The Corbett Report, October 17, 2025

Introduction

Yikes.  What a difference a couple of weeks make.  Week 17 saw the Bombers ride roughshod over the Ti-Cats as they rolled to a 40-3 victory.  Then a bye week.  Then a road game in Edmonton that surely would see the Bombers continue their roll.  Uhmmm . . . not so quick.  The Bombers looked like anything but contenders and though the score of 25-20 suggested a close, hard-fought contest, it was anything but.  The Bombers’ offence was anemic, committing 3 turnovers (2 interceptions and 1 turnover on downs) and didn’t look anything like they did two weeks before against the Ti-Cats.  That’s been the problem with the Bombers all season.  At times they look like the team that made it to the Grey Cup the past 5 years, but at times they look like the team that went 29 years without ever winning the CFL’s holy grail.  It’s a long season but it’s coming to an end and as you’ll find out shortly, the Bombers are indeed, “Living on a Prayer”.

Welcome to week 20

Welcome to the Corbett Report.

Standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Pts for	Pts Against
West
Saskatchewan	16	12	4	0	24	435	365
BC	16	9	7	0	18	495	454
Calgary	16	9	7	0	18	424	393
Winnipeg	16	8	8	0	16	423	398
Edmonton	16	7	9	0	10	388	433
East
Hamilton	17	10	7	0	20	490	481
Montreal	16	9	7	0	18	336	383
Toronto	17	5	12	0	10	484	539
Ottawa	16	4	12	0	8	324	463

A quick look at the standings and it’s easy to see the importance of this game.  Lose today and the Bombers are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs, never mind not hosting a home game. (line unchanged from the last two reports).  The important take away here is that at 12-4 the Riders have clinched first place.  Whether that factors into who and how the Riders play remains to be seen.  A win by the Bombers clinches at least a cross-over game for them.
Bombers

The Bombers, save for that game against Hamilton, have had trouble all year putting together a consistent effort in all three phases of the game.  Some games, it’s the defence giving up big plays, other games it’s the offence that puts up a stinker, and still others, it’s special teams that can’t get it together.  If there ever was a time to get your shit together, I’d suggest week 20 of a 21 week season would be a good time to start!

There have been positives. Brady Oliveria has another 1,000+ yard rushing season under his belt.  This in spite of missing 2 games this year.  The defence, after a horrendous start, seems to have settled down a bit giving up fewer big plays.  On special teams, the Bombers have a legitimate returner in Trey Vaval who, as you’ll recall, took the opening kick off in for a TD against Hamilton in the game 3 weeks ago. So, there are positives, they’re just not enough to offset the negatives.  

The negatives are most prevalent on offence where QB Zach Collaros is having anything but an MVP season.  He’s thrown 15 interceptions in just 12 games.  His backup? Chris Streveler? Well, he’s thrown 11 interceptions in the games he’s played.  If you’re not good at math, I’ll help you out.  That’s a total of 23 interceptions in 16 games (1.44 per game).  In contrast, the Bombers have forced only 12 interceptions.  You can spend a whole day analyzing stats, but you may as well stop there.  The Bombers, during their Grey Cup years, consistently won the turnover battle.  It’s not happening this year.

Riders

As mentioned earlier, the Riders are playing a “nothing” game.  In fact, one could say it’s more of a northing game than next week’s game at home against BC.  Why? Well, because:

• They have another game next week that they can use as their “warm up for the playoffs” game
• They’re on the road
• They’ve clinched first place
• They’ve already beaten the Bombers twice this year

Perhaps that’s the reason they’ve already announced that Jake Maier will be their starting QB for tonight’s contest.  Look also for AJ Ouelette to get a rest as the Riders look to get as many of their players healthy for the playoffs.

If the Bombers can get a lead the Riders might just sit this one out.

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Get an early lead
• Zach doesn’t complete any passes to someone wearing Green
• Run Brady Run

For the Riders to win

• Win the turnover battle
• Sack Zach often
• Score early and silence the crowd

The predictions

The Corbett report is 42-31so far this year, 8-8 in Bomber Games.  Here are this week’s predictions:

• Look for Montreal to keep their first place hopes alive with a win in Ottawa
• BC won’t make the mistakes the Bombers made last week and will have an easy time at home against the Elks (eliminating the Elks from playoff contention)
• Last year’s Grey Cup champs, Toronto, will end their miserable season with a road loss in Calgary

And in our feature game, look for a better outing for the Bombers this week than last as they clinch a playoff spot.

Bombers 32 Riders 21

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