Sunday night was supposed to be a reunion fitting of its FamFest theme, a gathering of generations as a long-lost relative returned to town from his travels abroad.
Instead, the concrete confines of BC Place were quiet as a tomb for nearly three hours as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers marched to a 20-11 victory over the hometown B.C. Lions. It was an atmosphere that more closely resembled the other time that families gather: a funeral.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Death at a funeral
If Nathan Rourke’s return to the CFL felt like a funeral, then it was the quarterback himself who delivered the eulogy. Sitting down after the Lions’ fourth straight loss, he politely cut off reporters trying to ask him questions and insisted on speaking first.
“I want to take this moment to publicly apologize. That was not my best football right there,” he said. “As a quarterback, it’s never a one-person job, but it is the position where we have the ball in our hands every single play and I didn’t make enough plays. Obviously, I’m not going to sit here and make excuses in terms of it being a short week and getting into the offence again. It’s definitely a tall task when you play a team like the Bombers, who have been so successful, but I’m not going to make those excuses — I know that I’m better than this.”
Rourke was calm and precise in his delivery at the podium — a stark contrast to his play on the field — but he could not hide his disappointment. He seemed visibly burdened as he apologized to the organization and his teammates, crediting the defence for holding the game within reach. The Canadian star who abhors the spotlight could not dismiss the hype on this occasion and spoke directly to the crowd of 30,803 that came to watch him play.
“I’m sorry to the fans. I know there was a lot of excitement going into this game and I didn’t deliver,” he continued. “I’m going to be making sure that if this is the starting point, then we’ve only got up to go from here.”
The 26-year-old’s choice to apologize so openly is a testament to his tremendous character, but there was no hiding from his performance. With all eyes on him after a year and a half stateside, Rourke looked increasingly lost and uncertain on home soil. His throws sailed, his timing was off, and he forced passes where none should have been thrown, leading to two interceptions. There should have been more and as the night went on, he began to show visible frustration for the first time in his professional career — a fact he confessed post-game in one of his quieter moments.
There were undeniable bright spots — flashes of Houdini-esque escapability, a perfectly placed ball low-and-away that Jevon Cottoy couldn’t squeeze, and a rope to the end zone that Justin McInnis couldn’t toe-tap — but the overall stat line was horrific. Rourke finished eight-of-25 for 126 yards and two picks, plus four carries for 27 yards, and got pulled in favour of Chase Brice at the end of his big night.
The real question is: should we have expected any different? Sure, we all hoped for brilliance but this wasn’t a case of a star player returning to the lineup after a short time away. Rourke had just three practices to soak in his fifth playbook of the year and build chemistry with an entirely different receiving corps from the one he had in 2022, two of whom weren’t participating fully until the final session of the week. It was an impossible task handled with grace, but the results were probably predictable.
“I’m super impressed. I don’t know how he does it,” head coach Rick Campbell expressed. “I know he won’t ever say this, and I’m not making excuses for him, but I don’t know how he flew across the country and switched from four-down football to three-down football and a new playbook and all that (in a week). His work ethic and his intentions are through the roof, and he’ll just continue to get better and more comfortable as he gets back in the swing of the CFL game.”
It likely wasn’t fair to Rourke that he was given the start this week but the injury to Vernon Adams Jr. demanded it. I’m not convinced that keeping Jake Dolegala would have provided any greater chance at victory and the reps went to the player who clearly needed them
“As painful as it is right now, I’m very thankful to the organization for giving me a chance to get my feet wet and make some mistakes. I think that’s amazing perspective from their group,” Rourke said. “Obviously, everyone’s expectations are high. We would love to be able to come back here and not skip a beat but the reality of the situation is that as an offence, we’re struggling. My expectations for myself are always highest and I didn’t meet those.”
There will be a day of mourning for the fantasy of a triumphant return for both the quarterback and his fans. Rourke, a devout Christian, could be seen on the field an hour post-game, taking solace in the words and embrace of team chaplain Dave Klassen. But the good thing about this funeral is that it was for an idea, not a man. The Canadian QB will rise again next week.
Not an exhibitionist
Rourke’s performance on Sunday is certain to bring all the haters out of the woodwork, chirping about how he’s overrated and gloating in their prediction of his NFL failure.
I’m confident that Rourke will eventually have a rebuttal but at this point, he doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on. This game was bad and last week’s performance for Atlanta, while not as awful as the statline might suggest, was not exactly a compelling display of what he is capable of.
But before the naysayers get too high and mighty, let’s examine some other facts. John Paddock, the undrafted QB that both preceded and replaced Rourke with the Falcons, was nine-of-17 for 78 yards in a half of preseason action on Saturday, with a much longer chance to learn the playbook than his Canadian counterpart. Established veteran Taylor Heinicke, with whom he was supposed to compete for a third-string job, was just eight-of-16 for 114 yards when it was his time to shine — hardly inspiring numbers.
