The Corbett Report, August 23, 2024

Introduction

To quote Taylor Swift, coming into August the Bombers were looking at a rather “Cruel Summer”.  An 0-4 start. A loss in their first two home games.  No wins in June.  A mediocre performance in Regina. Then a heartbreaking loss in Toronto in July and the Bombers’ season seemed on the precipice of falling into the abyss.  Blue looked like they’d be joining the likes of the Elks and Ti-Cats as the free space on the CFL bingo card.  Then along came August and week 9.  Up against the (at the time) division-leading BC Lions the Bombers seemed to be in tough and ran the risk of falling to 2-7.  With that record they basically would fall out of playoff contention before Labour Day. 

In case you need to be reminded, that loss didn’t happen.  What did happen was complete dominance by the Bomber defence on August 1 enroute to a 25-NOTHING win over the Lions.  Then, a week off and out to BC they went against the much (MUCH) hyped Nathan Rourke.  Surely the Bombers had no chance in that one, right? Guess again.  The Bombers defence dominated that game too, holding Rourke to just 8 completions on 25 attempts and intercepting him twice.  Who would have thought looking at the schedule this spring that back-to-back games against BC would be the turning point for the Bombers season!  The Corbett Report sure didn’t.

The Bombers though are still only 4-6 and need to keep on a roll in to secure a playoff game of any description (let alone a home game).  Back-to-back wins though have brought renewed energy to the team, and with a win tonight maybe the summer of 2024 won’t be such a Cruel Summer after all.

Welcome to week Twelve.  Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Bombers

With the loss of Demerio Houston to the Riders this offseason the Bombers secondary was a real concern coming into 2024.  Couple that with an aging D-Line and there was plenty of angst to go around.  Indeed, the way the team started, giving up big passing plays, and putting very little pressure on opposing quarterbacks, it looked like it could be a long season for the Bombers defence.  Fast forward to August and voila, the Bomber’s smothering defence has returned.  Consider this stat.  In the past four games the Bombers have given up an average of 11.5 points per game.  You’re going to win a lot of games in the CFL if you can hold your opponent to under 12 points per game.

The same dominance can’t be said about the Bombers offence.  With 208 points scored through the first 10 games the offence has been mediocre at best.  That’s a puzzle given that they’re led by the 2x MVP Zach Collaros.  There’s hope though.  Zach’s performance has improved over the past four games, due in no small part to improved pass protection from his offensive line.  The team seems capable of moving the ball and have now surpassed BC in total yards to move into 4^th place in that category.  What’s missing is the team’s ability to punch the ball into the endzone.  If they can start doing that on a consistent basis this team may just make a run for first place.

Ti-Cats

Fun facts:  The Ti-Cats lead the league in average yards of offence per game with 396.  Bo-Levi Mitchell leads the league in passing yards with 2,816 and passing TDs with 19.  The fun and games stop there. This team is in last place in the East.  Why?  Well 334 points against is part of the problem.  So too is a league-leading 12 interceptions given up (compared to just 4 that they’ve made).  They also lead the league in penalties per game (8.9) and total penalty yards assessed (778).  Compare those numbers to the Bombers who average just 6.1 penalties per game with a total for the year of 561 yards and you start to get the picture.  The Ti-Cats are a bit of a mess.

Standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Pts for	Pts Against
West
Saskatchewan	10	5	4	1	11	260	249
BC	10	5	5	0	10	233	248
Winnipeg	10	4	6	0	8	208	197
Calgary	10	4	6	0	8	246	290
Edmonton	10	3	7	0	6	296	285
East
Montreal	10	9	1	0	18	288	215
Ottawa	9	6	2	1	13	227	218
Toronto	9	5	4	0	10	256	234
Hamilton	10	2	8	0	4	256	334

For the first time this season the Bombers enter the week in a playoff position.

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Don’t overlook the Ti-Cats
• Add to Bo-Levi’s interception woes
• Score early to rattle the already shaky Hamilton confidence

For the Ti-Cats to win

• Hit the big pass play early and silence the crowd
• Hang onto the ball
• Shut down the Bombers run game

The predictions

The Corbett report has moved up in the “Pick-em” standings, now sitting at 1231 with a stellar 20-24 record! The fun continues this week with another home team sweep:

• Argos over the Riders in Toronto
• Redbacks over the Lions in Ottawa
• Alouettes over the Elks in Montreal

And of course it’s hard not to see another dominant performance by the Bombers D and maybe, just maybe, a breakout game for the offence. Put the two together and you should get.

Bombers 30

 Ti-Cats 13

Be sure to check out jcorbettreport.com