or the league, or whoever, wants to say that we’re not, we are good and it’s just details that we just need to finish.”
I would tend to agree that, on paper, this is a good team in most areas. Its receiving corps is no great shakes and the defence still gives up too many yards, but overall, by looking at the roster, you’d think there’s winning potential.
Four weeks ago, I believed the Bombers were in the mix for first place in the West Division.
So, how is it that things have gone so horribly wrong?
“Good” teams don’t have 5-7 records. They don’t turn over footballs like they’re distributing free candy at a parade. They don’t have the kinds of letdowns in every game that lead to losses.
How many weeks in a row can players say something like: “We just have to improve our communication, become tighter as a team and focus on the details,” but then go out and achieve the same result?
“We talked about it all week, but talking about it and doing it are two different things,” Harris said. “You’ve got to take a look in the mirror.”
There’s no doubt the thing that has hurt the Bombers the most is the play of veteran quarterback Matt Nichols. His season was already spiralling when he had the worst half of his career on Saturday, throwing three interceptions (and having two more wiped out by penalties), two of them for long, humbling touchdowns.
Nichols, who now has completed just 61% of his passes this season and has thrown 12 interceptions against 11 touchdowns, was finally, mercifully, yanked at halftime on Saturday by head coach Mike O’Shea.
Rookie Chris Streveler came on and produced a second-half touchdown, but also threw two interceptions.
His performance was not much better than that of Nichols. In fact, they both went 10-for-20, Nichols for 165 yards and Streveler for 160, and combined on the five picks.
One of those two players is going to have to elevate his play to a different level over the next two months if the Bombers are going to have a chance of getting back into the West Division race and playing in the playoffs.
Streveler, though just 23 and a pure rookie, should get the first chance when the Bombers play the Montreal Alouettes at home following their bye week on Sept. 21.
As Nichols said himself Saturday, he deserved to sit for the second half of the Banjo Bowl, and his play has earned him a spot on the sidelines for the start of the next game.
Ultimately, that decision will fall to O’Shea and his offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice, both of whom are having rough seasons themselves.
The Bombers are supposed to be good, remember? Their offence was supposed to be high-powered and dangerous. They have one of the best players in the league in Harris and, when healthy, one of the best offensive lines, and yet they haven’t capitalized.
When it comes to playing good teams this season, the Bombers have simply been overmatched. Their record against Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatchewan — the three teams ahead of them in the West — is an embarrassing 0-4. They are 1-5 within the division and their only win against a Western opponent came against the fifth-place B.C. Lions.
Three of their wins came against Montreal and Toronto, teams with a combined record of 6-16 this season. The only team they beat that is actually pretty good was Hamilton.
None of this bodes well for the hopes of fans who have suffered more than long enough.
O’Shea and his coaching staff have had plenty of time to put their mark on this team and lead it in the right direction. They seemed to be doing so, putting together 11-7 and 12-6 seasons in 2016 and 2017.
This season qualifies as a significant regression.
Head coaches whose teams regress usually find themselves on the hot seat and that’s exactly where O’Shea should be.
This is on him to turn things around over the final six games of the season. He needs to make the right decision on the quarterback, get his team working on the same page and use the tools in front of him to save the season.
It’s not too late. As cliché as it sounds, anything can happen in the CFL.
If the Bombers really are a good team, then prove it.