Taking it a step further, the New York Giants’ $160 million man, Daniel Jones, threw two egregious interceptions in his preseason action, including an indefensible pick-six that would get any other player cut. The trio that made Rourke expendable in New England were similarly meh, with veteran stop-gap Jacoby Brissett going three-of-seven for 17 yards and an interception. First-round pick Drake Maye was six-of-11 for 47 yards and late-round flyer Joe Milton was two-of-seven for 20 yards as both work to grasp the NFL game.
You can’t in good conscience tell me that the gap between those players and Rourke is so large on their best day that they don’t deserve to be in the same league. Breaking into the NFL is all about opportunity, luck, and investment — three things he wasn’t afforded this time around. Hopefully, a long CFL career will be a testament to that mistake.
One-horse town
There was only one good thing going for the Lions’ offence in Week 11 and his name was William Stanback. The veteran running back made every effort to settle his struggling pivot down by shortening the sticks and moving the chains consistently, amassing 15 carries for 100 yards — his first game over the century mark in B.C.
Stanback’s hard-nosed running style was exactly what was needed to generate some traction, especially after future Hall of Fame linebacker Adam Bighill went down with an injury in the second quarter. Canadian Shayne Gauthier is no longer a viable long-term stand-in at this point in his career and Winnipeg was gashed up the middle as a result.
The Lions’ run game did become a bit predictable at times and their decision to hand off up the gut twice on second-and-long shows just how much Rourke was struggling. However, the well never ran dry and Stanback’s increased importance and production is just about the only positive trend over this losing streak.
Pressure pack
I’ve been critical of the Lions’ defensive line this season for their lack of pressure on the quarterback but this week, they felt like the unheralded stars of a strong overall defensive performance. Zach Collaros rarely seemed comfortable in the first half and the team’s two sacks could have been more if not for a few near misses and late throw-aways.
Sione Teuhema was again the best pass rusher, getting home for each of those sacks and creating some regular disruption. He also appeared to be the man peaking through the bottom of the pile when Chris Streveler was tripped up for a turnover on downs early in the third quarter, though it was impossible to accurately tell.
The Bombers were able to control the pressure by leaning on the run game more in the second half once they had a three-score lead. Still, Brady Oliveira never truly became a game-wrecker, finishing with 78 yards on the ground. Under these circumstances, you aren’t going to get much better than that.
Dissociative amnesia
The headlines and Monday morning discourse will all rightfully be about Rourke but the real problem with this offence dates back to the start of the losing streak. B.C.’s best receivers have been invisible for weeks and the situation has reached a crisis point.
“They’ve made a lot of plays this year for us but not lately,” an unusually frank Campbell admitted post-game. “A big thing for me in football is fear factor. If you’re scared of the other team in some fashion, that goes a long way to opening things up. I don’t think they were nervous playing us. I don’t think Winnipeg had any fear on defence the last two games we played them.”
On Sunday, the Lions’ pass catchers were about as scary as a pug in a Halloween costume. They looked like they were going through the motions — running lazy routes, struggling to separate when needed, and giving up on battles for contested balls. Rourke should have never thrown at Alexander Hollins on his two interceptions but the speedster should be expected to show at least a little effort in trying to fend off the DB. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it was a referendum on the quarterback change but the production has now been identical with three different passers.
Throughout this four-game skid, Hollins has mustered eight catches for 118 yards and Justin McInnis has managed 10 receptions for 150. While both are banged up at this point in the year, that’s a far cry from the early season pace that saw them nearly put up that stat line every game. Keon Hatcher has been no better in his three games back, posting eight catches for 108 yards.
For two and a half years, the Lions’ identity has been simple: great quarterbacks putting great receivers in position to make game-breaking plays. That seems to have been forgotten, as Rourke was never once bailed out by a pass-catcher in this one. Hatcher came the closest in the fourth quarter while bobbling a high ball in the end zone, but that spectacular catch would have once been considered a given.
“It doesn’t add up to me that McInnis and Hollins are the number one and number two in the league, and our quarterback is lighting it up, that it just could swing so drastically,” Campbell said of the shift. “That’s why we’ve got to figure that out and make sure we’re utilizing those guys correctly.”
For all the blame deservedly laid at the feet of the individual receivers, offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic has an equal share to carry. The promising young play-caller is known for his ability to scheme open weapons but hasn’t done much of it lately.
