The Corbett Report, July 15, 2022

Introduction

It’s a rarity in the CFL for one player to stick with one team over their entire career, but Bo-Levi Mitchell seems to be on that path.  He came to the league in 2012 and became the team’s starting QB in 2013.  Since then he’s put up some impressive numbers.  Coming into 2022, Bo-Levi had an impressive 30,531 yards passing, riding a 64.8 completion percentage and a TD /Interception ratio of 179-83! Pretty impressive numbers.  What’s even more impressive is his win/loss record over that time, an incredible, 88-22-2 record.  For the mathematically challenged, that’s a winning percentage of 80%.  I dare say there are few athletes who can boast that winning percentage.

As BLM has gone, so have the Stamps.  Heck, in the early 2010s the Bombers seemed to be in awe of Calgary.  Seems like they just couldn’t get a win.  From 2011 to 2016 the Bombers’ record against the Stamps was 1–15.  Many of those games were heartbreakers engineered by BLM. Since 2016 though, some chinks in the Stampeders’ armour have been starting to show.  Since 2016 the Bombers against the Stamps have gone 5-4 and a trip to Calgary no longer seems to be another imminent grounding for Blue.  The Bomber turnaround was completed in the 2019 Western Semi-final.  With the 11-7 Bombers heading to the home of the defending Grey Cup Champs it would have been easy to play the “here we go again” card, but NO, the Bombers held Bo-Levi to just 116 yards passing and a 42.9% completion ratio.  The Stampeder horse was finally off the Bombers’ back!

This year though, lead by a healthy BLM, the Stamps are back.  Check out the standings below and you’ll see that for the second week in a row, the Bombers are playing an undefeated team.  Last week they put the league on notice that they’re still the team to beat, this week they have a chance to punctuate that notice.

Welcome to Winnipeg Bo-Levi, hope you (don’t) enjoy your stay.

Welcome to week 3.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

The Standings

WEWEST DIVISION

RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	F	A	HOME	AWAY	DIV
1	Winnipeg	5	5	0	0	10	130	85	2-0-0	3-0-0	1-0-0
2	Calgary	4	4	0	0	8	142	86	2-0-0	2-0-0	2-0-0
3	Saskatchewan	5	4	1	0	8	138	99	3-0-0	1-1-0	1-0-0
4	BC	4	3	1	0	6	159	92	2-1-0	1-0-0	1-1-0
5	Edmonton	5	1	4	0	2	89	189	0-2-0	1-2-0	0-4-0

EAST DIVISION

RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	PTS	F	A	HOME	AWAY	DIV
1	Toronto	3	1	2	0	2	45	86	1-1-0	0-1-0	1-0-0
2	Montreal	4	1	3	0	2	103	104	1-0-0	0-3-0	0-1-0
3	Ottawa	4	0	4	0	0	73	100	0-2-0	0-2-0	0-0-0
4	Hamilton	4	0	4	0	0	80	118	0-2-0	0-2-0	0-0-0

Look at the standings and two things are apparent.  First, getting first place in the West and hosting the Western final will be a challenge and any team that stumbles will be hard pressed to get back on top  (i.e. tonight’s winning team will gain an early edge in that pursuit). Second, while we’re barely a quarter of the way through the season, it’s not too early for talk of the crossover.  Have I mentioned a Saskatchewan (as the Eastern team) vs. Winnipeg (as the Western team) Grey Cup match up yet?

Bombers

For the first four games of the year, even though they went 4-0, there was much angst in Bomberville about how those wins were coming.  They’ve lost a step, came the mutterings.  They miss Andrew Harris . . . The deep pass isn’t happening . . .

Then came last week.  Against the undefeated, and seemingly the new media darlings, BC Lions, the Bombers made a statement.  Telling the naysayers to HEY, don’t forget about us!

The Bombers dominated all three phases of the game.  Zach Collaros lead a solid passing attack completing 76.7% of his passes for 288 yards and 3 TDs (no interceptions).  The defence won the turnover battle 4-1.  The special teams delivered 15 points including an opening game kick return for a touchdown by Janarion Grant.

The Bombers basically said, hey, we’re the Champs, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

This week, they’ll need a similar all-around effort to beat the Stamps.  The big advantage this week is home field advantage.  The Bombers remain undefeated at IG Field since September 2019.  Not that the Stamps haven’t made it interesting during their trips to Winnipeg.  Here are the scores in the last three games played between the Stamps and the Bombers at IG Field (regular season):

8/8/19              Bomber victory 26-24

10/25/19          Bomber victory 29-28

8/29/21            Bomber victory 18-16

Not that O’Shea would let them, but the Bombers better not come out complacent (oh yeah, and that 100%, 60 minute thingy).

Stamps

The Stamps last won the Grey Cup in 2018.  A convincing 27-16 win against Ottawa.  Since then Calgary seemed to have lost a step going 12-6 in 2019 (2^nd) and 8-6 in 2020 (3^rd).  This year though, a healthy Bo-Levi has the Stampeders returning to their winning ways at 4-0.  Their offence has been spectacular, feasting on the deep ball, they’ve scored 142 points or an average of 36 points per game.  Their defence hasn’t been too shabby either, allowing just 21 points per game.  In short, this is a solid, veteran team that’s on top of their game.

Personally, I think most of the ranting about how great BC are in 2021 was a bunch of hoopla about nothing.  You can’t say the same about the Stamps.  Consider how they match up against the Bombers coming into this game:

            Total offensive yards per game – advantage Calgary 411-345

            Passing yards per game – advantage Calgary 299-255

            Rushing yards per game – advantage Calgary 112-90          

            Forced fumbles per game – advantage Calgary 1.8-.6

            Sacks per game – advantage Calgary 2.3-1.8

Get the picture? Stamps are a formidable foe!

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Hang onto the ball (in a close game, turnovers are magnified)
• Protect against the big play (overshadowed by the all the good things last weeks were the 3 long deep passes the Bombers gave up)
• Rattle BLM (can we say he’s lost a step yet?)

For the Stamps to win

• As always when playing on the road against a team with a boisterous crowd, score early
• Score a TD with special teams
• BLM hits the long bomb

The record

Corbett report predictions so far this year:

                        CFL                                         10 – 8 (56%)

                        Bombers only                           4 – 1 (80%)

The predictions

For the non Bomber games, here’s what’s going to happen:

            Montreal at home defeat the Elks      

            In touchdown Atlantic go with the Riders over the Argos

            And finally, an all East matchup.  Ti-Cats finally hit the win column over the Redblacks

This is a momentous matchup early in the 2022 season.  The Bombers play the Stamps in 3 of the next 6 games.  If either team sweeps that series, you can almost book their ticket to the Western final.  Home field makes the difference in this one.  Advantage Bombers.

Bombers 24 Stamps 21