In the CFL any team can beat any team any week; yet the Bombers found a way to lose a game that they should have won!
When I say 'the Bombers should have won', I do not mean that based on how the teams are performing this season that the Bombers should have won. No. I mean that based on how the teams were playing in that game the Bombers should have won.
Losing by a single point, the Bombers actually had full control of the game well into the second quarter.
So what happened? There are three things that happened that changed the outcome of this game.
1. The most important and shocking thing - well maybe not shocking, but it should be - is that the Bombers stopped running the ball! The had zero run attempts in the second half. In a game where it finally looked like the Bombers remembered that their success is on the heels of running the ball...they stopped running it. This is inconceivable as their offensive coordinator used to be their running backs coach! The only thing I can think of is that his plate is too full and he cannot handle the extra load and is out-thinking himself.
All of Brady's runs were in the first half! He was doing well, the Bombers were doing well...until they stopped running the ball. Just look at the third quarter. The Bombers put up no points in the third quarter. That is directly related to them not running the ball.
2. The Bombers' defense still cannot stop the long plays. If not running the ball continuously is a ongoing issue, so is this point. The Bombers are leaky in the secondary. By now, other teams know it and unless Winnipeg fixes this other teams will throw the long ball on Winnipeg...and I would not blame them for doing so. In a game where Castillo hit a 63 yard field goal, to put the Bombers up with about a minute left, the Bombers' defense failed.
3. The Bombers either do not understand the problems, or are addressing them quietly. I said earlier that the issue is not that they just need to play harder - as is what we hear from the players and coaching staff. The real problem is that the Bombers do not have an identity. If they did, they would keep running the ball instead of making an adjustment that was not needed.
Do not get me wrong, the Stampeders are a good football team and they would have come out to play in the second half. But if the Bombers even played with a very faint heartbeat in the second half they would have won. How do I know? Because the Bombers played a lethargic second half and still almost won.
The Bombers now sit 4-4 and they better figure this out quickly, because they only have until Thursday! On Thursday evening the Bombers take on the RedBlacks. And while the RedBlacks are 2-7 Winnipeg has not proven that they can put those games with lesser teams to bed. They lost to Toronto, giving Toronto their second win - and Ottawa just beat Toronto. And then Winnipeg was close to losing to Toronto a second time.
After this week, Winnipeg goes to Montreal (5-4), and then to Saskatchewan, and then home vs. Saskatchewan. Right now, how many of those games do you see the Bombers winning? I could see a scenario where Winnipeg beats Ottawa at home (with the help of the crowd noise) and then drops the next 3! That would put them at 5-8 on the season. If that does not cause Bomber fans, and more importantly the Bombers staff as well as offensive and defensive coordinator to stop, pause and make needed adjustments...then this team is in real trouble.
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