Last nite’s bomber win was gratifying on several levels:
1 - Mike O’Shea took the battle of inferior head coaches vs. the completely flustered Mike Sherman, hands-down. O’Shea wasn’t particularly brilliant - he didn’t have to be - but he coached up a steady-eddy type game, played it by the book and made nearly zero fundamental mistakes. Only 1 turnover in the entire game - Manziel’s late pick.
2 - That was NOT a Richie Hall defense. Couldn’t believe the difference in the way the bombers shadowed Manziel and the Als. DB coverage was very good to brilliant at times.
3 - Hobo-Man (Thompkins) was the bombers best WR. Made some nice catches that seemed effortless. His best game as a bomber, no question!
4 - The bomber d-line (without Poop Johnson & Jethro Jeffcoat) were a tour de force but before anyone starts shouting Hall of Fame for these guys - consider who they played against - that was a gawdawful Als o-line, Craig “Death” Roh looked all-star w/ 3 sacks and 7 tackles. Where was that level of performance in first 12 games of season?
5 - Negatives. Play-wise there weren’t. Walby alluded to fact the bombers couldn’t put away with the Als when they had their foot on their throats. Nichols just couldn’t get it done. He was well above average in his rebound game and there was no time in the game where bomber fans were calling for his scalp (or O’Sheas)
6 - Negatives. Injuries. There were. Harris is civvies is disconcerting. I suspect he may be out 2, perhaps 3 games because Andrew never comes out of games unless he’s really, really hurt. He’s hurt. Bighill. Elbow type injury. Huge drop if bombers have to go from the toy bulldog, Adam Bighill to the lightish Ian Wild who possesses a great football mind but just doesn’t impact games like Bighill. Nic Demski also went down and thats never a good sign. Finally, it looked to me like the very slight Weston Dressler may have re-nicked himself after hard contact. We’ll know about Wednesday next week when the bombers resume practice. I suspect we won’t see Dressler on Wednesday. Who knows after that. the last nick was supposed to be a game - it took 3 or 4 and really hurt the team.
Bombers needed that win to stay in the hunt for 3rd in west, outside shot at running the table and nabbing 2nd. A loss would have put them out of the Top 3 western spots and in the mix with BC for crossover lords.
Lets see what they do vs. Magic Mike Reilly next week. We’ll see if that tight coverage vs. Montreal was a mirage - or for real. I really suspect more mirage than real but to win that game without Bighill, Harris, Demski & Dressler - thats gonna be a toughee - especially on the road in unfriendly Commonwealth.