The Corbett Report, June 6, 2024

Introduction

It’s been 200 days since the Bombers last suited up for a meaningful football game.  Tonight it’ll be a rematch of that game: the Alouettes vs. the Bombers.  For those of you who might have forgotten (or have chosen to forget), the Alouettes won that game 28-24.  A game where, for about 57 minutes, it looked like the Bombers would regain the throne and capture their 3rd Grey Cup in 4 attempts.  Cody Fajardo had something to say about that though.  He hit Tyson Philpot for a 19 yard TD pass with 15 seconds to go and Bomber fans were forced to spend the next month watching the Alouettes travel around Quebec hoisting the Grey Cup.

Tonight the CFL renews the tradition of having the prior year Grey Cup match up as the opening game of the season.  We’ll see if Montreal’s 8-game win streak to end the 2023 season carries into 2024. We’ll also learn if the Bombers’ run as the premier team in the league is over.  A new season offers a clean slate for all the teams. No better way to start than with this matchup. 

Welcome to week 1. Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Bombers

There’s lots of questions in Bomberville as we head into week one.  Among them:

• Will the defense without Jackson Jeffcoat (retired), Demerios Houston (Calgary) and Adam Bighill (injured) be able to be the dominate force they’ve been during their 4 year Grey Cup run?

• Will the decision to not play Zach Collaros, Brady Oliveria and Nic Demski in either of the pre-season games prove to be a wise one?  Do they truly “not need the practice” as Mike O’Shea contends?

• Was the special teams’ ineptitude in the pre-season simply a matter of having too many rookies on the field, or will this become the Achilles heel of the team?      

• Will the O-Line (with two new members) be able to protect Zach and open holes for the run game?        

So many questions.  Good thing we have 18 games to answer them.

Around the League

Lots of questions elsewhere too.  So let’s tour the league.  Here’s the top question in each of the other 8 cities in the CFL this year.

Montreal

Is Cody Fajardo truly an elite QB or was the playoff run he led the Alouettes on in 2023 a fluke?

Ottawa

Will the signing of Dru Brown be enough to bring life back to their anemic offence?

Toronto

Without Chad Kelly and AJ Ouelette will the Argos even be able to put together a 500 record?

Hamilton

Once again it’s the Bo-Show but will he be a no-show?

Saskatchewan

Does AJ Ouelette’s infectious optimism rub off on the rest of the Riders?

Calgary

Will the addition of Demerios Houston prove to be the difference for the Calgary Defense?

Edmonton

McLeod Bethel-Thompson returns to the CFL as Edmonton’s starting QB.  Will it be enough to get the Elks galloping to victories? (Do Elks gallop? Is that even a thing?)

BC Lions

Is this finally the year they get to host the Western Final?

Standings

Everyone is 0-0 coming into this week so I may as well let you know how the standings will look on November 4, 2024.

West

BC                               12 – 6

Winnipeg                    10 – 8

Saskatchewan                9 – 9

Edmonton                     8  – 10 

Calgary                       6 – 12

East

Hamilton                     10 – 8

Montreal                       9 – 9

Ottawa                          9 – 9  

Toronto                         8 – 10

And in the playoffs it’ll be Winnipeg over Sask in the West Semi Final and then BC over Winnipeg in the West Final.  In the East it’ll be Montreal over Ottawa in the East Semi Final and then Hamilton over Montreal in the Final.

Which will all lead to a BC victory at home in BC in the Grey Cup on November 17^th.

(Of course last year I picked Winnipeg over Hamilton in the Grey Cup, so it’s not like I’m ALWAYS right).

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Pressure Fajardo
• Sustain long drives
• 1-2 punch of Collaros/Streveler returns

For the Alouettes to win

• Hit the long ball (big plays)
• One punt return for a TD
• Stop the Bombers run offense

The predictions

Later this weekend its going to be:

• Hamilton over Calgary (Bo shows up his old team)
• Saskatchewan over Edmonton (MBT not yet the answer for the Elk)
• BC over Toronto (Argos have lost too many key pieces from last year)

And in our feature game look for home field advantage to fire up the Bombers.

Bombers 36 Alouettes 33

Be sure to check out jcorbettreport.com