Photo courtesy: Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have only completed 10 passes of 30-plus yards this season, which is tied for fewest in the CFL alongside the winless Ottawa Redblacks. No other team has fewer than 16.
When asked about the team’s lack of deep passing on Tuesday, offensive coordinator Tommy Condell encouraged reporters to check out Pro Football Focus (PFF).
“Make sure as we go through this and look at it from the 15-yard plays or more from a PFF standpoint,” he told reporters. “Look into that, see where we’re at. I think in the first couple weeks we were in the top of the league in that regard, in the top-third of the league.”
3DownNation did exactly as Condell instructed.
According to PFF, Winnipeg ranks sixth in the CFL with 69 completions of 15-plus yards, ahead of only Calgary, Ottawa, and Hamilton. Toronto and Montreal lead with 91 and 90, respectively. The league average is 74.2.
Winnipeg’s passing attack is statistically below average, and it appears Condell is unaware of that fact.
The veteran assistant, whose scheme has relied heavily on the intermediate passing attack in recent years, indicated he can’t force quarterbacks to throw the ball deep, reminding the media that plays always come down to what the defence gives them.
“I just can’t sit there and say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna throw it up there,’” said Condell. “From a coaching standpoint, I’ve gotta make sure that I give (our quarterbacks) an opportunity to know what the look is, but if (the defence is) playing over the top when (a deep shot is) called, and sometimes they actually are called, but you don’t see that because they’re reading (the defensive coverage and not throwing it deep).”
Are opposing defences really working that hard to take away Winnipeg’s deep ball? That seems a little far-fetched, given how teams often prioritize shutting down Brady Oliveira.
The Alouettes have completed 26 passes of 30-plus yards. Surely, defences are scheming to take away those deep balls, but Montreal has just kept completing them.
Four of Winnipeg’s league-worst 10 completions of 30-plus yards relied almost entirely on yards after the catch. Two were caught behind the line of scrimmage, and another two were caught fewer than seven yards downfield.
Only three travelled more than 30 yards through the air, and none did so further than 37 yards.
“From a defensive structure-wise, how are teams playing us? That’s a whole other phase of it, and if you wanna add progressions to another phase of it, that’s a whole other phase of it. Now, if you’re just asking about chucking it deep and closing my eyes and throwing it 50 yards, do we have some of those? Yes, but I’m more along the lines of let’s play progression football,” said Condell.
“Let’s let Zach Collaros and everyone else be able to work through their progressions and that kind of thing, so those are the things that I think are important, but, to me, being able to have more deep shots, and attack the defence is very important because the other thing that lies into it is you get an opportunity to hopefully get a pass interference call, so there is some positive off that kind of stuff, but it’s all-encompassing.”
With the high-flying Alouettes coming to town on Friday, fans at Princess Auto Stadium will likely see a few deep balls get completed.
The question is if any of them will be caught by the home team.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-5) will host the Montreal Alouettes (9-1) at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday, August 28 with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT. Last week, the Alouettes torched the Ottawa Redblacks, while the Blue Bombers suffered a second-half collapse to lose to the Edmonton Elks.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of 25 degrees and a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 690 (English) or 99.5 Montreal (French) in Montreal or CJOB 680 in Winnipeg.
