Bombers living up to the hype
If Winnipeg can carry strong first half forward, team could end season with 14-4 record, spot in playoffs
WINNIPEG — For the first time in several years, there was a great deal of optimism surrounding the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as they entered the 2017 CFL season.
They were coming off an 11-7 season and a playoff appearance, seemed to have found a steady quarterback in Matt Nichols and looked to be building a decent contender.
However, you’d have been hard pressed to find many people who expected things to go as well as they have through nine games for the Bombers.
After Thursday night’s thrilling 34-31 double overtime win over the Montreal Alouettes, the Bombers have a 7-2 record at the midway point of the season and are on pace for a 14-4 mark, which would be their best since 2001. Entering play Saturday night, the Bombers shared top spot in the West Division, with the Calgary Stampeders (6-1-1) in position to leapfrog both with a home win over the Toronto Argonauts.
“We’re a team that can play with anyone,” Nichols said after improving his personal record as the Bombers starter over the last two seasons to 17-5.
“We’re excited about where we are right now but we understand that it is only the halfway point and there is a lot of football left to be played. A lot of records can flip-flop and teams can go in different directions.”
Head coach Mike O’Shea and his staff have the Bombers humming right now, particularly on offence. They’ve scored more than 30 points in every game but one, Nichols and running back Andrew Harris are having career years behind a stalwart offensive line and receiver Darvin Adams is a mid-season all-star.
If you had to hand out a grade, coordinator Paul LaPolice’s uptempo offence would get a solid A.
You’d have to give an A-minus to the special teams. Justin Medlock has kicked three game-winning field goals on the final play of games. Ryan Lankford has been providing solid field position and the cover teams have been decent.
An ill-advised fake punt that failed in B.C. and contributed to one of their two losses — plus Medlock’s missed field goal that would have sent that game to overtime — bump the mark down a notch.
That brings us to the defence, which has to get a C.
They are still giving up way too many yards and have been missing too many tackles. Looking at their defensive numbers, you’d be hard pressed to believe they are 7-2.
But what they do have is a bunch of playmakers. As Chris Randle showed on Thursday night, a couple of timely interceptions can go a long way to making the overall defensive performance look decent.
Then there are the intangibles, and with this team those might be the biggest factor.
The wisdom and leadership of Nichols, the warrior mentality of Harris, the clutch kicking of Medlock and the never-say-die attitude that has permeated through the lineup has created a kind of confidence few teams enjoy.
“At no time are you standing on the sideline worried about the outcome,” O’Shea said. “With these guys, when you look on the sideline — and I do often, I just look to see how guys are reacting — they’re at no time worried or concerned. They already know the outcome … it’s just how it’s going to happen. If the outcome was different I think they’d be shocked and go, ‘Oh, how did that happen?’ That’s a great feeling as a coach to look around and see that.”
While the excitement is building with the fans about this Bombers team with a flair for the dramatic, it’s important to heed the words of Nichols and remember that the season is only half over.
No one in the Bombers organization will view this season as being successful unless they hoist the Grey Cup in late November in Ottawa.
Right now it looks like they could finish anywhere from first to fourth in the West. They could host the West final or semifinal, or could go on the road through the West or cross over to the East.
While playoffs are not yet guaranteed, things are looking pretty good and the Bombers can pretty much lock a post-season appearance up with a couple of wins in their next two games, a home-and-home against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
They key going forward is to keep the same level heads they’ve had through nine heart-stopping games.
“We want to make sure we keep our process the same, attack it one game at a time,” said Nichols, whose team will not practise until Tuesday.
“It’s nice ... we get a little bit of a rest here and then those are going to be a couple of fist fights with Saskatchewan for Labour Day.
“We’re going to try to get our bodies healed up and get ready for crazy couple of weeks. We have a bye after that so we get to go out and lay everything on the line against a tough team.”