BLUE REVIEW: Bombers sport most potent, diverse offence in years

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There’s no such thing as the perfect football game.

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There are too many moving parts and split-second decisions to get them all right, even for 60 minutes, not to mention the opposition’s intent to ruin everything.

But what the Winnipeg Blue Bombers pulled off against the front-running B.C. Lions on Thursday was a reasonable facsimile.

Hanging 50 points on the 6-1 Lions – the first CFL team to hit the half-century mark this season – was only one part of the story, although it was the most impressive part.

Somewhat overshadowed by all the lightning-quick offensive strikes was a thundering defence that rumbled over the B.C. attack.

The Lions did have some statistical edges on special teams, but they were a non-factor in the end.

The only thing you could accuse the Bombers of on this night was taking the suspense out of the game early.

A season-high crowd of 30,874, a few hundred more than showed up for Calgary in Week 5, ate it up.

Now, you can point to the advantage Winnipeg had going in: they were rested and well-prepared, coming off a bye, while B.C. had played five days earlier and had to travel.

The Lions were also without starting quarterback Vernon Adams, Jr., although they previously hadn’t skipped a beat with Dane Evans filling in the last two weeks.

None of that fully accounts for the 50-14 count.

In the jubilant locker-room after, several players talked about the message they’d just sent to the Lions, to the rest of the league – even to themselves.

“When we strap up the pads and go against a team that beat us like they did the first time and they’re back in our house, we had to go out there and handle business, no matter what,” defensive end Willie Jefferson said. “Had to. It was a must.”

Let’s take a closer look at the positives and, yes, we found some negatives, too.

THE POSITIVES

— We don’t usually fixate on statistics, but some of the numbers from Thursday are jaw-dropping. Net yards: 576 to 230. Average gain per play: 12.3 yards to 3.9. Yard per pass completion: 21.3 to 9.5. Big plays (runs over 20, passes over 30): 7-0. Those reflect an offence on fire and a defence in grumpy mood.

— They were up against the CFL’s top defence, the only defence that had surrendered less than 100 points, the only one giving up less than 300 yards per game. B.C. had given up just two passing touchdowns, five offensive scores overall. So what’s coordinator Buck Pierce’s game plan? Come out throwing bombs. The result: six touchdowns on offence, four of them through the air. If there were any questions about what Kenny Lawler’s addition would do for the Bombers, consider them answered. Lawler and Dalton Schoen combined for 337 yards alone. Collaros was on fire on the deep balls, nicely avoided the rush the few times it came and seemed in total control, improving his regular-season record in blue and gold to 33-5.

— They wouldn’t come out and say it, but this was the redemption game for the offensive line. Allowing seven sacks against B.C. back in Week 3 was an anomaly, and they needed to prove it. Other than a couple of hurried throws by quarterback Zach Collaros, he and backup Dru Brown came out of the game clean, their numbers sparkling: three touchdown passes and 369 yards from the starter, one long bomb and a touchdown from Brown. When your running game averages 7.2 yards per carry, you know you’ve created some holes, too.

— The Winnipeg defence was laser-focused all night, B.C.’s longest play covering just 26 yards, their only touchdown coming on a fumble return. The Lions couldn’t establish the run (3.9 yards per carry) – they fell behind too quickly to even get a chance – and got stuffed on a third-and-one. They were stifled through the air, too, completing just 51% of their passes. Evans, the starter, was harassed and eventually sent to the sidelines with an injury, and Dominique Davis completed just eight of 18 passes in relief.

— Demerio Houston just keeps on taking. The third-year Bombers defender picked off his league-leading sixth interception, stealing a deep ball intended for Lions game-breaker Alexander Hollins in the first quarter. Safety Brandon Alexander had the other pick, while Jackson Jeffcoat and Jake Thomas recorded the sacks. The defence could have generated more turnovers, but Evan Holm and Willie Jefferson had potential interceptions get away on them.

THE NEGATIVES

— As ridiculous as it sounds, the Bombers could have had more, particularly Lawler. His pass interference penalty negated one early deep catch. In the second quarter, the offence scrimmaged, first-and-goal, at the B.C. five and couldn’t punch it in. Another Lawler major was called back by an offside penalty.

— Brady Oliveira, who lost just one fumble all of last season, coughed up his third in eight games on a pass in the fourth quarter, producing B.C.’s only touchdown of the game. “I’ve got to be better,” Oliveira said, post-game. “I can’t keep putting the frickin’ ball on the ground like that.” The league’s leading rusher says he was immediately told to clear his head because they were coming right back to him in the next series. Sure enough, he lugged his next carry 27 yards for a redemption touchdown. “Now I’ll flush that play, put it in the past and get in the end zone,” he said. “Offensive line did a great job.”

— An interception to end the third quarter will be just enough to leave Collaros ticked off, while kicker Sergio Castillo will rue his second missed convert of the season. A couple of roughing penalties won’t sit well with the defence. The Bombers compounded Jefferson’s horse-collar tackle by wasting a challenge on what was a pretty obvious call. Linebacker Adam Bighill, on the other hand, is perfectly justified in believing he got the short end of the stick after delivering a clean hit to receiver Keon Hatcher in the third quarter. Winnipeg took a few too many niggling penalties, too, including a hold on their first punt return and an illegal alignment on their first offensive play, backing them up to their own five-yard line. The kind of things that drive coaches crazy.

— The Bombers ran just 47 plays to B.C.’s 60 and lost the time-of-possession battle by more than six minutes (insert pregnant pause here). No, that’s not a negative when you’re scoring so quickly and so often. I’m just testing to see if you’re reading this far down.

THE CONCLUSIONS

There were doubts about this team, given the blowout loss to B.C. in Week 3 and the late-game collapse and overtime loss in Ottawa, not to mention that lackluster first half against hapless Edmonton two weeks ago.

They’ve been erased for the time being, after the Bombers’ most dominant effort of the season.

The torch in the CFL West will not go to the Lions without a fight, the two teams now deadlocked at 6-2 with their rubber match still well in the distance, in early October.

The road to the Grey Cup was perilously close to being diverted out west, but there’s now a chance it’ll still go through Winnipeg in November.

The team that’s been to the last three championship games and won two of them looks like it has its mojo back.

It may also have the best aerial attack this franchise as employed in years.

Combine that with a ground game that can still pound, with options like Nic Demski and Greg McCrae providing varied looks and a change of pace, and this could be the most offensively gifted and diverse outfit of the Mike O’Shea/Buck Pierce era.

If Thursday’s showing was an indicator of the defence’s direction, this team should be in the mix for top spot in the West the rest of the way.

The next test: prepare for the Elks in Edmonton (next Thursday) the same way they prepared for the Lions.

pfriesen@postmedia.com

Twitter: @friesensunmedia