LaPolice won’t change short-yardage approach

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This article was published 16/07/2018 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE debate raged on in Winnipeg amid the wreckage of Saturday’s second-half collapse in a 20-17 loss to the B.C. Lions.

Should the Blue Bombers have opted for chipshot field goals instead of gambling on third-and-short twice in the red zone, attempts that flopped and resulted in a turnover on downs for the hometown Lions?

On Tuesday, Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea was in no mood to reconsider his philosophy nor offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice’s tactics, which amounted to quarterback Chris Streveler testing the B.C. defence in a short-yardage package. Winnipeg dropped to 2-3 with the loss.

“He knows when it’s third and short, I wanna go,” said O’Shea of LaPolice. “I mean, we told the O-line that for the last bunch of years, that we want to go for it. We want to be in control of the ball and in control of the game as much as possible.”

LaPolice, meanwhile, did have had one regret.

“I do kick myself that one of those two calls at the goal-line should’ve been giving (running back) Andrew (Harris) the opportunity,” he said.

“I could’ve done a better job there. So at the end of the game, we went with a wide wedge that we’d seen on film, that they didn’t handle it well once… it didn’t work in our favour. I can certainly go on the inside wedge if I need to also. We’ve gotta get better and I certainly will get better at that.”

LaPolice said the general approach is sound and won’t be changed.

“We do a very good job on our short-yardage package and we’ll be better next week,” said LaPolice, adding Winnipeg’s offence successfully completed 25 of 26 short-yardage plays with quarterbacks in 2017 and hadn’t failed in 2018 prior to Saturday’s game.

“I don’t think many people in the Canadian Football League, on third and one, hand the ball to the tailback… normally when it’s a yard, it’s the quarterback carrying it on most CFL teams and systems, that’s usually what happens. You’ll see us every once in a while, in short yardage, Andrew will move up into a fullback (spot) and he’ll get a touch.”

Another flashpoint for the Blue Bombers was the three interceptions thrown Saturday by starting quarterback Matt Nichols.

It was an unusual stat for Nichols, who has given up only 20 interceptions in 34 starts since the start of the 2016 season and has a sparkling 77-45 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 65 career games.

His last three-interception game came in Week 19 of 2016, a 23-10 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks.

“I thought he did a good job,” said LaPolice, noting the third interception was a tipped ball. “He saw the field well, made good decisions on his check-downs, made good decisions on the deep ball, located the ball. The problem with the quarterback, just like the coach, you can have 60 great plays but if you have three mental errors you have the difference of a game. Certainly, we’ve gotta be better, we’ve gotta protect the ball better and I’m sure he will.”

Nichols, who faces the 1-3 Toronto Argonauts on Saturday night at BMO Field, is ready to turn the page.

“It was one of the harder ones to flush but if we watch the film, we kinda had our grade sheets and everything, (quarterbacks coach) Buck (Pierce) took mine and ripped it up and said, ‘This is over with,’” said Nichols. “From that moment, we were done with it and moved on to this one. You have no time to feel sorry for yourself in this business…

“In a weird way, that might be a game we look back on towards the end of the season and say that was where it all turned around. That could be one way of looking at it for us, and that’s to move on and get better and forget about it.”

ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL: Nichols had this response when asked about the possibility of Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens coming out of retirement to play in the CFL (the Edmonton Eskimos own his negotiation rights):

“Overall, I loved watching him as a player when I was a kid and obviously it would be a big story if he came up here. I’d love to meet him.”

FIXING BMO? Toronto’s BMO Field is a nice facility with one major football flaw — most of the field is natural grass with the entire north end zone covered by a much-criticized section of artificial turf. The surface routinely causes slipping and sliding, often with disasterous results.

“It’s something that you think about, you know, what end zone are you going into,” said Nichols. “Making sure your receivers understand which side is the side you make sure you have sure footing in. It’s definitely something that’s talked about. For me personally, if I’m spending time in the end zone, it’s usually from the one-yard line plunging in, so it’s not something I really have to deal with too much.”

HE’S A TEAM GUY: No. 3 quarterback Bryan Bennett was placed in an unusual role Saturday when he served on Winnipeg’s punt cover team in Vancouver.

“It’s something where I’m trying to help the team, I’m trying to do whatever I can,” said Bennett, who has completed three of four passes for 71 yards in limited duty this season. “I want to play. We all have different skill sets. I’ve been blessed with the ability to do some different things other than just play quarterback.”

Bennett, a versatile athlete who once considered a switch from quarterback to safety during his college days, had only one previous snap of special teams experience. He was on the field for Oregon (he was Marcus Mariotta’s backup in 2012) on one kickoff during the 2013 Fiesta Bowl against Kansas State.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14