Blue Bombers answering the concerns from early in the season

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Remember this?

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“Zach Collaros is done, they should have kept Dru Brown.”

“Why can’t they tackle?”

“Why can’t they cover?”

“They’ve gotten too old.”

“They might have to settle for the crossover now.”

“Fire O’Shea!”

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers started the Canadian Football League season with an 0-4 record, and too many naysayers pounced on them with such vitriol.

But the team made a statement to the rest of the CFL in its last two outings: ‘Look Out!’

But lest fans get too carried away, the Bombers beat the struggling B.C. Lions 25-0 and 20-11 in those two matches as the Leos lost their fourth consecutive game. However, it was the manner in which Winnipeg completely dominated an offence that had been the most dangerous in the league just a few weeks ago.

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First, they shut out B.C. 25-0, then they followed that up with another game where they allowed only three points until the waning seconds when the Lions finished with eight more. More on the defence later.

The Winnipeg offence is rounding into form and gives the impression that it is on the verge of breaking out. Collaros had another solid outing, completing 23 of 31 passes for 288 yards and one touchdown, with one interception.

“I thought we did enough,” Collaros told reporters in Vancouver. “We did a great job of possessing the football (32 minutes, 34 seconds time of possession).”

Nic Demski led all receivers when he caught six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. Running back Brady Oliveira rushed for 78 yards and added another 24 on four catches.

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Not only did the Bombers snap a four-game road losing streak, they are 4-2 in their past six games, and in third place in the CFL West. Although they are tied with Calgary with eight points, Winnipeg owns the season series. Winnipeg also has won the season series over B.C.

Oh, and Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, who was not fired — that was never going to happen — just recorded his 100th victory as the man still in charge. He’s now just two wins short of tying the legendary Bud Grant, who holds the franchise record.

THE POSITIVES

There are as many positives as there are players who got into the game on defence. The Bombers D shut out B.C. for 106 minutes and five seconds (seven quarters, plus) when Lions placekicker Sean Whyte kicked a field goal in the fourth quarter to stop that streak.

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“Our defence has been unbelievable all season long. They played a heckuva game,” Collaros said.

That defence held tight even after it lost middle linebacker Adam Bighill — its on-field leader — to an undisclosed, non-contact injury in the second quarter.

“We’re just executing at a high level,” defensive back Tyrell Ford told CJOB. “Everyone’s doing their jobs and we have some good communication out there. The guys are making the game easy. We’re just playing football and having fun. I think that’s the biggest thing — we’re just having fun as a team and as a group — especially the back end. And the whole defence, so it’s something special.”

Ford, who had one of Winnipeg’s two interceptions off highly touted quarterback Nathan Rourke, credited the defensive line for getting pressure on the quarterback, even when they only rushed three players.

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“I was in a good spot,” Ford said of his pick. “I knew he couldn’t throw it over top because I was on top of the receiver and at that point, I just waited for him to throw the ball. Had a good break, caught it and then, I was running (for a TD). Unfortunately, there was a holding call (to negate the TD).”

Defensive back Deatrick Nichols had the other interception.

Ford shrugged off the pre-game hype about Rourke returning from his failed NFL try.

“Nathan Rourke is a really good quarterback, a really good player, but — and I said it in an interview earlier — VA’s (Vernon Adams, Jr.) a good quarterback, too,” he said. “But we had a good game plan and all the receivers were covered, so there wasn’t really anywhere to throw the ball. So, it’s tough.”

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Combined against the Bombers in the last two outings, Adams and Rourke completed 16 of 42 passes for 200 yards, no TDs, with three interceptions (Adams started the previous game against Winnipeg but suffered a knee injury late in that game).

“I thought our defence played really, really well again,” O’Shea said. “I liked the response when we threw an interception — got a sack and two-and-out.”

With the Bombers up 17-3 at the time, B.C. defensive back T.J. Lee had picked off a poorly-thrown Collaros pass about midway through the fourth quarter, which could have sparked a late-game comeback. To no avail due to that almost-impenetrable defence.

That D was so suffocating that Rourke publicly apologized for his performance after the game.

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“I know there was a lot of excitement going into this game and I didn’t deliver,” he said.

Ford also credited Blue Bombers defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger.

“I think what JY (Younger) does that’s so special is that he knows all the guys on the team,” he said. “He’s always putting us into position to be successful. He knows who’s good at what and he just makes the game easy. We’re doing the job we’re good at, so when we’re all clicking, it’s tough to move the ball.”

The special teams did a good job of containing B.C. returners.

Winnipeg’s Lucky Whitehead, who replaced Kody Case as a returner, was solid, but failed to break one.

Speaking of the defence, here’s a shoutout to the much-hated CFL command centre for getting the call right when it negated a Dion Hatcher TD catch in the end zone when he failed to survive contact with the turf.

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And don’t forget that GM Kyle Walters — the man responsible for finding quality replacements for both those who didn’t return and many of those on the long-term injury list — also has 100 franchise wins to his credit.

THE NEGATIVES

Like a golfer who gets the shakes when putting for the championship, the Bombers are still failing to convert red-zone entries into six points way too many times. Heck, maybe they should change the terminology.

“Why do they call it the red zone?” former Bombers head coach Dave Ritchie once asked. “We should call it the green zone because we want to go for a touchdown, not stop.”

The Bombers entered the red zone five times on Sunday, scored two touchdowns and had to settle for three field goal tries by Sergio Castillo (one hit the upright).

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“There were some things that we did to ourselves that could have kept us on the field,” O’Shea said.

“We missed on some opportunities early in the game,” Collaros sad. “There were a couple throws I’d like to have back, and we might have been able to extend it for us earlier. I’ve got to get better at that. But. other than that, I thought we did a pretty good job.”

Backup quarterback Chris Streveler is no longer ‘Mr. Automatic’ when attempting to convert short-yardage gambles. There have been a number of times recently where he had failed to convert, albeit some of them long than a yard. Speaking of short-yardage gambles, why does a wide receiver go offside on a short-yardage play?

Also, let’s temper that praise for the defence by noting that Lions running back William Stanback rushed for 100 yards on 15 carries, often bowling over would-be tacklers in his way. He added another 12 yards on two catches.

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Then again, former Bombers coach Mike Riley once told me that teams which run successfully against his team usually take a long time to score.

THE CONCLUSIONS

The Bombers moved to within two points of second-place B.C., and three of Saskatchewan, first in the CFL West. In fact, with the suddenly-surging Edmonton Elks, only seven points separate the five teams in the West.

So don’t count the Bombers out of making their fifth straight Grey Cup appearance this year.

“It feels good to be rewarded for doing our job. but it still doesn’t mean anything yet.” Ford said. “We’ve just got to keep going and take a moment when we get it done.”

Winnipeg will play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, then play the Roughriders in a critical home-and-home series.

“This time of year, it’s anybody’s game,” defensive end Willie Jefferson said.

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