Photo: Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have struggled offensively at times this season, but it felt like things came to a head against the B.C. Lions in Week 9.
The club managed only 19 points and 304 net yards in the 16-point defeat, which came at the hands of a rookie quarterback making his first career CFL start.
In his first media availability since the loss, Blue Bombers offensive coordinator Tommy Condell struggled to explain the performance, claiming it was difficult to remember 11 days after the fact.
“It’s been a long time ago because I did have some cigars and I did have some good scotch (on bye this past week), and I thought about world problems and tariffs, and making sure that we’re winning games,” Condell told reporters on Monday.
“To be quite honest with you, it’d be a long time that I can remember it, but I wish we were able to (win). I could have done a better job, and it hurts me to my core that we weren’t been able to win that game, and I wanted to give those guys the best chance and opportunity. It was a good bye week and that kind of thing, but a bye week that I wish we were able to smile maybe a little bit more.”
Condell has been criticized at times this season for relying too heavily on the passing game.
This wasn’t an issue against B.C., as Brady Oliveira rushed 19 times for 107 yards to notch his third 100-yard game of the season.
However, the passing game was miserable. Dru Brown and Taylor Elgersma combined for only 190 yards through the air. It was a remarkably conservative attack as neither player attempted a pass that travelled more than 20 yards downfield through the air.
“If we run the ball too much or we don’t run the ball enough, it’s like my kids going to a steakhouse — someone wants chicken nuggets, someone wants that. I believe that we have to do the best thing for the team, and that’s what we tried to do,” said Condell.
“When you’re called upon to throw or called upon to run, we’ve got to be able to execute, and I’ve got to do obviously a better job of coaching, and getting them into position to be able to do that on a consistent basis — that’s more important than anything.”
Familial dietary choices aside, the numbers illustrate that Winnipeg’s offence has been subpar this year.
The unit was greatly maligned last year, so much so that Jason Hogan was demoted from offensive coordinator to his previous role of running backs coach. Condell was hired in his place, with newcomers Lee Hull and Bralon Addison joining him on staff.
The Blue Bombers also spent heavily in free agency, signing All-CFL offensive lineman Jarell Broxton, four-time All-East Division selection Tim White, and Saskatchewan Roughriders playoff hero Tommy Nield. Shortly after the regular-season began, Brown was acquired from Ottawa to provide depth at quarterback.
After all those changes, the offence have shown little improvement. Year-over-year, Winnipeg is scoring 1.3 more offensive points per game and gaining 0.1 more yards per play.
To reiterate: that’s three coaching changes and $650,000 in free-agent spending to generate a little over one extra point per game, and essentially the same yardage.
If a hedge fund manager yielded such a poor return on investment, they might have to find a new line of work.
It seems Condell’s solution for the offence’s woes is to have the players become more focused on the process, and less concerned about the result of each individual play.
“I feel like we’re very inconsistently consistent, and we’ve got to be able to finish those things, but in order to do that kind of thing, you’re not just gonna look at the outcome, so to speak. You’ve gotta chop wood and carry water, that kind of thing, and then you have to be able to do those things and not look just at the outcome. You’ve gotta look at the full what goes into the play and not just the stat or the ending of it,” said Condell.
“Every play has its own paragraph or own chapter, and the ending of the chapter is just the stat. We’ve gotta be worried about what’s happening within that whole play and not worry about the outcome, so to speak. The outcome will take care of itself, and I’ve got to be able to coach that, and be able to coach that way in order for them to think that way.”
Winnipeg’s offence will have an excellent opportunity to explode this week with the winless Ottawa Redblacks coming to town on Friday night.
Zach Collaros appears set to return to the starting lineup after missing four games with a neck injury. Broxton is also expected to start after sitting out the loss to B.C. due to a knee problem.
The Redblacks are in the process of purging their defence, as Demerio Houston and Amari Henderson were released from the secondary, and defensive linemen Bryce Carter and Michael Wakefield have been moved to the six-game injured list.
The team recently fired defensive coordinator William Fields and replaced him with Jeff Reinebold, who knows a thing or two about struggling Blue Bombers offences dating back to his tenure with the club from the 1990s.
If there was ever such thing as a “get right” game, this should be it for Winnipeg’s offence.
If the unit falters, Condell will probably be looking to forget about this one, too.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-4) will host the Ottawa Redblacks (0-8) at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday, August 14 with kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT. The Redblacks suffered a 42-20 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, while the Blue Bombers were on bye.
The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for 23 degrees with a mix of sun and cloud. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 1200 in Ottawa or 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.
