Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
WINNIPEG — It was the question on everyone’s mind, and Mike O’Shea had no clear answer: Who will start at quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Week 6?
The Bombers dropped their Week 5 matchup with the Calgary Stampeders, 33-18, on Thursday night at Investors Group Field. Drew Willy has started every game this season, but after being pulled in the fourth quarter and replaced by Matt Nichols, O’Shea says who starts next week has yet to be determined.
“That’s a decision we’ll make later on in the week,” O’Shea told BlueBombers.com post-game. “I’ll sit down and talk to the offensive coaching staff, we’ll watch the film together and we’ll figure things out.”
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It’s one of many questions for the Bombers, now 1-4 after falling behind early once again and ultimately dropping their third home game of the season.
Bo Levi Mitchell had his way against a secondary hit by three separate injuries on Thursday, while Willy, playing behind an offensive line that had to rely on defensive linemen Jake Thomas to step in throughout most of the second half, failed to move the offence into the red zone.
The final straw came partway through the fourth when Willy’s pass deep in his own end was intercepted by Joe Burnett and returned for a touchdown, putting the Stamps up by 16 points and killing any second-half momentum the Bombers were able to muster.
This was after the Bombers had pulled to within 10 points following a Justin Medlock field goal.
“Out route there, buzzed underneath it,” said Willy. “Backed up like that, can’t do that obviously. Any time you have a pick-six it’s not good, and that’s it.”
That was what forced O’Shea to make the change after Willy had completed 23 of 33 passes for 234 yards and an interception on the night, while Nichols, in his first playing time of the season, generated a scoring drive on a short field and threw for 88 yards on 9-of-15 passing.
With Willy sidelined by injury last season, Nichols was acquired via trade by the Bombers after Labour Day, becoming the starter throughout the second half of the 2015 season with some success.
Now it appears there’s competition for the chance to start, although both pivots know whatever O’Shea decides to do is out of their hands.
“It’s not my . . . I’ve just got to be ready to play,” Willy lamented after the game. “There’s nothing I can really do about it. I just have to stay ready and execute.”
“That’s not something I’m thinking about or my decision,” added Nichols. “Right now I’ll just do what I always do and watch the film with Drew, talk through it and work together to get each other better.”
With next week’s Thursday night game in Edmonton fast approaching, it won’t be long before a decision is made by O’Shea and his staff. But while that’s the number one question on everyone’s mind, it’s far from being the only one.
While injuries made life difficult, the Bombers struggled in multiple facets of the game on Thursday night, including the defensive side of the ball. They were picked apart in the first half by Mitchell, who completed 12 of his first 16 passing attempts with a pair of touchdowns, while the running game struggled once again, mustering only 31 yards on the ground and 2.6 yards per attempt.
“We’re just not making plays,” said Andrew Harris, the Winnipeg native and star running back signed in the off-season to bolster the Bombers’ ground game. “We’re not getting it done. It’s as simple as that.”
“We wanted to focus on getting the run game going,” he added. “That didn’t happen. We struggled in that aspect.
“It’s tough to put a finger on right now, but after we watch film we’ll have a better finger on it.”
A fumble by Weston Dressler also cost the Bombers, as did a failed third-and-one gamble that O’Shea called the biggest turning point of the game.
In the end, while the Bombers have been in the game throughout every fourth quarter thus far, there’s a lot they’ll look to improve on heading into their second matchup of the season against the Eskimos next weekend – no matter who starts at quarterback.
“We’re not getting blown out,” said Harris after the game. “The games are still winnable – we’re still having a chance in the end.
“I don’t think for one second we don’t have the right guys in this room,” he added. “It’s just a matter of us not collectively playing well together and not playing well on all cylinders.”
Added O’Shea: “Losing stinks, but we’ll get back at it, regroup a little bit and get going on Edmonton.”
– With files from BlueBombers.com
