Bombers lose sixth-straight game, fall 41-9 to Edmonton, tie a league record for worst half, may have hit a new low point this season

Think losing 42-20 to the 1-11 Ottawa Redblacks last week was the season's low point for Winnipeg? Think again. The Blue Bombers somehow found a way to top that Monday, turning in a turkey of a performance in a 41-9 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos that was even more of a blowout than the final score made it seem. They've now lost six straight games and are 6-8 on the season, and they're on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. Plus, starting quarterback Drew Willy managed to hurt his arm partway through this one, on an attempted tackle of Eskimos' linebacker Dexter McCoil during a fumble return for a touchdown. This? Now this is a low point.

This set up as a game where Edmonton's impressive pass rush could take advantage of Winnipeg's weak line, which had allowed a league-high 54 sacks heading into this and was without all-star left tackle Glenn January, and boy, did it ever play out that way. The Eskimos generated incredible pressure on the Bombers' quarterbacks all day long, with replacement LT Jarvis Jones looking particularly vulnerable. They recorded four sacks and two forced fumbles (with DE Odell Willis living up to his pre-game talk by notching two of each), but had a terrific pass rush on just about every play, leaving little time for Willy or replacement Brian Brohm. That helped Edmonton race out to an incredible 37-0 lead by halftime, tying a league record for the worst halftime deficit, and the rest of the game was just accounting.

On the day, Willy finished with four completions on nine attempts for 23 yards, and he took a beating along the way. Brohm was better by the numbers, completing 18 of 33 passes for 219 yards with a pick, but that's not saying much, and his stats mostly came after the game was long decided. The ground game was MIA too, with Paris Cotton picking up just 31 rushing yards on eight carries. The Bombers notched just 27 yards in the first half while the game was still even remotely in question, and this could have been far more embarassing if the Eskimos hadn't taken their foot off the gas petal.

Where do the Bombers go from here? Well, Willy's health will certainly be a concern, but what may be even more important is patching up that line. A blocking failure of the magnitude they had Monday means whoever's under centre is going to be a crash test dummy. Getting January back will certainly help, but more changes may be needed. The Eskimos ran into similar problems with their line last year, but they've managed to sort them out admirably. If Winnipeg's going to stop this skid, they might have to see if they can pull something similar off. Otherwise, the Bombers' quarterbacks as well as this team as a whole will continue to be in for a beating.