Time for a major overhaul for Winnipeg's beloved CFL franchise.

Even the most rabid Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans are starting to think there might be a problem with their beloved football team.

This past week, as the Bombers prepared for Friday night’s home game against the Montreal Alouettes, head coach Doug Berry talked about the fact that at 1-5, his team still had a chance in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. 

The latest Bomber cheer from that randy Blue Lightning outfit was a hearty, “Still alive at 1-5!”

Little did Berry know at the time that the only thing that was still alive was The Curse of Troy Westwood.

Friday night, the Bombers were drilled 39-11 by the Als at Winnipeg’s 54-year-old Canad Inns Stadium and for Berry, the story was getting as old as the ball yard.

A team that went to the 2007 Grey Cup game was suddenly 1-6 and the head coach had pretty much run out of answers. In the post-game interview Berry was so flustered, he blamed his field goal kicker, Alexis Serna, for the loss. The coach had just watched his team lose by four touchdowns and when it was over, all he had in his quiver was an arrow for a kid who made a field goal from 27 yards and missed once from 40 and twice from 49.

But while Berry continues to blame everyone but himself, he’s now in a heap of trouble.

Refusing to use his all-Canadian runningback Charles Roberts to any great extent, the Bombers had virtually no ground game – again. Roberts carried a mere 11 times for 61 yards, but as Hamilton, Montreal, Calgary and Saskatchewan proved this week, if you run the football in the CFL, you’ll control the clock and you’ll have a chance to win games.

Meanwhile, by replacing quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie with original starter, Kevin Glenn, late in Friday’s game, Berry opened the door to a distracting quarterback controversy. Coming off the bench, Glenn put up Winnipeg’s only touchdown on Friday and until the Bombers win again, River City will talk about little else than who should play quarterback for the Bombers.

Then there is the shaky defensive secondary. Berry and his GM Brendan Taman, didn’t re-sign safety Kyries Hebert (he jumped to the NFL) and cornerback Juran Bolden (he was released) and they’ve paid dearly for the loss of their two biggest, fastest, hardest hitters.

And, just in case all that wasn’t enough, there is the bad karma that’s wafting through a stadium that just might be in the final months of its existence. From the day Berry publicly humiliated 17-year veteran Troy Westwood, the Bombers' karma (chemistry, for those who believe in such things) has been lost. Worse yet, Berry has also lost his locker room — despite what the players like to say publicly.

Meanwhile, the coach's hand-picked successor to Westwood, young Alexis Serna is a mess. But, then again, putting Serna in that situation wasn't fair either. Serna should be the kicker, not the punter, but he’s now 14-for-22 (63 per cent) in field goals and is dead last in punting at 32 yards net. It’s apparent the kid has lost his confidence so, on Saturday, Berry added Warren Kean, an Edmonton Eskimos cut, to the practice roster. That should save the season.

Although Berry said on Saturday that he just might let his quarterback, Kevin Glenn — again! — call his own plays against Hamilton this Thursday night, here in 1-6 country, it might be time to make some changes that are substantive. And perhaps this time, CEO Lyle Bauer, might want to orchestrate those changes.

Because with the right moves and with way things are in the CFL East, even at 1-6, this team still has a chance.