CFL.ca
We will have to get CFL stats guru Steve Daniel to investigate this one, but when was the last time a team recorded 18 sacks over a 3-game stretch?
And, more to the point, when was the last time a team had 18 sacks over a 3-game span and won only one of their three outings?
While rare, the Bombers have accomplished those feats in the early stages of the 2013 season.
Winnipeg’s defence, and in particular their front-four, has been outstanding. Defensive end Alex Hall, when asked why they are getting so many sacks, replied simply “because we’re good.”
But while the defence puts up those sensational sack totals, the Bombers are being held back by an offence that is still trying to get out of the gate.
In their 25-20 loss to Hamilton on a glorious Saturday summer evening in Guelph, the Bombers had four two-and-outs in the third quarter before finally managing a first down.
A 13-12 halftime lead slowly but surely evaporated as the Bomber offence stumbled, and the Blue and Gold defenders were overcome by exhaustion on a hot, humid night, running out of gas on a late and long game-clinching Hamilton touchdown drive.
Chad Simpson broke out with a 75-yard touchdown run, and a game total of 116 yards along the ground. That was about the only offensive highlight.
The Bombers had only 15 first downs and 261 yards of net offence against Hamilton’s defence. It’s easy to understand why the fans were pointing their fingers at the Bomber offensive minds. Not that Buck Pierce and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton were the only ones to blame.
There were other areas where the Bombers came up short on Saturday night in Guelph. Nineteen penalties didn’t help, including two offsides calls on Winnipeg punts that ultimately cost the Bombers roughly 25 yards of field position each time as Mike Renaud followed up a good punt with a bad one.
Renaud had averaged only 39.9 yards per punt compared to Josh Bartel’s 50. And Winnipeg place-kicker Justin Palardy missed a 40-yard field goal and had two kickoffs go out of bounds. You could also throw in a breakdown in containment on Hamilton quarterback Henry Burris, who scrambled for 47 yards on 6 carries including a game clinching 10-yard run on second down with just over a minute to play.
But any criticism of the Winnipeg defence is nit-picking. The Blue Bomber offence just hasn’t established anything resembling consistency in the first three games.
Missed assignments, poor execution, the inability to effectively counter blitzes, you name it, the Winnipeg offence has done it. And that needs to change if the Bombers are going to take full advantage of what is shaping up to be an outstanding defensive unit.
