Bob Irving
CFL.ca
The remarkable Magical Mystery Tour that is the 2011 Winnipeg Blue Bombers season continued merrily along its road through Empire Field in Vancouver on Saturday night.
How or where it will end is anyone’s guess, but up to now it has been a thrilling and unexpected ride.
A 30-17 win over the struggling B.C. Lions at Empire Field was Winnipeg’s fourth victory in a row, and left the Bombers with a 6-1 record heading into the bye week.
The results should satisfy the remaining Bomber detractors, including the odds makers who somehow made the Lions a one-point favourite, despite the one 1-5 record they held heading in Saturday night.
It’s Winnipeg’s first four-game win streak since 2003, and is also the first time in 27 years that a Bombers team has started 6-1.
The last time Winnipeg achieved such a feat, Cal Murphy’s team went on to win the Grey Cup. I’m not suggesting anything, just sayin’.
Here are a few more “numbers” to chew on. The last time the Bombers won their first three road games in a season was 1982.
And for those who believe that “fast starts” are critical to success, check this out.
The Bombers trailed the Lions 7-3 after the first quarter, making it 51-19 that they have been outscored in opening quarters this year.
Based on that, one could suggest the Bombers aren’t very well prepared at the beginning of games. Trumping that theory, though, is this: Paul LaPolice’s team has outscored their opponents 153-73 in the final three quarters.
Included in that is a mind-numbing 76-13 edge in the third quarter alone. So, how to explain all this just one year after a 4-14 season?
It’s actually quite simple. LaPolice and general manager Joe Mack knew they didn’t have a bad football team last year. They simply had a team with a bad record.
The Bombers were competitive in nearly every outing during the 2010 season, losing nine times by four points or less.
Mack and LaPolice believed in the young, athletic and fast group they had assembled. Instead of deviating from their plan, they re-signed some of their own key free agents, notably center Obby Khan and defensive back Jonathan Hefney.
And they held onto the belief that a year of maturity and development would produce better results.
Throw in a healthy Buck Pierce, who has started all seven games at quarterback, and you have one of the more remarkable turnarounds in recent CFL times.
I’ll end this with two more truly eye-popping “stats.” The Bombers lead the CFL with 30 takeaways and only 11 giveaways for a stunning plus-19 in the critical takeaway-giveaway category.
Nobody else is even close.
And, the Bombers have registered 29 quarterback sacks, a total that is miles ahead of all the competitors.
As I said, I don’t know how this will end, but right now, the Bomber bandwagon is overflowing, with sell-out crowds of 29,500 virtually assured for their remaining home games.
