Argos win, Argos win, Argos win…

It’s back to the drawing board for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after they lost 36-34 to the Toronto Argonauts in a game that had a little bit of everything on Friday night at Canad Inns Stadium.

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For the second straight week, the Bombers sputtered out of the gate. The Argos jumped out to a 16-0 first quarter lead and things could have been a lot worse for the home team. A combination of turnovers and offensive struggles lead to Toronto having great field position early on but the Bomber defense forced the Argos into field goals before Cory Boyd punched it in from one yard out to cap a long Toronto drive.

The Bombers bounced back in the second quarter and took the lead themselves on the back of more brilliant play from quarterback Buck Pierce. Pierce hit favourite target Terrence Edwards with a perfect throw for a score and then brought the crowd of 28,009 to their feet with a spectacular 43-yard touchdown run on the option play. An Alexis Serna field goal gave the Bombers another three and the game was tied going into halftime.

After Cleo Lemon ran it in from 9 yards out to give the Argos back the lead early in the third quarter, Winnipeg again showed resiliency to respond.

This time it was rookie Terence Jeffers-Harris making something out of nothing as he turned Pierce’s dump pass into a 60-yard touchdown and the Bomberslooked to be in control before another special teams breakdown gave Toronto a lead they would not relinquish.

Alexis Serna pushed his 45-yard field goal attempt wide left and Chad Owens returned it 117-yards for the score. It was the second straight week that the Bombers had given up a touchdown on a missed field goal return and their third special teams touchdown allowed so far this season.

While the special teams did struggle, Pierce looked solid once again behind centre and put some gloss on the score line with a 38-yard touchdown toss to Jeffers-Harris with under a minute remaining.

Pierce was 25 for 35 for 366 yards. He threw 3 touchdowns and one interception. Just like last week, his passing exploits may have been overshadowed by his work running the ball. Pierce rushed for a whopping 103 yards on 7 carries.

The Bombers receiving corps also played their part as 5 different receivers went over 30-yards and Jeffers-Harris had what could be his breakout game with 152-yards on 7 grabs.
On defense, Joe Lobendahn once again lead the way with 6 tackles but the real story was the lack of pass rush from a team that had generated 7 sacks the week before but struggled to even put pressure on Lemon.

All in all, it was the type of game that was fun for the fans but will likely leave Bomber Head Coach Paul LaPolice shaking his head and wondering what might have been had it not been for a few breakdowns. With their offense still playing well, the task at hand now becomes shoring up the defense and finding a way to make plays on special teams. If the Bombers can do that, this loss may be a simple blip on their way to a solid season.

The Bombers take the field next on Friday at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton in another divisional game against the rival Tiger-Cats. Check back next week for a full game preview.

TORONTO 36 WINNIPEG 34

July 09, 2010
Written by: Keith McCullough
Photo by: Dave Darichuk