Three weeks ago Winnipeg lost to Calgary at home 33-18, falling to a 1-4 record. Now the shoe is on the other foot.
Friday, in similar fashion, the Blue Bombers went into Toronto and dismantled the Argonauts 34-17. Despite going down early, Winnipeg prevailed as the superior team in all three phases of the game.
After starting the season miserably, the Bombers are making strides with players they picked up off the scrap heap. A second-hand player on offence, defence and at quarterback has made the Bombers the hottest team in the CFL and a force to be reckoned with.
Defensively, that guy is rookie Kevin Fogg, who previously spent time with the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Argos learned this the hard way as Fogg racked up two interceptions, a quarterback sack, a fumble recovery and 118 return yards in his BMO Field debut. Fogg’s ball-hawking play has been a catalyst for the Bombers’ defensive turn around, which has been just as drastic after the squad forced 13 turnovers in their last three games.
On offence the Bombers’ ascension is only outdone by the Cinderella rise of Clarence Denmark from unemployed to unstoppable as the receiver went off for 195 yards Friday. Denmark wasn’t even on the roster two weeks ago. He’s been a part of the organization for less than a pay cycle, but bringing him back sure has paid off. In the last two weeks, Denmark has seven catches, 264 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
Don’t forget: Denmark was cut by Winnipeg in March and after that was cut by Saskatchewan in June.
After being fined this week for storing too many players in town on a secret practice roster, how did the Riders let Denmark out of town? Denmark only had three TDs last season. He’s already equalled that this year. In fairness, he’s only back in Winnipeg because they didn’t have enough healthy receivers to competitively practice.
Which takes us to the lynchpin of the turn around, Matt Nichols. Nichols has been doing it in Winnipeg with four starting receivers injured. Most of the receiving core that has played during their hot stretch came off their practice roster.
Despite that fact, Nichols is unbeaten in his first three starts and his win against the Argos was the first game this year he’s thrown an interception. Nichols went a remarkable 90 attempts before throwing his first pick on Friday night.
The line of demarcation for Winnipeg righting the ship is when Nichols was inserted as the starter in place of Drew Willy. Despite the small sample size, there really isn’t any comparison between Nichols and Willy.
| Bombers 2016 Quarterbacks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nichols | Willy | |
| Touchdowns | 8 | 5 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 4 |
| Record | 3-0 | 1-4 |
It’s no coincidence the Blue Bombers have scored 30 points in all three games Nichols has started for them. That feat is something Winnipeg hadn’t done this season with Drew Willy behind centre.
Last week the Bombers scored four TDs in the first half alone. That comes after they scored just 10 TDs total in the first six games of the season.
Coach Mike O’Shea believes the big difference isn’t in winning intent but in winning intellectualism: “We’ve started to learn what it’s going to take to win and that’s a good thing, that kind of knowledge.”
Winnipeg heads into the bye week with a new lease on life. In the press box during the dominant performance, O’Shea’s name was being mentioned as an early coach of the year candidate. This after it wasn’t too long ago there were rumblings that with another loss he’d be out of a job.
Now O’Shea’s main job is keeping the red-hot Blue Bombers on track in their idle time and help general manager Kyle Walters find another piece of player gold from someone else’s trash.