I appreciate that different defences call for different approaches, but when was the last time you saw McInnis sail across the deep middle as he did so successfully in the first six games? Hollins used to help stretch the defence laterally with jet sweeps but those easy touches have disappeared. With Winnipeg driving hard on short routes, you’d think the moment would be ripe for one of those double-move deep shots the Lions used so successfully in the early weeks. I don’t think one was ever attempted.
This level of production cannot persist for another week. It’s time for both players and play-caller to remember who they are — or the dream of a home Grey Cup will be the next thing forgotten.
The grass is always Greene-r
Despite the injury to rookie Cristophe Beaulieu last week, Canadian Adrian Greene remained at field-side halfback for the second straight game and Patrice Rene stepped in at safety. That meant that the Lions had yet another unique secondary combination in a year where they haven’t fielded the same group twice.
Greene has been great in his time at safety and was an exceptional college corner, playing quality minutes at that position this preseason. He hasn’t played much half, however, and it was clear the Bombers were targeting him early. That had mixed results as the Canadian cover man made a beautiful breakup on a pass to Kenny Lawler on Winnipeg’s first drive, but was subsequently victimized for a huge gain by the returning all-star and blown past by Nic Demski on a long touchdown.
He continued to surrender the occasional chunk play, though another stellar knockdown on a second would-be TD shot to Demski seemed to be a turning point. However, the damage was already done in a close ball game.
As Campbell put it after the game, there is “zero margin for error” defensively with the way that this team team is playing offensively right now. That’s not fair to the athletes out-performing expectations on that side of the ball but it is the reality. Unfortunately, there was no time for a learning curve in this one.
What happened to no takebacks?
This game wasn’t particularly fun to watch or write about, but a brief moment of levity occurred in the second quarter when punter Stefan Flintoft boomed a kick skyward and nailed the underside of the scoreboard.
I had never seen that happen before and clearly neither had head referee Ben Major, who drew a few chuckles for calling the play “pretty odd” in his formal explanation. Apparently, protocol in that situation is to re-play the down, which surprised me a little given that it feels like it should be the punter’s responsibility not to hit an obvious obstacle.
Strangely, it wasn’t the only free pass a team got for an unforced error on the night. After Winnipeg challenged for a potential fumble by William Stanback in the third quarter, Major announced after some deliberation that Mike O’Shea would be given his flag back since the Bombers had provided new information that B.C. had recovered the ball.
I’m all for a referee telling a coach to save his bullets when a review is unwinnable, but the explanation made it sound like Winnipeg was withdrawing the challenge themselves. If that was the case, perhaps they shouldn’t have challenged to begin with. You shouldn’t be allowed to reverse course after looking at the replay five times.
Native sons
My mother has been to a lot of football games in her life — probably more than she would have liked — but I wouldn’t consider her a fan. She’ll cheer as loud as anyone for a big play but you won’t find her checking a box score, tuning into a post-game show, or watching the highlights.
To my recollection, she has never bought a ticket to a game that my father hasn’t also been able to attend. To my surprise, that changed on Sunday night. Her logic: “I want to support Nathan.”
That’s why it has never made sense to me that some people have chosen to guffaw at the attention surrounding Rourke’s return to the CFL or gleefully celebrate when he stumbles. From the moment he took his first snap in this league, he’s meant something to people that goes beyond the statistics. You can tell by the number of extra butts in seats this week and the ovation he received before his first pass just how true that is.
We’re not immune to it in the press box either and I had forgotten the nibbling anxiety in the pit of my stomach that comes from watching Rourke play. I imagine the feeling is similar to what it’s like covering your country at the Olympics. I’m long past the point where I care about who wins and loses football games — my only rooting interest is what makes writing this column easier –but there is still a part of me, buried deep inside, that is 12 years old and wrapped in the maple leaf.
We all want to see people from the places we’re from do incredible things under the brightest lights. All the better if they are quality people who deserve that success and never seem to be fully comfortable with notoriety. We love those stories because we once wanted them to be ours, because these athletes carry some small piece of us inside them. That won’t change after tonight.
The jaws of life
The Lions (5-5) now head on the road to Ottawa, where they’ll face the Redblacks (6-2-1) on Saturday, August 24 for the first part of a home-and-sort-of-home series. That will be followed by matchups with Montreal and Toronto before the next bye.
With the way those teams are trending and B.C. is playing, none of those games are gimmes. There is a believable scenario in which they drop eight straight and enter the stretch run at 5-9. They could just as easily knock off three wins and regain control of the West Division, but it will require a complete 180 in terms of their performance.
“No one’s coming in to save the day. We’ve got to be the guys that save ourselves,” Campbell stressed. “There’s lots of reasons to want to keep going and keep working, because the West is wide open. It’s anybody’s game.”
Above all else, this week was a cautionary tale about anointed saviours. It will take a collective effort to get back on track.