August 13, 2018

Bombers welcoming all the pressure

The Canadian Press

Growth can be measured simply through a statistical comparison from one game to another, one season to another. And it is often best represented by the cold, hard numbers that show up in the black and white of a Canadian Football League stats package.

There are other tell-tale signs too, although not always as visible to the naked eye from the stands, the press box, from home while watching on TV or listening to the radio.

Jovan Santos-Knox, for example, lived it and felt it as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers stepped onto the field late in Friday’s victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats while protecting a slim lead.

“As we got in the huddle at the end we said, ‘If we want to be a championship football team this is what we do: we make big stops at this time,’” began the Bombers second-year linebacker in a euphoric locker room after the game. We want that pressure. We want the game to come down to us and that’s the difference I see in this team, the growth I see in this team. Before it was like, ‘C’mon, we need our offence to score.’

“I’m proud of how we dug in deep, fought and didn’t give anything up at the end. That’s a great step in the right direction. Now we’re taking all challenges on. We get a lead, that’s all we need. That’s a great sign.”

It’s a great sign and an important development for a franchise that wants to morph from a playoff team to a team that wins in the playoffs. And what the Bombers did in the final moments of the 29-23 win is exactly what every squad wants for those Sunday games in mid-to-late November.

Leading by a field goal at 26-23 with 7:58 remaining, the Bombers limited the Ticats to nine plays totalling 20 yards – with the crowd chipping in to help as Hamilton took two procedure penalties on their last possession. It was exactly the shut-down finish that had been lacking in a season-opening loss to Edmonton and in that second-half meltdown in Vancouver last month.

 

Again, while teams can preach this all they want until they live it – and have success with it – it’s just chatter. What Friday’s defensive performance does is help build on a foundation that has been established over the last few weeks in which the Bombers have gone 4-1 while surrendering an average of 19.2 points per game.

“That’s a solid football team we just played,” said Santos-Knox of the Tiger-Cats. “And for us to lock in like that, to be able to look at everyone to my left and to my right and know that they’re dialled in and we’re going to do everything we can to get off the field… that’s a great feeling, man.”


For more on Ed Tait’s analysis on the Bombers win over the Ticats, read here.