Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
WINNIPEG – The offence jumped out to an early lead and the defence held on late in the game as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers earned their third straight win, a 29-23 victory over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Bombers kept the Ticats in check, not allowing any momentum to be built to overtake the lead that Matt Nichols and the offence worked to get. Like any true team, both sides of the ball were quick to give credit to the other when breaking down the win.
“I thought they got pressure all night. That’s one of the high-powered offences in the league and it seemed like they held them to a relatively small amount of yardage as far as what they’re used to,” said Nichols of his team’s defence. “They did a good job of getting the ball back for us plenty of times.”
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Four sacks and two forced fumbles stand out from the defensive stat line and the unit came through in the final minute of the game with Hamilton pressing on a potential game-winning drive.
“At the end of the day, that’s what great defences do,” said Adam Bighill, who stuffed the box score with eight tackles along with a forced fumble and a sack. “You finish games and you play all four quarters. It just continues to add confidence when you play that way.”
As the Bombers continue to pick up steam, both Nichols and Bighill acknowledged that the defence is coming together as each game goes by.
“It’s about building chemistry. It’s a long ride and we take it game by game. We’re just coming into stride… It’s team football,” said Bighill. “That’s what you’re going to need all the way down the road. You’ve just got to be able to lock it down when you’ve got to lock it down.”
“They’ve been playing unbelievable,” said Nichols. “I can feel how well they’ve been gelling lately. I can feel it at practice. Practice has gotten harder against our defence. They’ve figured some stuff out and they’re playing great together right now and making it tough for me at practice. It’s great to see that carry over to the game, how well they’re playing.”
Winnipeg will look to keep the ball rolling as they get set to host the Ottawa REDBLACKS next week.
