Bombers come out firing after delay, win Wednesday's game on Thursday

Wednesday's CFL game actually ended at 12:50 a.m. Thursday in local time thanks to a two-and-a-half hour lightning delay before kickoff, but that didn't slow down the hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers. They came out firing from the get-go and led the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21-0 after the first quarter and 34-0 at the half, then eased off the gas and coasted to an eventual 37-11 victory, almost five and a half hours after the game was initially set to start. In the process, they overcame a long history of bad performances at Investors Group Field (they're 7-23 there since its 2014 opening, and 0-3 this season), strung together back-to-back wins for the first time since July 2014, and picked up their first home win since September 2015.

That's a pretty good way to honour both franchise legend Milt Stegall, who the Bombers inducted into the team's Ring of Honour at halftime, and the hardy fans. Of the reported 24,051 in attendance overall, an estimated 17,500 stayed through the lightning and rain and hung around for hours in rough conditions to watch their team. Two-and-a-half hours of misery sounds a lot like the last few years for Winnipeg fans, but there have been some bright spots, and this performance was certainly one.

A big part of the Bombers' victory here was the play of quarterback Matt Nichols. They turned to Nichols last week after benching Drew Willy, and he led them to their first win in Edmonton since 2006. Nichols was good again this week, especially early on, and he finished the night with a very efficient 23 completions on 31 attempts (74.2 per cent) for 246 yards and two touchdowns. Those yardage numbers could be higher, but a lot of that was about Winnipeg taking their foot off the gas after halftime. Nichols was accurate and did a good job of managing the offence, and he showed lots of promise here despite the Bombers being without three of their top receivers thanks to injuries. He particularly showed good chemistry with rookie Thomas Mayo, who started the season on Winnipeg's practice squad but had seven catches for 84 yards and a touchdown in this one, and with veteran Clarence Denmark, who was only signed this week thanks to the other injuries but finished with seven catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

The rest of the Bombers' lineup also deserves substantial credit. The defence made key stops and forced turnovers early, helping Winnipeg to that ridiculous lead, and the special teams came up with plenty of big plays too, including a blocked punt by Derek Jones (recovered by Tony Burnett) and a 80-yard kick return TD from Kevin Fogg that was reduced to 51 thanks to an illegal block. On the day, the Bombers held Hamilton quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to 27 completions on 46 attempts (58.7 per cent), and while he threw for 335 yards, most of those came in garbage time. Even more impressively, they picked him off on three separate occasions, with Ian Wild, C.J. Roberts and Taylor Loffler recording the interceptions. They also saw kicker/punter Justin Medlock have an excellent night, hitting all three of his field goals and all for of his conversion attempts while averaging 70.9 yards on kickoffs and 43.2 on punts, and their cover teams bottled up dangerous returner Brandon Banks, holding him to an average of 3.8 yards on punt returns and 25.1 on kickoff returns.

All in all, this was a great win for the Bombers, and one that suggests they're trending in the right direction after a dismal 1-4 start to the season. They're now 3-4 and have won two in a row, and they've looked much better in those games. Of course, we shouldn't start assuming they're a powerhouse yet, as there are still questions about the ground game (Andrew Harris was held to 49 yards on 18 carries in this one, an average of 2.7 yards per carry), and a game in their home stadium (where they reportedly received food during the delay) after a 2.5 hour delay can't be taken as solid overall evidence that they're dominant, especially when you consider the struggles Masoli and the Tiger-Cats had here. Still, Winnipeg looks to be improving, and two wins in a row shouldn't be disregarded. The Bombers' fans who stayed were certainly be happy to see this one, given both the struggles of the team and the challenges with the weather.