Sack, fumble, pick, sack, fumble, pick

Tee Martin certainly wasn't the second coming of Christ in his debut as a Winnipeg Blue Bomber.

The former national champion with the Tennessee Volunteers and third-string NFL'er was far from splendid in Thursday's loss in Winnipeg to the Edmonton Eskimos.

Still, while all the attention was understandably on Martin heading into the game and much of the negative feeback centres around him following a pitiful Bombers' performance, it is far from accurate to feed all the negative light on him in his debut. Yet, that's likely what most onlookers will do, especially in Winnipeg — where quarterbacks go to be hanged in the court of public opinion.

What Thursday's loss did expose, however, is a few glaring issues that, even two weeks into the season, are enough cause for concern to Bomber fans.

More indicative of Martin's play than anything was how pathetic the offensive line is right now. That fact is just amplified by the fact that Charles Roberts, arguably the most dynamic back in the league, has rushed for roughly -25 yards on 48 carries this year. (I made that stat up. It's actually 47 carries, but I need to make a point). Martin, the most mobile quarterback the Bombers have had since Matt Dunigan in the early 90s, was sacked three times in the first quarter alone. Once your team has established that kind of track record early on in the game, any rhythm is out the window. Martin was running for his life.

Jason Tucker's 105-yard touchdown pass — the longest in Eskimo history — pointed out maybe the most glaring weakness for Winnipeg, its secondary that hasn't improved in years. Not since 2001, when Juran Bolden was one of the most imposing defensive backs in the league, have the Blue DBs been remotely respectable, and even then they weren't setting the world on fire. Now it's just sad.

The DBs are at the mercy of good quarterbacks too because, despite the much-publicized additions to the defensive dozen, the front seven has picked up right where last year's unit left off: Nowhere near the other team's quarterback. The pass rush is invisible, evidenced by the fact the Eskimos' opening drive didn't even see a second down until Edmonton had reached the Bombers 20. Ridiculous.

It's an 18-game season, we have to realize. Tee Martin will improve but everything around him has to get significantly better quick. Luckily there's still 16 more games to go.