Photo: David Mahussier / 3DownNation. All rights reserved.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by a score of 26-12 Friday night in front of 23,600 IG Field fans. Below are my thoughts on the game.
The ‘Dark Side’ is back
Winnipeg’s self-proclaimed “Dark Side” defense easily had its best performance of the CFL’s young season, limiting the Ticats to 269 yards of offense. The club only gave up one major play – a 41-yard pass to David Ungerer III that was nearly knocked down by Nick Taylor, which was a big improvement over the first two weeks of the season against Ottawa.
The defense fired a series of penalty kicks, timing their shots perfectly on Hamilton’s vulnerable receivers. Great shots from Demerio Houston, more on him in a moment, and Adam Bighill set up the two interceptions in Winnipeg’s fourth quarter, which finally sealed the game.
“When you run to the ball good things happen,” head coach Mike O’Shea told CJOB. “We did well tonight and it bore fruit with the boys who received takeaway food.”
Zach Collaros had a great season in 2021 and was a well-deserved award winner for the league’s most outstanding player, but the Winnipeg defense was the main reason the club repeated as the Gray Cup champions. The unit silenced their doubts on Friday, playing a dominant match against the Ticats.
Willie good performance
Willie Jefferson showed the first signs of having a prominent performance when he made an inside move on Tyrone Riley to pressure Dane Evans into Hamilton’s initial possession. He remained disruptive throughout the game before finally reaching home for his first catch of the season early in the fourth quarter, eliminating Evans by a ten-yard loss.
For years, it was “Free Willy.” This time, Willie set us free … from boring football #Bombers #ForTheW #CFL pic.twitter.com/vpeVk3i1UO
– 3DownNation (@ 3DownNation) June 25, 2022
Jefferson’s most important play of the night came to the next unit when he intercepted a sloping pass and returned it to 30 yards for a touchdown. His line of stats was impressive: three tackles, a sack and a pick-6, but I wouldn’t say the six-foot, 245-pound runner took over the game. Jefferson has yet another team he can hit as the season progresses.
Demski explodes
Nic Demski’s catch near the end of the first half is one of the best catches you’ll see all season. A pass to the side pulled the defense out of position which let Dachki slip through on goal. He struggled to get back to the pass and held on to get the catch despite tight coverage from Tunde Adeleke, a two-time East Division star.
Nic Demski (@ Demski9) has to be a certified chiropractor, because he’s here making crazy adjustments to football #CFL #Bombers # ForTheWpic.twitter.com/AvLsQjxoMX
– 3DownNation (@ 3DownNation) June 25, 2022
The former first-round pick left the game early in the third quarter after his leg was uncomfortable during an inning. He walked into the locker room with the training body and did not return, finishing the game with six catches for 96 yards in just over half a job.
Demski was quiet in two games against Ottawa, but many of his contributions do not reach the statistics. He is often asked to stay and block and does so effectively in both career and passing situations. If you lose a significant amount of time, you will be sorely missed in the Winnipeg offensive.
Where are the races?
Winnipeg’s quick attack was ineffective against Hamilton with Brady Oliveira and Johnny Augustine combining just 59 yards on 17 carries (3.5 yards per carry). I should have watched the film to offer a more in-depth analysis, but at first glance, no individual or group seems to be to blame.
The offensive line is not generating traffic lanes with enough consistency. When there are race lanes, the bearers of the ball are not hitting them hard enough. The play could also be improved by using the wrong direction to keep the defense more unbalanced.
The lack of an ongoing game has yet to cost Winnipeg anything (the team is 3-0, after all), but they will have to find a way out of that routine.
Houston, we have no problem
Demerio Houston started the corner kick instead of an injured Winston Rose, who fought in straight games against Ottawa. He was defeated by 17 yards at Steven Dunbar Jr. in the first quarter, but settled in quickly, finishing the game with six innings.
Houston started two games with Winnipeg as a midfielder in 2021, but overall has been an in-depth player with the team. It’s a small sample size, of course, but it looked very comfortable around the corner. Clearly, there is no reason to recover Rose from the injury.
