The Corbett Report, November 12, 2017

The Corbett Report – Issue 2017-SF – November 12, 2017

Winnipeg vs. Edmonton

 Channeling history

Yes, it’s been 6 years since the Bombers last played a playoff game at home. That game? A 19-3 victory over the Ti-Cats in the Eastern Final that propelled the Bombers to the 2011 Grey Cup appearance (their most recent). That game was decided by the Bomber defence that shut down Hamilton’s starting QB Kevin Glenn and held the Cats to a 18 yard field goal by ……wait for it……..Justin Medlock. Only one player remains on the roster from that game (Clarence Denmark), but that doesn’t mean that the Bombers shouldn’t channel their history of home playoff games. Here’s a couple that come to mind:

November 4^th, 1984

 The early 80’s were a fun time to be a Bomber fan. With Dieter Brock and then Tom Clements as QB’s the Bombers had an entertaining and exciting offense. Problem was, so did their arch rival Edmonton Eskimos. The Eskimos won the Grey cup every year from 1978 to 1982 most often by defeating the Bombers in the Western final. It seemed that the Bombers were destined to be perennial also rans. By 1984 though the Eskimos were starting to show their age. In the 1984 Western Semi-final the Bomber offense exposed the Edmonton defense for what they were. Old and slow. Screen pass after screen pass to James Murphy had the Bombers marching down the field time and time again. The end result? A 55 – 20 victory over Edmonton. The Bombers went on to win the Western final over BC 31 – 14 and broke their long Grey Cup drought with a 47 – 17 Grey Cup Victory over Hamilton in the ’84 Grey Cup in Edmonton.

November 13, 1988

The 1988 Bombers limped into the playoffs on a 3 game losing streak and a 9-9 record. No one gave them much hope and that was reflected in the crowd count in the Eastern Semi final.   Only 12,210 fans showed up, most expecting another loss and a quick exit from the playoffs. The Bombers had only scored 407 points throughout the regular season and had given up 458. Surely the result was forgone conclusion. WRONG. Inspired by the brilliant coaching of Mike Riley the Bombers and an inspired performance by Sean (the nip) Salisbury the Bombers won 35-28 and hope was renewed.   The defence showed up again a week later when the Bombers went into Toronto and won 27-11. That led to the show down against the heavily favoured BC Lions in the Grey Cup (played in Ottawa). The Bombers defense came to play and the “immaculate interception” of Matt Dunigan’s pass by Mike Gray with less than a minute sealed a 22 – 21 Grey Cup victory.

November 18, 1990

The 1990 season was a great one for the Bombers. They lead the league with a 12-6 record (hmmmmm….what was their record this year?) and hosted the Eastern Final. In the Eastern final on November 18, 1990, lead by QB Tom Burgess the Bombers won a hard fought, defensive struggle against Toronto. Scoring only one touch down the Bombers leaned on their defense to squeak by the Argos 20 – 17. The victory lead to the last Bomber Grey Cup victory a week later when the Bombers rolled over the Edmonton Eskimos 50 – 11. Meanwhile that year, Mike O’Shea was establishing himself as a solid linebacker and special teams player with the Guelph Gryphons.

Sense a theme here? 1984 Grey Cup runs starts and ends in Edmonton, 1988 Grey Cup, played in Ottawa, 1990 Grey Cup, a victory against Edmonton. Indeed lets put injuries, stats and streaks aside. It’s time to look to the stars.

Welcome to the playoffs, welcome to the Corbett Report.

Bombers keys to success

The keys to success can all be extracted from this weeks opening song:

“Healthy Matt will lead the drive”

“We know our D will never yield”

“Justin Medlock hits field goals”

“As Andrew Harris starts to stroll”

Eskimos keys to success

Eskimos clearly think that they’re the better team. Coming in on a 5 game winning streak (the Bombers were 2-3 in their final 5 games) and having most of their injured players back, it’s hard not to see their perspective.

They’ll be looking  for the following:

• Hit the big play early
• Control the ball against the ball-hawk Bomber defense
• Grind it out on the ground with CJ Gable

The predictions

There is of course an Eastern game today. I’m thinking the RedBlacks have what it takes to defeat Sask. In Winnipeg though:

The Bombers are missing Moe Leggat, Jarmel Westerman and Darwin Adams. Matt Nichols is likely still hurting (although undoubtedly on a high after the birth of daughter on Friday). Eskimos are on a roll and healthy. Hell, did you read the intro? We’ve got them right where we want them.

Winnipeg 24         Edmonton 22