The Corbett Report, July 12, 2019

Introduction

When the CFL schedule came out last December, it must have caused the Bomber management some trepidation.  Opening on the road against the early Grey Cup favourites, the Mike Reilly-lead BC Lions, then a bye, then the retooled and always challenging Eskimos, then on the road again against the most consistent team in the east, the Ottawa Redblacks.  So fast forward 6 months and guess what?  Bombers are on a 3- game win steak and coming into a string of games against the east, including 2 of the next 4 against the Argos.  If you haven’t been following the CFL, please refer to the next section. The Argos would have trouble beating the Beaver Brae Broncos (and that’s probably an insult more to the Broncos than the Argos), so on paper at least, the Bombers are looking to go through the first third of the season in first place.  As history will tell you, your odds of making it to the Grey Cup are significantly improved if you win your division so let’s say a 6-0 start would be an awesome first step towards obtaining that goal.

It’s always scary though, when a seemingly elite team plays a winless and seemingly down-and-out opponent.  That’s where coaching comes in, and that’s where the decision by the Bombers to stick with Mike O’Shea, Paul LaPolice and Ritchie Hall could finally be producing some results.  They need to keep the Bombers on an even keel and the experience they’ve gained over the past 3 seasons can go along way to providing that.

It’s often not how well a team plays against a good opponent that proves a true test of a teams character, but how they get up for a game against weaker opponents.  In the past the Bombers haven’t always had their best performances against teams they’re expected to beat.  This year they’ll need to do that in order to break the 28-year drought that’s always percolating just below the surface in any Bomber season.

Welcome to Game 2 of 2019.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

 

The Standings

WEST
Team	Wins	Losses	Pts	For	Against
Winnipeg	3	0	6	90	58
Calgary	2	1	4	101	74
Edmonton	2	1	4	92	76
Sask	1	3	2	100	111
BC	1	3	2	96	125
EAST
Team	Wins	Losses	Pts	For	Against
Hamilton	3	1	6	157	77
Ottawa	2	1	4	90	98
Montreal	1	2	2	71	102
Toronto	0	3	0	38	114

 

The Bombers

The Bombers speak of good chemistry and a strong bond among players.   They have talent on offense, defense and special teams.  As the opening song says “something tells me Blue’s up to something good”.

Last week, when Nichols left the game, Streveler stepped in to seal the victory.  Medlock missed two field goals but made up for it by making an amazing play in the final few minutes to put the Bombers on the 4^thyard line and send the Ottawa fans home despondently.  And what can you say about the defense.  Averaging less than 20 points a game, only 1 TD allowed all game and that was back in Q3 of game 1!

So far it’s been a good year for the Bombers.  Keeping the momentum going starts tonight.

Last week Nichols was 16 of 20 for 262 yards before he left the game.  Not to be outdone Streveler came in and hit 6 of 8 for another 42 yards.  The 1-2 combo at QB is serving the Bombers well. That’s a good place for the momentum to form.

The Argos

The Argos are nothing short of a ship wreck to start the year.  Injuries and uncertainty at quarterback, poor coaching and poor conditioning (how can that even happen) have left them more than worthy of their 0-3 start.  I’m sure they’re looking for a reboot to the season.

Last week the Argos probably deserved a better outcome than their 18-17 loss to the Lions.  A bonehead coaching call at the end of the game lead to the Lions being able to drive for a field goal attempt that ended up going wide but caused the returner to step out of bound (fun fact the BMO field end zones are 16 yards, 4 shorter than regulation so had that game been played anywhere else the returner would have at least had an attempt at returning the missed field goal).

It’s not much to build on, but it’s all that the Argos can cling to.

Keys to the game

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

For the Bombers to win

• Show up on time (that’s pretty much it)
• Don’t shoot themselves in the foot. The only way the Argos will have a sniff in this game will be if the Bombers give them points on turnovers
• Hit a few big plays early to kill any Argo optimism

For the Argos to win

• Have the game called on account of weather at the 1:00 mark after kicking a rouge on the opening kick off
• Hit a big play early to gain some confidence
• Win the special team battle, (2 TD’s on punts would help)

 

The predictions

An intriguing game on Thursday night as the Eskimos meet the Lions.  So much more was expected from BC after they acquired Reilly but they seemed to have forgotten to surround him by any other talent.  Last time these two teams met, Reilly was sacked 7 times.  It could be a long night for him again this week.

Picks:

Edmonton over BC

Ottawa over Montreal

Hamilton over Calgary

 

And in our feature game:

Mcleod Bethel-Thompson actually had a decent game last week against the Lions completing 25 of 33 passes for 303 yards. But the Lions defense isn’t the Bombers defence.

Winnipeg 41  Toronto 16

Corbett Report Stats so far:

CFL overall        12-3

Bomber games     3-0

 

CHEERS!

 

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