The Corbett Report, Banjo Bowl 2019

Introduction

When the Corbett Report last filed a full home game report all seemed right in the world.  Enroute to a 7-2 record, a healthy Matt Nichols at QB, Andrew Harris having another strong season, the Bombers seemed right on track to break that pesky Grey Cup drought.  What could possibly go wrong? Well, two weeks later, while now sporting an 8-3 record, things are getting a bit rocky on the good ship Bombers.  Matt Nichols is out with an injury (with rumours percolating that it might be season-ending), Harris is out for a second game with a suspension and now a bunch of possible other injuries are being reported for the Labour Day rematch (Demski and Whitehead being the most notable).  All of this is contributing to the dropping odds that the Bombers will finally break that drought.

Certainly there’s cause for angst in Bomberville but let’s keep things in perspective.  Take last week’s game for instance.  The Bombers’ offense had a horrible first quarter but the defense kept them in it and the offense finished the game with a respectable 347 yards. Streveler doubled his passing yards from the previous game (the victory over Edmonton), passing for 161 yards vs. 89 the week before (okay, admittedly, that’s a glass half full sort of stat) and the defense sacked Fajardo 5 times and held William Powell to 59 yards rushing. In many respects the Bombers played a better game on Labour Day than they did the week before.  Since they never win in Regina on Labour Day, it’s not too far of a reach to suggest that the Labour Day game was just a blip on an otherwise pretty solid body of work in the 2019 season.

 

This week, though, is a different story.  At home, in a game that the Bombers often win, even with the injuries, the Bombers need to show that they’re for real.  As you can see down below, the margin of error in the West is minuscule. To regain momentum in the push to be first in their division the Bombers simply must win this game.

The only two teams that have played all year with the same QB are the BC Lions and the Edmonton Eskimos. Every other team has managed to post wins while suffering injuries at the key position.  Heck, the Ti-Cats actually have the best record in the league at 9-2 and they’ve been without starter Jeremiah Masoli for half the season. Other teams are showing the depth on their roster. This isn’t time for injury excuses for the Bombers.   It’s time to make a statement.  Are you a Grey Cup favourite, or is it just another woulda coulda shoulda kinda year.

Welcome to the Banjo Bowl 2019 edition.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

The Standings

WEST
Team	Wins	Losses	Pts	For	Against
Winnipeg	8	3	16	320	218
Sask	7	3	14	283	218
Calgary	6	4	12	274	229
Edmonton	6	5	12	273	223
BC	1	9	2	205	321
EAST
Team	Wins	Losses	Pts	For	Against
Hamilton	9	2	18	336	217
Montreal	5	4	10	232	234
Ottawa	3	7	6	193	286
Toronto	1	9	2	178	348

Of note here is that the tiebreaker comes down to the season series against your opponent.  Winnipeg has won the season series against Edmonton (2-0). They play Sask 2 more times (Sask leads the series 1-0) and Calgary in the last 2 games of the season (Winnipeg leads that season series 1-0).  So while first place looks good on paper, there’s still a lot of football to be played and a lot to be decided.

The Bombers

There’s no doubt that on offense the Bombers are a different team without Nichols and Harris.  That being said, Streveler brings a skill set to the game at QB that Nichols doesn’t, namely rushing.  Last week Streveler struggled in the first half but when the playcalling switched to him running, the Bomber offense started to move the ball. He finished with 65 yards rushing much of which was gained on the fourth quarter drive that saw the Bombers take the lead.  Andrew Harris of course is irreplaceable but Johnny Augustine did an admirable job in relief last week rushing for 98 yards.

Let’s face it though; this team will not be winning the Grey Cup on the strength of their offense.  The offense needs to control the ball, not turn it over and as has been said so many times this year by others, “Simply manage the game” and allow the true strength of this team to take control. That would be defense and special teams. Last week the defense did all that was asked of them except get a stop in the final drive of the game.  While that’s an easy to point to lapse, it needs to be pointed out how they stopped the Riders in the first quarter when the game could easily have gotten out of hand.  Special teams last week were uncharacteristically quiet.  In a year where the Bombers have gotten big returns time and time again last week’s effort was somewhat pedestrian.  They’re due for another (or a couple) of big returns this week.

The Riders

I know if you’re inclined to wear a fruit as a toque you’re probably thinking all is right with the world. Well, not to burst your melon but you may be off the mark a bit.

Sure the Riders have won 6 in a row but it’s hardly been in spectacular fashion.  Seriously, the Riders won a game due to lightning! Surely they can’t be proud of that.

Still, you have to credit the Riders for last week’s outing.  Farjardo did complete 64% of his passes for 300 yards and of course lead them to the game winning field goal.  Drama like that won’t likely repeat the rest of the year and I think the Riders will falter during the last half of the season.

Keys to the game

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

 

For the Bombers to win

• Hang onto the ball.  Streveler threw 2 interceptions last week.  That can’t happen again
• Get a big play on defense early to show the Riders last week’s last drive heroics aren’t on the table this week
• Get at least one punt return of more than 50 yards (a TD would be nice)

 For the Riders to win

• Score earlier.  They’ll be a lot of Pilsner-fuelled melon heads in the stands, so get them involved early
• Outperform the Bombers defense
• Pressure Streveler

The predictions

Picks

BC over Montreal

Toronto over Ottawa

Calgary over Edmonton

And in our feature game, history is reversed and all is right in the world.

Winnipeg 19  Riders 17

Corbett Report Stats so far:

CFL overall        33-13 (72%)

Bomber games     8-3

CHEERS!

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