Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 15, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C3 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013 NEXT: Hosts Argonauts, July 19, 7 p. m. Tucking tail( back) and ( not) running Tailback Chad Simpson was red- hot in the first half, but offensive co- ordinator Gary Crowton pulled back in the second half after the Ticats seemed to adjust. " We ran on first, and if you don't get anything, then you're in second and long. If you don't get first downs, then you don't really get into a groove. I thought ( the run game) did decent in the first half, and they were squeezing it pretty hard." D- feated After singing the praises of his defence last week, coach Tim Burke was more muted Sunday. " I'm pleased and displeased with the defensive line," Burke said. " We did get to ( Burris)... but we also allowed him in the fourth quarter... to extend plays and that's where all their passing yards came. BOMBER REPORT TODAY'S C 3 THE BOMBER REPORT winnipegfreepress. com GUELPH - Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Tim Burke had very little good to say about the performance of his offence Saturday night in a 25- 20 loss to the Hamilton Tiger- Cats. " I will say this - we didn't turn the ball over tonight, so there's a positive. But offensively we've got to be better than we are," Burke said following the game. " We're not being consistent." The lone Bombers turnover Saturday night came when punter Mike Renaud threw an interception on a fake punt. Burke said he never considered giving backup QB Justin Goltz the ball in place of starter Buck Pierce, who struggled in the second half. That wasn't, however, because Burke was particularly enamored with Pierce's play. Saying bluntly that Pierce " didn't have his best game," Burke singled out one particular play in which he felt Pierce had tunnel vision when the primary receiver fell down. " Buck's sitting there looking for him to come open and he can't even find him. Those are the kinds of things that are frustrating," said Burke. " When ( the primary receiver) wasn't there, you've got to go to somebody else. And I think he might have got sacked on that play." Pierce agreed in the locker- room after the game the offence needs to play better. " We just want to take pressure off the defence," said Pierce, who went 15- of- 26 for 186 yards. " Offence is always a work in progress and you want to build and you don't want to repeat the same mistakes you made before. We've just got to continue to work." SLOTBACK Cory Watson had a second straight strong game. Watson - who had his best game as a Bomber two weeks ago in a win over Montreal ( six catches, 114 yards) - had six catches vs. Hamilton for 72 yards. But the big difference this time was they came in a losing effort. Watson said after the game he felt like the entire offence - which had just 60 yards of net offence in the second half - let down a Bombers defence that sacked Hamilton QB Henry Burris seven times. " We have to help our defence more," Watson said. " They were playing great until we had some two- and- outs. We need to help them because the defence plays great when their legs are beneath them and they have their lungs. We need to help them stay off the field." Bombers middle linebacker Henoc Muamba was having none of the blame game, however. Muamba said the Bombers defence also could have done a lot more to get themselves off the field, particularly in the fourth quarter when Hamilton went on a nine- play touchdown drive that covered 60 yards and lasted 4: 49. " It just comes down to getting off the field quicker. I know they had a long drive in the ( fourth) quarter when we needed to get off the field and didn't. I think that really hurt us. It really drained us as well," said Muamba. SO, what was that botched fake punt by the Bombers in the first quarter all about? " Coach ( special teams, Craig) Dickenson and I had agreed we'd do that early in the game," said Burke. " We had looked the first time we punted to see what they were doing and we thought we could get the fake on them." Punter Mike Renaud threw an interception to Hamilton returner Lindsey Lamar on the play - although that was actually a break for Winnipeg, giving Hamilton the ball on their own 44- yardline instead of the Ticats taking over on downs on the Winnipeg 42- yard line. " He should have just knocked it down," said Burke. " But not everybody's a smart guy on that field." EXTRA Po ints T HE Bombers landed in Winnipeg Sunday morning, first in the CFL's East Division but also last, faces still hanging low from Saturday's stumbling loss. It might have been different, but the numbers look so strange: on Saturday, the Bombers sacked Hamilton Tiger- Cats quarterback Henry Burris seven times and still lost 25- 20 - though, to be fair, their own pivot Buck Pierce was put down six times, too. They might be starting to lag behind, if it wasn't for the curious fact every team in the east is also sporting a record of 1- 2. So head coach Tim Burke's to- do list grows. It's the offence again, though not just that: the Bombers' passing plays couldn't shake the Ticats' coverage. The Bombers tried to get receiver Chris Matthews - who has been cold for the first three weeks of the season - more involved, but those attempts fizzled out. The offensive line got beat in different ways - by the Ticats' backs, by the blitz. On the other hand, the Bombers' run game sparked: Chad Simpson turned in two touchdowns and 116 yards in 11 carries, more than he netted in the first two tilts combined. So there's hope for the offence yet. " It's kind of like the guy who has the big biceps, and the big chest, but still has a big boiler," mused offensive lineman Glenn January, first off the tarmac. " Sure, you've got some impressive parts, but you're not looking fit. We've got to put it all together." At heart, that starts with shoring up Pierce's protection. Seven sacks should go a long way towards winning a football game, if there aren't six coming back the other way, and January described " certain wrinkles" in protection schemes that his line is working to absorb. " We didn't necessarily reinvent the wheel, but there's certain things we've changed that make the thought process a bit different," he said. " We are creatures of habit... End of the day though, there are no excuses. We shouldn't have made the mistakes we did ( Saturday) night." Not that everything falls on the O- line's shoulders, of course, because there's men running behind and in front of and through them too, and too many of them are staying caged. Matthews only managed two catches for 35 yards, and has started this season quieter than one would expect from the CFL's 2012 top rookie. But the Bombers did try to put the ball in his hands early, and he ended up on his back, then stifled by coverage. " We just got to get him going a little bit earlier in the game," offensive co- ordinator Gary Crowton said, and talked about moving Matthews around the field until they find a spot that sparks him up. " If Buck and Chris can hook up a few times and gain confidence, then they'll take off. A good receiver like that, sometimes if they don't get the ball early, they feel a little anxious. We tried, it just didn't work out." When it doesn't, the Bombers' robust defence wears down, and on Saturday Burke thought the defence lost steam in the third quarter as they kept returning to the field after Pierce and the gang put up quick two- and- outs. So the defence needs less time, and the offence needs more space. " We're going to have to create more ways to get open," Burke said. " Right now, our receivers are not beating their defensive backs - or if they do, we're not getting them the ball. We've got to do a better job in that respect." Burke also touched on the decision to give backup quarterback Justin Goltz more time on the field - he wrapped with three carries for 17 yards and a touchdown. " We're trying not to run the ball with Buck to keep him healthy," Burke said. If that means the Bombers telegraph their plans when Goltz is behind centre, " we're going to have to break our tendencies," the coach added. melissa. martin@ freepress. mb. ca Sack- rilege! Buck abused Pierce's lack of protection major cause of concern By Melissa Martin The good news... The Bombers sacked Henry Burris seven times. PHOTOS BY AARON LYNETT / THE CANADIAN PRESS Hamilton Tiger- Cats running back Chevon Walker hauls the pigskin as Winnipeg Blue Bombers' DB Marty Markett waits to pounce. The bad news... The Ticats sacked Buck Pierce six. Justin Goltz Cory Watson C_ 03_ Jul- 15- 13_ FP_ 01. indd C3 7/ 14/ 13 7: 45: 27 PM ;