Jason Halstead/CFL.ca
Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
Hamilton will make their first visit to the newly named capital of Manitoba; Swaggerville.
After out-swagging opposing offences through the first seven weeks of the 2011 campaign, the Blue Bomber defenders are walking around with a lot of it in their step.
They have certainly backed up all their talk so far. Winnipeg leads the league in a number of defensive categories but three statistics stand out the most. The Bombers have given up just 18.6 points per game, notched a league high 29 sacks, and most impressively, the Blue and Gold have forced 30 turnovers.
They treat the football as if they were on offence and it belongs in their hands all the time. Winnipeg has grabbed 11 interceptions — four came against Hamilton in week one — and forced 11 fumbles. The other eight turnovers have come on downs.
“They’re a very fast defence and they play together, that’s why they have been successful,” offensive lineman Brian Simmons said after the Tiger-Cats final day of preparations on Wednesday before departing for Winnipeg on Thursday.
Simmons will be one of the men tasked, for the second time this year, with slowing down the self-proclaimed mayor of Swaggerville, defensive end Odell Willis.
“In my opinion he is the most explosive defensive end in the league. I look forward to going against him again,” said Simmons.
Simmons’ opinion seems to be a prevailing one throughout the league. Willis has brought down opposing pivots eight times in seven contests to date. With Willis’ innate ability to rush, and get to the passer, naturally, he has drawn more attention from offensive lines around the CFL. The increased attention on Willis has opened the door for running mate Kenny Mainor, who has six sacks himself. The bookends sit number one and two, respectively in the CFL sack department.
“It’s not just Willis, you have to worry about everyone that is lined up on that entire defence,” Simmons said.
Winnipeg’s pass rushers are adept at winning their one-on-one match-ups with opposing offensive lineman, but they also run some stunts to change-up their pass rush look, in order to get a free rusher to the quarterback.
“We have to really focus on staying square, Simmons said. “We just have to continue to do what we’ve been doing. We do have the least amount of sacks allowed in this league.”
“We just need to keep communicating and know our assignments, and not have any mental breakdowns and we should be fine.”
Simmons and his big boys up front allowed just two sacks in week one to the Bomber defence, before they were known as Swaggerville. They have picked up 27 sacks in six games since.
“Our offensive line takes pride in protecting me,” quarterback Kevin Glenn said.
The franchise pivot will roll into Canad Inns stadium with a much different receiving corps than what the Blue Bombers faced in week one. Arland Bruce was traded, Maurice Mann suffered a freak injury, and rookies Bakari Grant and Chris Williams have become prevalent in the passing attack.
“We’ve evolved with our roster,” head coach Marcel Bellefeuille said.
Also, receiver Aaron Kelly will get a full 60 minutes against the Bombers, after he left the first meeting with a concussion in the second half. But this game will not be at Ivor Wynne, like the week one meeting, Hamilton will play in front of what will be a sold-out and raucous Bomber crowd.
“It’s part of the game, having the crowd yell at you, the whole point of going on the road is to silence the crowd, silence that 13th man,” Glenn said. “The only way you can quiet the crowd is get first downs and score points.”
Silence in Swaggerville, after four quarters, would be a sweet sound to the ears of the visitors.
