The Corbett Report, July 20, 2023

Introduction

For real.  Some of the comments on social media after last week’s meltdown at Lansdowne:

• O’Shea’s an idiot (isn’t he just 16 back of Bud Grant for the all-time winningest Bomber coach?)
• Brady can’t hold onto the ball (ummm . . . can’t remember the last time he fumbled before last week)
• Collaros is too old (I believe his pick 6 last week was his first with the Bombers AND he did finish with a 69% completion rate and 369 yards)
• Our coordinators should be sacked (have you checked the Bombers record since Hall and Pearce came to town?)

Hell, the only one on the team that no one’s complained about is the kicker. 

Seriously? Aren’t these people the core of what brought us to the Grey Cup in each of the last three years? Surely, one game, no, actually, one QUARTER of football is a pretty small sample size upon which to make a decision to clean house and start from scratch! 

Here’s my take on last week.  The first half was so pedestrian it really did lull the Bombers into believing that they just needed to play out the minutes and go home with the victory.  I’m sure the coaches would deny the players were thinking this way but I’m sure most fans who were watching the game were yawning at half time and going ho-hum, looks like we’re 5-1 now (I know I was guilty of that).

So while it is true that the Bombers aren’t automatically winning their games like they were the past two years, they’ve still got a talented core group of players and still have a winning culture.  I believe they’ll be in the hunt for another Grey Cup in November.  Unless of course, they lose to Edmonton tonight, then forget everything I just wrote.  Unless that happens though, just get over it.

Welcome to week 7. Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Standings

Team	GP	W	L	Pts	For	Against
WEST DIVISION
BC	5	4	1	8	136	85
Winnipeg	6	4	2	8	162	133
Sask	5	3	2	6	116	128
Calgary	5	2	3	4	111	124
Edmonton	6	0	6	0	91	157
EAST DIVISION
Toronto	4	4	0	8	15	96
Montreal	5	2	3	4	106	111
Hamilton	5	2	3	4	115	164
Ottawa	5	2	3	4	97	101

Could this be the year of an Eastern Crossover?

Bombers

This is the last game before the Bombers head into a bye week.  I daresay that a loss to the lowly Elk wouldn’t exactly be how they want to go into that break.  I’m looking for a bounce-back game in a number of areas for the Bombers, including a return to running the ball.  Collaros has been under too much pressure this year and a solid performance by Oliveira could help take the pressure off Zach.  The return of Kenny Lawler should help take the pressure off Schoen who has been Zach’s primary target this year (with mixed results).

Defensively, the Bombers D-Line could have a heyday against the Elks QBs who have shown very little this year.

Then of course there’s the kicking game.  Castillo hasn’t missed a field goal this year and seems oblivious to pressure.

The Elks

So the Elks did set a record last week.  Their 20^th consecutive home loss set a North American sports record.  So there’s that!  It’s painful to see where this franchise is now, and with management basically saying, we can’t financially afford to get rid of Chris Jones, it’s painful to see where they might be come November.  Could this be the first 0-18 season in CFL history?

It’ll be interesting to see who starts at QB for Edmonton.  Taylor Cornelius has got to be shellshocked the way Chris Jones has used him.  Sometimes good enough to start, other times sitting on the bench. Then there’s Jones’ comments about Tre Ford (“He’s a good player and I’m not trying to be a smartass but that’s the facts, I’m not gonna hide from it. He didn’t come back to camp and he didn’t perform as good as he did a year ago,”).  It shows you what disarray the Elks find themselves in at the QB position.  I’d let Jones off the hook as the coach for the play strength of his QB core but let’s not forget that he’s also the GM.  The players the Elks have are HIS players!

In any case, maybe the Elks will eventually win a game, but it’s not going to be tonight against the Bombers.

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Dominate both sides of the ball on the line.  O-Line can’t be given up sacks (they’ve given up 16 so far compared to 29 all of last year), D-Line needs to get some
• Reintroduce Kenny Lawler to Zach Collaros
• RUN RUN RUN the ball (only 25 yards last week!)

For the Elks to win

• Play like the RedBlacks did last week.  Lull the Bombers into thinking they’ve got the win and then strike back before they wake up
• Stop the Bombers from hitting the big play
• Win the turnover game

Corbett report record

CFL Overall                9 out of 19

Bomber games            4 out of 6

The predictions

Four of the nine CFL teams are without their starting quarterback this week: Ottawa (Masoli), Hamilton (Mitchell and now Shiltz), Saskatchewan (Harris) and Edmonton (because they never really had one).  It makes picking winners that much more difficult (that’s why I went 1-3 last week – my story and I’m sticking to it).  In any case, a fresh set of games will see:

• Toronto over Hamilton (Bob Young starting at QB isn’t going to be enough)
• BC over Saskatchewan (Lions will do just Fine against Mason)
• Calgary over Ottawa (Calgary will be Dustin up the Crums)

And of course, at IG Field it’ll be another bounceback game against another Alberta team:

Bombers 38 Elks 13

Be sure to check out jcorbettreport.com and follow us on twitter @jcorbettreport