It’s a familiar script featuring familiar names. And as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have piled up the playoff victories over last two runs to championship glory, the elements making up each has often been as predictable as the plot to a James Bond flick.
Dominate the line of scrimmage, make massive plays in critical situations and then in those championship-defining moments, pound, pound and pound the football along the ground. And this year a new lead has stepped into the starring role, with Brady Oliveira replacing Andrew Harris as the new 007.
“Seeing (Harris) run in the Grey Cup definitely gave me some motivation,” Oliveira said earlier this week. “I want to do that one day. I want to be like Andrew and play in significant football games and help this team keep winning Grey Cups.”
The Blue Bombers don’t need to run the football to knock off the B.C. Lions in the Western Final, as Zach Collaros and his now-healthy receiving corps are as dangerous as any aerial attack in the Canadian Football League. It’s just that over the last two years so much of the Blue Bombers success has come from grinding out yards. Consider the following:
- In the 2019 Western Semi-final win over the Calgary Stampeders the Blue Bombers cranked out 195 rushing yards, with both Nic Demski and Chris Streveler rushing for TDs. Two weeks later Harris was front and center as the Grey Cup’s MVP and Most Outstanding Canadian, finishing the day with 134 yards and a TD along the ground.
- The same storylines emerged a year ago, with Harris coming off the injured list to rumble for 136 yards and a TD in the Western Final win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. And then in the Grey Cup after being corralled for much of the game the Blue Bombers opened overtime with four straight Harris runs before Collaros hit Darvin Adams for what was the game-winning score.
“I would like to think a lot of that comes with it just being this time of year,” Oliveira explained after a frigid practice on Thursday. “The colder it gets; it gets a little bit harder to throw and catch the ball and so you’ve got to get the run game going. I was saying earlier that if felt like -10 or -15 out there today. And it just feels like when important football is played here in Winnipeg that’s what the weather is going to be. It’s going to be cold and you want that edge of controlling the line of scrimmage.
“We take a lot of pride in the meeting room in getting the run game going. The offensive line takes pride in that. This is our edge. This is how we can one-up our opponents: by getting the ground game going and moving the line of scrimmage, which allows us to open up the pass game.
“There are some offences out there that are flashy – and we can be that, too, with Zach – but there’s something old school in the ground-and-pound wearing down a defence approach. It’s about putting your head down and going to work for a full four quarters to grind it out. This offensive line are a bunch of grinders. They’re tough, they’re resilient and they can move the pile.”
The Blue Bombers finished second in the CFL in rushing this year, averaging 113.5 yards per game (Calgary was first at 135.3). Worth noting here: of the 11 100-yard rushing games the offence churned out this year as part of a balanced attack, nine of them came in the last 11 games.
That’s not just by accident and it feeds into this club’s reputation of doing the old-school thing by dominating the line of scrimmage when it really matters.
“Teams know we’re going to run the football. That’s our reputation and our identity,” said Oliveira. “But look at this team now – yes, we can run the football, but we’re very dangerous in the air. Zach has so many weapons. It’s not like we’ve got to run the ball to win this game. That’s not the case at all. There’s been times where we run just 8-10 times, but we’ve won through the air.”
As head coach Mike O’Shea said Thursday, “As appealing (as grinding out yards along the ground) is, it’s about doing whatever you’ve got to do to win. It’s not, ‘let’s keep pounding it because that’s the way I want it to look.’ It’s whatever it’s going to take.”
The ground game’s struggles to open the ’22 season were certainly well documented. Oliveira was averaging just 3.2 yards per carry through the first third of the season. But in the final 12 games that averaged ballooned to 5.75 yards per carry as he hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.
“He’s hungry,” O’Shea said of Oliveira. “He wants to get after it and make his mark, too, but he wants to get after it for the right reasons – he’s looking forward to honouring his line and his teammates. He’s a big, strong, tough kid who is built for this.”
RIGHT PLACE/RIGHT TIME:
Desmond Lawrence continues to get the bulk of the work with the No. 1 defence at the cornerback spot opposite Winston Rose, although Demerio Houston is quickly rounding back into form in his return to injury.
Lawrence, you may recall, was scooped up by the Blue Bombers in early October after being cut loose by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and made one start upon his arrival. He could make his second straight start in a divisional final – he did last year for the Ticats but missed the Grey Cup due to a shoulder injury – if he gets the nod Sunday against the Lions.
“I’ve been playing in big moments all my life,” said Lawrence, who played his college ball at North Carolina followed by stints with the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Legends and DC Defenders before heading to the CFL. “I embrace this. Going against an elite group is only going to bring the best out of me.
“The excitement of being part of this group, being part of this team is still there. But the jitters of trying to learn and fit in, they’re gone. I’m ready to roll. There’s a great supporting cast around me and the coaches are going to put me in position to make plays.”
Lawrence was the Ticats Most Outstanding Rookie last season but appeared in just five games this year before his release. Still, to land here in Winnipeg with the two-time defending champions speaks volumes of what the staff here thinks of his skillset.
“That type of adversity is tough mentality because you want to be out there and contribute. I knew I had put enough on film that a team was going to call. Now… this calibre of team?! I was just so excited because I knew there was a lot of ball left for this team and that meant there could be a lot of ball left for me. I’m grateful for how this has unfolded.
“When I got here, the vibe I got was that this was a band of brothers, similar to what you might have in high school or college. There’s a brotherhood and camaraderie here and you can see it on the field. It’s also why this team has been successful, because they’re such a tight-knit group.”
