Hamilton Tiger-Cats' Ryan Bomben (64) makes a catch in the end zone for a touchdown during the first half of CFL football action in Hamilton, Ont., on Sunday, August 9, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power
In the season’s fifth edition of the ‘Film Room’ series, we’re going to break down Ticats guard Ryan Bomben’s second career touchdown reception. Bomben, who played tight end during his first two seasons with the Montreal Alouettes, made his Ticats debut at the position on Sunday, hauling in a touchdown against the Bombers.
Situation:
The play came on the Tiger-Cats second offensive drive of the game, their second consecutive offensive drive. Following a Bakari Grant touchdown that gave them a 14-0 lead, the Ticats kicked off to the Bombers, recovering the live ball on the kick and taking over possession deep in Winnipeg territory. Four plays and one first down later, the Ticats lined up for a 2nd-and-4 from the eight-yard line.
Pre-Snap:
The Ticats lined up with three receivers–Terrence Toliver, Luke Tasker, Junior Collins– in a bunch on the right side of the field, along with another receiver (Bakari Grant) split wide right. All three receivers in the right slot were in motion pre-snap, while Grant covered the right end on the line of scrimmage.
Ray Holley was positioned to the left of quarterback Zach Collaros, who was lined up in shotgun formation.
Most importantly on this play, offensive guard Ryan Bomben lined up as the tight end on the left end of the offensive line. Veteran offensive lineman Tim O’Neill occupied Bomben’s regular starting position at right guard.
On the other side of the ball, the Bombers crowded the line of scrimmage, lining up with nine men in the box. The defensive line lined up staggered to the right, with three down-linemen and an edge rusher to the left of the right guard.
In the secondary, the Bombers lined up in man coverage, with two interior and the deep safety covering the bunched Ticats receivers, and another assigned to Grant wide right.
Bomben’s perspective: “I was just reading my guy to see if he was going to add in, and sure enough he did. It was exactly how we drew it up, it worked out pretty well.”
The Play:
Off the snap, Collaros rolled right on his drop, keeping the deep safety in place with his eyes on the right side of the field. The Bombers sent seven defenders on the pass rush, throwing almost all they had at the Ticats offensive line and quarterback. Other than Jamaal Westerman, who wound up in Collaros’ face just after he released the ball, every Bombers pass rusher was accounted for by the Ticats offensive line.
-Click photo for video of play-
Collaros takes the snap and rolls right, looking the safety off of Bomben’s route.
On the right side of the field, the Bombers defensive backs engaged in man coverage on the Ticats receivers. Terrence Toliver ran a corner route to the back of the end zone, Junior Collins slid out into the right flat and Bakari Grant ran a deep in that broke just inside the end zone, all of whom were fairy well-covered by the Bombers defensive backs.
Luke Tasker, who ran an in route across the middle of the field, was wide open out of his break, as the deep safety was frozen by Collaros keying on Toliver’s corner route. Had Bomben been covered, Tasker would likely have been the second read on the play, another option which would likely have been successful.
Bomben read the man in front of him off the snap, anticipating that he would rush the passer. As expected, the defender filled in on the pass rush, leaving Bomben uncovered on a seam route over the middle of the field into the end zone.
By the time the defence saw the ball in the air on its way to the Ticats tight end, there was no chance for them to react and break up the play.
-Click photo for video of play-
Bomben adjusts to the ball in the air, pulling down the over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone.
Once the ball was in the air, Bomben had to re-adjust his path to get under it; however, he was able to make an impressive over-the-shoulder catch in stride.
Bomben’s perspective: “I actually probably went a little too far inside, I probably should have stayed a little more outside. I guess I made it work, and that’s all that matters.”
After the touchdown reception, Bomben celebrated with a classic touchdown dance, the “spike”. Despite the fact that the play had been drawn up for a couple of weeks in practice, the veteran guard had not prepared the post-TD move.
Bomben’s perspective: “I didn’t have anything planned for the first one or this one really. I just went for the spike. It was somewhat talked about, the spike was just the easiest and least thought-out thing to do.”
