The Corbett Report, September 11, 2021

Introduction

So what a week last week.  The Corbett Report (wrongly) predicted the Bombers would lose their 15^th Labour Day Classic in 16 years but instead, the Bombers surprised most of the CFL world with a stunning 23-8 win over the Riders.  While it could hardly be worthy of the label “Classic”, it was a decisive Bomber victory.  How did this happen? Well, look no further than the words of all-star DB Willie Jefferson who commented before the game that the Riders hadn’t played “anyone with a defence like the Bombers”.  In retrospect the words were prophetic.  Consider this:

            Cody Fajardo – 59% completion rate, 3 interceptions and no TDs

            William Powell – held to 44 yards rushing

            Riders in the Red Zone – 0/0

            And the most definitive stat – 8 points allowed

That last stat is phenomenal.  It builds on the 2019 playoff run (average of 13 points a game) that has solidified the Bomber defence as the best in the league.  Looking below at the standings, the Bombers in 2021 are again averaging just 13 points against per game!  Think about that.  You’re going to win a lot of football games in the CFL if you’re only giving up 13 points a game.

On offence, the performance may have seemed pedestrian, but Collaros’ 19/27 completion rate (70.4%) and 245 yards were more than enough.  Coupled with Andrew Harris’ 95 yards of rushing and it added up to a more than respectable 370 yards of offence.  What’s more, the Bombers had the ball 10 minutes more than Saskatchewan.

All of this is just fine and dandy (that’s banjo talk) but when the tractors come rolling into Winnipeg on Saturday the score will start at zero-zero.  It’s hard to win back-to-back games at any time but when it’s the Labour Day/Banjo Bowl back-to-back, it’s been nearly impossible.  Reality is, though, that until this year, the Bombers have taken to the field for the Banjo Bowl coming off a loss in 14 of the past 15 years.  Coming home off of a Labour Day victory is kind of unchartered territory for the Bombers.  If one only had a crystal ball to see what the future holds.  Oh, wait a minute, YOU DO have a crystal ball, you just have to keep reading to see what it says.

Welcome to week 6.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

The Standings

WEST DIVISION

RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	F	A	HOME	AWAY	DIV
1	Winnipeg	5	4	1	0	8	103	67	3-0-0	1-1-0	2-0-0
2	Saskatchewan	4	3	1	0	6	94	70	3-1-0	0-0-0	1-1-0
3	Edmonton	4	2	2	0	4	78	82	0-2-0	2-0-0	2-0-0
4	BC	4	2	2	0	4	84	75	0-1-0	2-1-0	1-2-0
5	Calgary	5	1	4	0	2	93	110	1-3-0	0-1-0	0-3-0

EAST DIVISION

RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	F	A	HOME	AWAY	DIV
1	Hamilton	4	2	2	0	4	73	78	1-0-0	1-2-0	2-0-0
2	Montreal	4	2	2	0	4	113	97	0-1-0	2-1-0	1-1-0
3	Toronto	4	2	2	0	4	79	95	1-0-0	1-2-0	0-1-0
4	Ottawa	4	1	3	0	2	67	110	0-2-0	1-1-0	0-1-0

Not to beat a dead horse (or Roughrider for that matter), but did you notice the Bombers have allowed 67 points in 5 games.  In contrast, the Riders have allowed 70 in just 4 games.  Also, not to get ahead of ourselves but a Bomber victory in the Banjo Bowl would give the Bombers a 4-point cushion atop the Western division!

The Bombers

The return of Andrew Harris in week 4 of the season provided some much-needed offence on the ground and the return of Nic Demski in week 5 gave Zach Collaros his go-to receiver on 2^nd and long.  Excuse me though, if the offence’s growth gets overlooked on a team that lives and dies by its defence.  Consistently pressuring the QB, winning the turnover game and stopping the run has become the hallmark of this defence and without a doubt they are the backbone of this team.  Hell, I’ll go as far as to say that I’m starting to hope the offence gets off the field so we can watch the defence in action!

The Bombers are rounding into a solid team in all phases of the game.  This week will be very telling on whether they’ll have to scratch and claw all year for 1^st, or whether they can assert themselves as the team to beat.

Riders

The Riders went into last week’s game undefeated (3-0), and coming off a bye week, were looking to assert themselves as the best offence in the league.  Winnipeg had a thing or two to say about that, Riders were held to just 8 points and Cody Fajardo completed 26 passes but unfortunately 3 of those went to the other team and none of them found the end zone (although one did hit the cross bar (déjà vu anyone?).  Fajardo looked like he was playing out an old Led Zepplin song (Dazed and Confused).

Just like the Bombers who are trying to show they’re the class of the league, so too are the Riders out to prove something.  In their case they’re trying to prove that the Labour Day game was a fluke and that the real Roughriders are solid contenders for 1^st in the West. 

Keys to the game

Here are the keys to the game:

For the Bombers to win

• Defence keep on keepin’ on (keep Cody looking into the headlights)

• Keep the emotions in check – no dumb penalties

• Win the time of possession

For the Riders to win

• Score a TD early – (Riders’ touchdown drought against the Bombers is currently at 123 minutes)

• Win the turnover game

• O-Line needs to stop the Bombers’ pass rush (as if that could be a thing)

The record

Corbett report record this year:

                        CFL                             9 – 10 (47%)

                        Bombers only             3 – 2 (60%)

The predictions

Picks:

Friday, it’s the Toronto vs. Hamilton rematch.  Pick Hamilton to go to 3-2

Saturday’s a triple header.  Pick Calgary over Edmonton (welcome back Bo) and BC over Ottawa (BC’s the sleeper team in the West).  And in our feature game:

As previously mentioned, it’s extremely difficult to win back-to-back games in the CFL and you gotta figure the Riders, having now played the Bombers D, will have a few wrinkles in their offensive schemes.   Mike O’Shea’s been around awhile though, so I’d expect a few changes to the game plan from them as well.  Usually, I’d predict a split in a back-to-back but it’s hard to bet against the Bombers after watching last week’s game.

Bombers 27 Riders 11

Yippie-yi-yay

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