The Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost a 24-21 heartbreaker to the B.C. Lions on Sunday, but sadly, it was a heartbreaker of the Bombers own making. Once again, turnovers killed Winnipeg.
Michael Bishop went 13 for 32 – just awful – with one touchdown and three interceptions. He also lost a fumble. Four turnovers means one big loss. Bishop must learn to protect the football.
With two games coming up against Montreal, turnovers will end the playoff dream. The Bombers have a very good football team, but as soon as they start turning over the football, everything unravels.
Meanwhile, I just love how the largest local newspaper has now decided that Mike Kelly has had nothing to do with the resurgence of the suddenly solid 6-9 Winnipeg Blue Bombers and all the credit should go to Kelly’s pal, Manny Matsakis.
Cut the crap. Kelly has re-built the Blue Bombers and the fact the he hired Matsakis to work with Michael Bishop, and hopefully make Bishop better, is just another example of Kelly’s coaching prowess. The Bombers lost a heartbreaker on Sunday, but Kelly is still proving just how great a coach he is.
The Bombers will win one of two games against Montreal and finish up the season with a win over Hamilton. They will make the playoffs. And in the playoffs, as we all know, anything can happen.
I mean, what the hell, the Bombers have brought back Troy Westwood. Anything can happen.
Dumped by Doug Berry because Berry didn’t like Westwood’s haircut, or something like that, Kelly called Westwood on Monday, hoping to get a little help with the punting game. With a season-ending injury to Mike Renaud, Kelly needed a legitimate punter and who better than a full-time radio announcer who sings aboriginal country music in his spare time.
“This is not a condemnation at all of anything that Alexis Serna did (Sunday),” Kelly said on Monday. “I thought he did a fine job for us. But we also played a Canadian down and this gives us an opportunity to bring Troy in on the practice roster and take a look to see how he can do. If in fact, we feel he can help us, then we will activate him.”
Westwood, now 42, will punt on Saturday against Montreal.
“Someone asked me early in the day on Sunday about coming back to punt and I said there is absolutely no hope whatsoever of that,” he said. “So, I just about fell over when I checked my phone at the movie theatre. I was very surprised and I have more or less been trying to contain and control my emotions since that time.”
Westwood will wear No. 74 on Saturday. He spent 17 seasons with the Bombers before being released, in a nasty, personal move by Berry during training camp last June. In his first stint with the club, he played 278 games. He holds more than 35 club records and is the team’s all-time leading scorer with 2,741 points.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers took a bold step into the past simply by calling Westwood. Frankly, it was a terrific decision by head coach Mike Kelly. This allows Alexis Serna to concentrate on his kicking duties and leaves Westwood, one of the best punters into the Canad Inns Stadium wind, to handle the important punting duties. It also shows that the Doug Berry Era is long gone and the Bombers are looking to rebuild their future by embracing their past.
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