The Corbett Report, July 10, 2026

Introduction

Looking below at the standings, it looked like this season was shaping up as the most competitive in years.  But then last Sunday happened.  That’s when the league saw two of its premier quarterbacks go down with injury.  Bo-Levi Mitchell, with an ankle injury that, well quite honestly, looks to be season (if not career) ending and Zach Collaros with what appears to be yet another concussion.  In a league with only 9 teams that’s a devastating blow to competitiveness. 

The drop off in play will likely be most noticeable in Hamilton where BLM was on track for a record year and the Ti-Cats looked to be early favourites to come out of the East division.  The starting QB job will be handed to Jake Dolegala.  Dolegala has bounced around the league a bit with his best year being 2023 when he started 9 games for the Riders.  Since then, he’s seen stints in BC (1 start) and Winnipeg (no playing time).  While considered a CFL veteran and having a few starts under his belt, he’s no BLM.

In Winnipeg the starting QB job falls to newly acquired Dru Brown.  Brown began his career in Winnipeg in 2021 with his best year also being 2023 where he had 2 starts with the Bombers.  His TD-Interception ratio that year set a league record for the most TDs without an interception (9-0) and paved the way for his free agency signing with Ottawa. 

This weekend, in Winnipeg and Saskatchewan (where the Ti-Cats play), the “next man up” philosophy will be put to the test.

Welcome to week 6, welcome to the Corbett Report.

Standings

Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Pts for	Pts Against
West
Saskatchewan	4	3	1	0	6	132	126
Edmonton	4	3	1	0	6	108	104
Winnipeg	4	2	2	0	4	89	101
Calgary	4	2	2	0	4	164	139
BC	4	1	3	0	2	123	137
East
Montreal	4	3	1	0	6	133	124
Toronto	4	2	2	0	4	150	153
Hamilton	4	2	2	0	4	118	98
Ottawa	4	0	4	0	0	102	137

The standings suggest a pretty competitive season.  Too bad Ottawa can’t get a win though.  And, what about that Pts For total for the Bombers.  YIKES!

Bombers

Stats are for losers, so they say, but in picking which stats to focus on for the Bombers, it’s pretty easy to see why they’re a 2-2, middle of the pack, team.  In fact, looking at the stats one wonders how they’re even a .500 team.  Consider these gems:

• Points scored – 89 (Ranked last)
• Average rushing yards allowed – 131/game (Ranked last)
• First downs made – 83 (Ranked second last)

And yet . . . there are some signs of life when the stats are analyzed further:

• Passing yards allowed – 258.3/game (Ranked first)
• Points allowed – 101/game (Ranked second)
• Yards per play allowed – 6.69 (Ranked first)

I know what you’re thinking, these stats are skewed due to 1) BLM and Collaros’s injuries in week 5 and 2) the stellar performance of other teams’ offences.  So, going forward what needs to happen for the Bombers to improve?  In a nutshell:

• The secondary needs to improve
• They need to do a better job of protecting the QB
• They need to put more pressure on the opponent’s QB

Hell, in short, they just need to play better. Insightful, this report is.

Argos

The displaced Argos have been a surprise this year.  Tonight they’re playing their 5^th consecutive road game and despite that they’ve put up a respectable 2-2 record.  Credit for their resurgence from last year goes a long part to the return of Chad Kelly.  Even last week, which was a 58-36 blow out by the Stamps, Kelly managed to pass for close to 300 yards.  He also hit for 3 TD passes.  The Argos so far in 2026 lead the league in both average yards per game (465) and average yards passing per game (395).   Their aerial attack could prove to be the Bombers’ undoing in this contest.

On the ground, it’s a different story.  Toronto is near the bottom of the league in most rushing categories. 

Defensively they’ve struggled, giving up the most points against this season (albeit a lot of that stat has to do with the 58 points given up to the Stamps last week).

Keys to the game

For the Bombers to win

• Dru Brown needs to get protection from the O-Line
• Slow down Kelly’s passing attack
• Vaval gets a punt return TD

For the Argos to win

• Pressure Dru Brown
• Stop the Bombers run game
• Win the turnover battle

The predictions

Record so far this year:11- 7 (Bomber games 2-2)

This week look for:

Ottawa over Edmonton (seriously, the Redblacks HAVE TO win sometime, don’t they?)

Calgary over Montreal (has the Davis Alexander mystique come to an end?)

Saskatchewan over Hamilton (Sorry Ti-Cats, it’s going to be a tough go without BLM)

And

Even in last week’s loss the Argos managed to put up 466 yards of net offence.  Not to mention the 36 points.  Starting a new QB and facing the league’s best aerial attack could make it a long night for the Bombers.

Argos 35 Bombers 29

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