Spotlight
Chris Kolankowski started off in the center instead of an injured Michael Couture and had a good performance on his first outing with the team. When Greg Ellingson made a 46-yard catch on Winnipeg’s first offensive play, he was seeing Kolankowski as a triple defensive tackle by CFL star Micah Johnson. It was one of his many awesome blogs.
It’s hard not to cheer on Kolankowski. The 30-year-old attended York University, a school that has not featured any winning football team in 20 years, and was not invited to the CFL National Combine in 2016. He did not sign all season of the CFL 2019 after achieving this. cut by the Toronto Argonauts and has spent most of his career on the training list.
Several major centers in the league have suffered serious injuries over the past week, including Couture, Dan Clark of Saskatchewan and Sean Jamieson of Montreal. Here we hope that this trend will end as soon as possible. Offensive line players are difficult to replace and the CFL needs their quarterbacks to be well protected to ensure the games remain entertaining.
BOO
Brendan O’Leary-Orange replaced Demski after he fell with an apparent leg injury and made his first catch of his career with a 19-yard pass from Zach Collaros. He finished the game with three receptions for 22 yards.
The Toronto native is the son of former CFL runner Doyle Orange and once caught 11 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns in a game when he was a sophomore at the University of Nevada. He may have finished in the NFL if the injuries didn’t derail his youth and senior seasons with the Wolfpack, and instead it was a fourth-round pick in the CFL 2020 Draft.
It’s a shame that O’Leary-Orange’s chance came at Demski’s expense, but I’ve been excited to see him play in the CFL since I was in college. It will be interesting to see what he is able to do if he starts next week.
For stitches only
Marc Liegghio had an excellent night throwing football, making his three field attempts from distances of 45, 30 and 41 yards along with two converts.
Three of Liegghio’s clearances finished in the end zone by individual points, but still finished with a respectable 36.8 net yards per try. His 69.3-yard average on throws was well above the league average.
Winnipeg fans have lost patience with a bad kick, which is fair, but this week they will have nothing to complain about.
Where is Simoni?
Simoni Lawrence attacked social media on Friday afternoon after former Ticats assistant coach Jeff Reinebold criticized him on The Rod Pedersen Show for the lack of big plays. He expected a motivated Lawrence to make at least one major play Friday night, but he didn’t stand out at all for the Ticats, making just three tackles.
Welcome to the CFL
Former first-round pick Liam Dobson made his CFL debut in the regular season on Friday and was in the tight end when Julian Howsare defeated him for a sack. Dobson will be a good offensive line player in this league, but he will obviously need to improve his understanding of passing pitching angles in the Canadian game.
The best showman, @julianhowsare 🪄 # CFLGameday | @Ticats pic.twitter.com/lE411H2YsR
– CFL (@CFL) June 25, 2022
Outside the forest
Newcomer Lawrence Woods seems like a very nice find for Hamilton. He has yet to bring one back for a touchdown this season, but has been close to doing so several times. I would be surprised if it doesn’t happen soon.
Intense weather
I posted a Twitter thread before the match describing the CFL’s weather policy, as the launch was delayed 30 minutes due to storms in the area. After Winnipeg hosted the longest regular season game in CFL history just four years ago, I can’t begin to describe the pleasure I felt for Friday’s game to have taken place without any delay. additional weather.
Short pause
Half of it was shortened in five minutes due to the weather delay and I can’t help but wonder if this is a change the CFL should consider making permanently.
We’re no longer the 1960s – players and coaches don’t need a break to smoke halfway through the game, and the first-half movie can be viewed instantly on a tablet or smartphone. The half time should not be as long as before.
Today’s entertainment is about keeping the audience engaged with shorter, more impactful content. Shortening the break could be a way for the CFL to do so.
Fashion police
Winnipeg wore white shirts on Friday and encouraged fans to dress in line with what the club called “the spirit of a white man.” Given how bad the Jets were this season, it seemed appropriate for local sports fans to have a chance to have at least one target this spring / summer.
The club usually combines white shirts with gold pants, but dropped that combination against Hamilton to wear the blue pants of their new alternate uniforms. If you ask me, this should become a permanent change: when you have the word “blue” in your name, it doesn’t make sense to do mostly white and gold sport on the road.
According to press announcer Tom Hallick, this was the first time Winnipeg wore white to …