The Corbett Report – June 14, 2018

Introduction

Greetings! Welcome back to another season of the Corbett Report.  I know, I know, that’s the second year in a row for Petula Clark, but really for the first game of the year, when all hope is restored and there’s optimisim and excitement in the air, what better way to begin the year. Except…….about that optimism.

The Bombers looked on track to field a solid Grey Cup contender and get off to a fast start until Matt Nichols went down in practice with a knee injury.  So now they start the year against the team that many are picking as the 2018 Grey Cup favourites with a rookie in at QB who hasn’t started a pro-football game ever!  The last time that happened? 1994 when Anthony Calvillo fresh out of college started for the Las Vegas Posse’s (yes they were a CFL team for a minute). You may know how that all worked out. Here’s hoping for the same results in Bomberville.

Welcome to 2018.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

The Bombers

The Bombers, once a bit of a train wreck from year to year, have become a team of consistency and stability.

On offense, they’ve got a solid run game with Andrew Harris and a stellar core of receivers including Darvin Adams, Nic Demski (new this year), Adarius Bowman (also new this year) and Weston Dressler give our rookie starting QB Chris Streveler  some great weapons to throw to.  Even at kicker they’re solid with Justin Medlock returning.

Last year it was the defense that let the team down.  Unable to reproduce the ball-hawk season of 2016, the defense’s weaknesses were exposed as opponents took advantage of a weak secondary and pass rush and scored big play after big play.  This off-season the Bombers made the D their priority and with the addition of Adam Bighill they should be a much better unit.  They’ll need to be with the loss of Nichols for 6 weeks. The D’s going to have to win some games on their own.

The Eskimos

The Eskimos were one bonehead call by Jason Mass away from making it to the Grey Cup in 2017.  CFL MVP Mike Reilly has become the elite QB in the league.  Sure they finished third last year behind the Bombers and Stamps but they finished strong.  With the addition of CJ Gable at the end of last year they’ve developed a solid running game and with the seemingly unflappable Reilly at the helm they’ll present the Bombers with an offensive threat that’ll be hard a real challenge for the Blue and Gold.

Keys to the game

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

For the Bombers to win

•  Hold onto the ball – ALWAYS, hold onto the ball. Putting the ball in Mike Reilly’s hands?  NOT A GOOD IDEA
• Score early and gain some confidence
• A couple of early sacks of Reilly might help the cause

For the Eskimos to win

•  Rattle the Bombers rookie QB with some early pressure
• Home openers always see a pumped-up crowd, scoring early will have the Bomber faithful quieting down
• Hit the big plays

The predictions

It’s week one so the crystal ball is a bit cloudy but let’s go with:

• Toronto over Sask (Really Chris Jones? Not announcing your starting QB?)
• Calgary over Hamilton (Johnny who?)
• BC over Montreal (could be a long year for the Alouettes)

 

And of course in our feature game:

The Bombers are a solid team and will challenge for a playoff position (or even first place) this year. But with Nichols out for up to 6 weeks even a .500 start over that stretch would be an accomplishment. It would be great to start with a win against the Eskies but the loss of Nichols is a game changer.

Edmonton 32  Winnipeg 16