Article content continued

“We’re practising hard and then when we get out there, the games slow down for us.”

There has been significant improvement in the Bombers’ first-quarter production since last season. In 2017, they scored just 89 points in the first quarter in 18 games (4.9 points per game) — just 23 more than they already have in seven games this year.

Last year, in the first half, the Bombers scored 266 points in 18 games, an average of 14.8 points per game. Obviously, they were better in the second quarter last year than in the first but this year, they’ve been more balanced over the whole first half.

They have only trailed once after the first quarter. They’ve held leads of 13-0, 15-1, 10-0, 7-0 and 7-3, have been tied 7-7 and trailed 17-7 in the opening game of the season against the Edmonton Eskimos.

“It’s our preparation, our understanding of the game plan and the fact that the guys in our locker room really just get what we’re trying to do,” Bombers running back Andrew Harris said.

“For our defence, it takes a bit of pressure off them. It gets everyone in a good mood, feeling a good vibe. Whenever you go down by a quick touchdown, it doesn’t feel great, so being on the other side of that is definitely positive and it’s great to build off that.”

The way Bryant sees it, after a week of unpadded practices — which is mandated by the CFL — players are just ready to go out and push some people around.

“You can’t really hit like you want to hit during the week, you can’t really get very physical, so guys love to go out there and when the lights come on they turn on that switch and they are just ready to be nasty and be physical,” Bryant said. “We always pride ourselves on never losing the bully game, so when we go out there, we want to smash guys and be physical right away.”