Here in Winnipeg, the mainstream media doesn’t spend a lot of time between games talking about football.
Sadly, most media people in my hometown want to talk about silliness. Things like fake spies and the coach’s involvement in cheating that isn’t cheating because no cheating took place (got that?) or what somebody might have to said to somebody about somebody seems to be much more important than actually looking at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to see why the team is 1-2.
That’s where we come in.
Saturday, in a dreadful football game (absolutely freakin’ dreadful), the Hamilton Tiger-Cats beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 25-13 in what was, quite frankly, a very sad day for the Bomber offence.
Starting quarterback Stefan LeFors completed seven-of-19 passes for a measly 99 yards and no TDs. Bryan Randall came off the bench to complete two passes-on five attempts, no TDs and one interception. Head coach Mike Kelly has long claimed to be an expert when it comes to judging quarterbacks. He needs to put on his thinking cap. Sooner, not later.
On Saturday, the Bombers were OK defensively. They gave up a couple of late touchdowns, but those guys were on the field a long time. This was a game that was dominated by the Hamilton offence in the second half and the Bomber D didn’t have much left in the tank at the end.
That’s because the offence did nothing. The O-line isn’t bad when it comes to run blocking, but young QBs like LeFors and Randall need a lot more time to throw. For the most part on Saturday, they had little or no time to throw. And when it’s tough to throw spirals anyway — as it is for both those guys — they need a LOT of time to throw.
Back in the spring I worried that this football team might resemble the Jeff Reinebold mess back in the late 90s. I don’t feel that way anymore, but I do worry about one thing.
Stefan LeFors is very close to becoming the next T.J. Rubley.