Bob Irving
CFL.ca
An injured quarterback and a frustrated and angry head coach were among the baggage the Bombers came home from Hamilton with after being dominated 28-7 by the Tiger-Cats in front of just over 21,000 fans at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
It was billed in Hamilton as a must-win game for the 0-2 Tiger-Cats and the hosts played like it. Kevin Glenn put together a 94-yard, six-minute touchdown drive the first time the Ticats had the ball and that set the tone for the entire game.
It was well into the second quarter before the Bombers managed their initial first down, and it wasn’t until early in the fourth quarter that Winnipeg scored its first and only touchdown.
That major came on a quarterback sneak by Steven Jyles, who had gone into the game late in the 3rd quarter when Buck Pierce took a big hit while rolling to his left and throwing a pass. Pierce limped off the field, and early indications were that he had suffered significant damage to his knee.
But, further examination provided a more optimistic outlook. Pierce has only a “sprained” knee and might only miss one game.
Blue Bomber head coach Paul Lapolice had much to be upset with after the game. His team took the staggering total of 15 penalties after taking just 12 in the first two games. One of the infractions was a “too many men” punishment, which spoke to the Bombers lack of focus.
Bomber receivers dropped a total of 4 or 5 passes. There were missed assignments on both offence and defence.
And when the Bombers put their first sustained offensive drive together late in the second, quarterback Pierce underthrew Terrence Edwards in the end zone, Markeith Knowlton intercepted, and the Bombers had squandered a great chance to shift the momentum of the game.
Bombers players had no excuses. Some said they came out flat, others lamented their failure to match Hamilton’s intensity. The kind of explanations you usually hear when a team gets badly beaten.
One bright spot was the play of Jyles. He completed 9 of 13 passes for 95 yards and played with poise and confidence. Lapolice signed Jyles as a free agent during the off-season because he was confident he could provide qualify quarterbacking, and now Jyles, in his 5th CFL season, but with only 1 start under his belt, will get a chance to prove it.
Other bright spots for the Bombers in Hamilton were running back Fred Reid, who carried 8 times for 84 yards, receiver Terrence Edwards, who caught 7 passes for 99 yards, and punter Mike Renaud, who had a 49.9 yard average against the Ticats to maintain a season average of over 50 yards per punt.
We’ll find out how resilient the Blue bombers are this weekend.
They have lost 2 games in a row and they will be up against a desparate 0-3 Edmonton team on Saturday night at Canad-Inns Stadium.
