The Corbett Report, June 9, 2023

Posted on June 9, 2023

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Introduction

For the third year in a row the Winnipeg Blue Bombers come into the season as the odds-on favourite to win the Grey Cup.  Since breaking their 29-year drought in 2019 the Bombers have been the class of the league.  Running over defenses and stymieing offenses they’ve made it to three consecutive Grey Cups, winning two of them and losing a squeaker to Toronto last year.  It’s no wonder then that the Bombers come into 2023 as THE team to beat.  Everyone who comes to town or hosts the Bombers will have plenty of bulletin board material to post in the locker room. 

  • How the Bombers give opponents no hope. 
  • How the Bombers just have to show up to win. 
  • How the Bombers are in a league of their own. 

In short, some prognosticators would suggest playing the 2023 season is a pointless exercise.  Why not just give the Grey Cup to the Bombers this year.  Well, except, remember last November? I hate to remind you; the Bombers were the solid favourites in the 109th Grey Cup game in Regina.  All they had to do was show up, right? Uh-hmmmm . . . I guess Toronto never got the memo as they won every facet of the game enroute to a 23-22 victory.  The victory was much to the delight of the Saskatchewan fans who just couldn’t cheer for the Bombers and were clearly on the side of the Argos. It seems that not only does everybody like to beat the Bombers, but everybody likes to see the Bombers beaten.  Well, except of course for the hometown fans.  They might just have a thing or two to say about that.

Welcome to week 1. Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Bombers

Some notable off-season moves (or non-moves) by the Bombers:

  • Acquisition of Kenny Lawler strengthens the receiving corps (eventually)
  • Re-signing of Mike O’Shea ensures continuity in the locker room
  • Sergio Castello replaces Marc Liegghio as kicker
  • Dalton Schoen stays on after his rookie of the year winning performance in 2022
  • Core of the defense remains intact with Jefferson/Jeffcoat/Bighill all back
  • Brady Oliveira back for his second year as starter after proving he was a more than adequate replacement for Andrew Harris in 2022

Clearly, this is a veteran team that is set to dominate during the regular season again, right? While that would be a reasonable assumption there is one caveat that might come into play.  The term veteran also means aging.  Consider the ages of the Bomber stars:

Jefferson – 32

Bighill – 32

Jeffcoat – 32

Collaros – 34

And, how about the O-Line.  The leader of the group, Stanley Bryant is 37.  The average age of the starters on the line is 34.  That’s not a position, unlike, say, kicker, where you can play until you’re 50.

Suffice to say that while the window might not be closing for this veteran group, the shades are coming down.

We may have seen the start of that last year.  After allowing an average of just 13 points a game in 2021, the Bombers defense of 2022 allowed 21.  Grant it, the offense scored 30 but did that simply mask the decline of the defensive unit?

There’s no doubt that the Bombers have flipped from a team that won games and dominated defensively to one that simply wins the sprint to the end by consistently marching the ball down the field. 

2023 will be an intriguing season.  The key question: do the veteran Bombers have one more Championship season in them or have the aging Bombers passed their peak? I’m inclined to go with option A.  We’ll see this team on the winners’ stage in Hamilton on November 20th.

Ti-Cats

The Ti-Cats host the 110th Grey Cup this year and want nothing more than to be in the game.  To this end, they’ve gone out and signed Bo-Levi Mitchell.  Their success this year goes through Bo.  Bo Go Cats Go, No Bo No Go would be a simple way to sum up the Ti-Cats 2023 prospects.  Not to say that they don’t have a solid team in many other positions, but just like every other team in the CFL, success starts at the QB position.

Standings

So since this is week one and there are no standings, I may as well let you know what the outcome will be this year.

West

Winnipeg                    12 – 6

BC                               10 – 8

Calgary                          9 – 9

Edmonton                     8  – 10 

Saskatchewan             6 – 12

East

Hamilton                     10 – 8

Ottawa                         9 – 9

Toronto                        9 – 9  

Montreal                      8 – 10

Then, in the playoffs:

BC over Calgary

Winnipeg over BC

Toronto over Ottawa

Hamilton over Toronto

And in the Grey Cup

Winnipeg over Hamilton

But hey, don’t think you can skip out and not watch the games.  I’ve been known to be wrong. 

Corbett report predictions record for the regular season last year:

                        CFL                                         41 – 40 

                        Bombers only                         14 – 4

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