June 25, 2016

Slow start the difference as Bombers drop opener

CFL.ca

WINNIPEG — It was the furthest thing from what Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans envisioned this off-season.

The Bombers dropped their home-opener 22-14 to the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night, a disappointing result to the debut of Andrew Harris, Weston Dressler and the new-look Bombers. But while things didn’t go their way in Week 1, no one’s panicking just yet.

“It’s a long season,” Harris told BlueBombers.com following the game. “It is disappointing, but at the end of the day you’ve got to flush it and move on.

“We’ve got to look at next week.”

Harris, a Winnipeg native, was exactly as advertised in his first game wearing royal blue, rushing for 80 yards on 13 carries and chipping in 40 yards on six catches. Darvin Adams meanwhile had a game-high 105 yards and a touchdown on five catches.

On a wet night in Winnipeg that included an hour-long delay in the first half due to lightning in the area, there weren’t many other bright spots for one of the off-season’s busiest teams.

» Related: Alouette air show takes flight in season-opening win

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Chip Cox and B.J. Cunningham celebrate during the Als’ 22-14 win over the Bombers (The Canadian Press)

S.J. Green scored a first-half touchdown for the Alouettes while Justin Medlock hit the upright on a 47-yard field goal try in the final minute of the second quarter, sending the Als to a 12-0 halftime lead.

The Alouettes continued their dominance through the third quarter, and it wasn’t until the latter half of the fourth that the Bombers showed life.

After a team record-tying 58-yard field goal by Medlock, Adams made a highlight-reel grab late in the fourth, fighting off a tackle to go 63 yards setting up Winnipeg’s first touchdown of the season. The Bombers got the football back with just under a minute left in their own end, but time ran out just as they could cross midfield.

With 303 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception on 25-of-34 passing, quarterback Drew Willy put in a solid statistical performance but struggled to get into a rhythm until late.

“We need to do more in the first half,” said Willy. “We had a lot of second and short early on that we needed to complete.

“You can’t not have points in the first half,” he added. “It puts a lot of pressure on our defence. Our defence was on the field way too much and that’s our fault.”

The results may have been most disappointing for the fans, particularly those who endured inclement weather to see the likes of Harris, Dressler and Ryan Smith play as Bombers for the first time. Dressler left the game and did not return after suffering an injury in the first half, while Smith was mostly ineffective with just four catches for 33 yards.

“We need to do more in the first half . . . you can’t not have points in the first half.”
Drew Willy

Bombers fans came into 2016 hoping this is the year everything would be different. Through one game that hasn’t been the case, but Head Coach Mike O’Shea and his players aren’t hitting the panic button by any means.

“I’m telling you it’s going to be different,” O’Shea answered reporters after the game. “It’s one game. I think when we turn the film on they’re going to see mistakes, and they’re going to see if they correct the mistakes what it’s going to look like.”

“We just didn’t bring it tonight,” added Harris. “We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror here and be better.”

The Bombers will look to get back in the win column on Canada Day with a road visit to Calgary.

– With files from BlueBombers.com