The Corbett Report, August 17, 2017

Introduction

Darvin Adams, the Bombers star receiver, said yesterday that the Bombers had nothing to prove in tonight’s matchup with Edmonton. That the Bombers had already proven themselves. Hmmmmm….you wouldn’t think that by some of the comments this week on social media. Indeed, the Bomber fan base, at least those other than us diehards, seem to be taking a “show me what you got” approach to the team this year. It’s reflected in the attendance and in the enthusiasm at the games, and perhaps for good reason. While it’s exciting to read the stat that the Bombers are 14-5 since Matt Nichols took over the reigns at QB, it’s interesting to dig down a bit into those numbers. Yes, the Bombers have put up some nice wins but look at 2017. Their 5-2 record includes 4 wins against Eastern teams and 1 against Sask. The combined records of those teams this year, 10-26. Looking further into the Bombers records against the big 3 of the west (Calgary, Edmonton and BC), and the Bombers record since Nichols took over is a much more modest, 2-4. And that’s not including the heartbreaking loss in the Western Semi-final last year against BC. So perhaps it’s no wonder that the casual Bomber fan is still taking a “wait and see” attitude. Which makes tonight’s game all the more important. It’s time for the Bombers to make a statement that they can play with the big boys. As the song says, Let’s show them we are better.

Welcome to week 8. Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Standings

WEST
Team	Wins	Losses	Tie	Pts	For	Against
Edmonton	7	0	0	14	204	169
Calgary	5	1	1	11	254	145
Winnipeg	5	2	0	10	241	221
BC	5	3	0	10	228	222
Sask	3	4	0	0	197	172
EAST
Team	Wins	Losses	Tie	Pts	For	Against
Montreal	3	4	0	6	162	159
Toronto	3	5	0	6	185	225
Ottawa	1	6	1	3	214	229
Hamilton	0	7	0	0	130	273

Last week the Bombers kept the Ti-Cats winless, perhaps tonight Edmonton’s winning streak ends?

The Bombers

The Bombers are keeping the same line up this week as they had against Hamilton last week. Good call! Last week they finally put together an all around performance on both sides of the ball. They’re going to need all 3 phases of the working for a full game if they are going to have a hope against the Edmonton powerhouse.

The Bombers are second in the league (to Calgary) in scoring this year, and with Edmonton’s defense decimated by injuries, it could be a good night for the offense.

It’s a different story on defense though where the Bombers are allowing a league high 32 points a game. And did I mention that we we’ve been playing Eastern teams who can’t seem to score more than 20 points against other teams.

To me this game pivots (pun intended) on whether Mike Reilly can light up the scoreboard by taking advantage of the porous Bomber D.

The Eskimos

Certainly it’s hard to poke holes in a team that’s undefeated after 7 games in an 18 game season. But again, it’s worth digging a bit deeper into that stat. Just like the Bombers, the Eskimos have had a heavily weighted Eastern opponent schedule. In fact, other than two close games against BC, the Eskimos victories have all been against Eastern teams. Many of those Eastern games were closer than they should have been requiring late minute heroics from Reilly to win. The point? 7-0 is impressive, but the Bombers shouldn’t be intimidated. At least not at home.

Keys to the game

So with all of that said, here are the keys to the game:

For the Bombers to win

• Just like Winnipeg, Edmonton is capable of late game heroics. Keep the foot on the pedal all game
• Special teams touch down
• No 2 and outs. Giving the ball back to Mike Reilly too often will come back to bite you

For the Esks to win

• Keep pressure on Nichols and force the Bombers to repeated 2 and outs
• Don’t let Winnipeg’s ball hawk defense get a turnover
• Take an early lead

The predictions

Around the league this week it’ll be a week for the underdogs (except for Calgary):

• Hamilton over Ottawa (Cats can’t lose every game can they?)
• Toronto over Montreal (Ricky Ray’s back)
• Calgary over BC (Calgary’s still the class of the league as far as I’m concerned)

And of course in our feature game:

Lose this game and the Bombers will be slotted in as a “good but not good enough” team. This could be a signature game and is huge in terms of re-engaging the fan base and making believers of the fence sitters. All time IGF record improves to 15-26, with the Bomber taking this one

Bombers 38   Edmonton 35

The Corbett Report Season Record:

For all CFL games          23-9-1

For Bomber games  only       5-2