3 Keys to Victory
Free Press Ed Tait outlines how the Bombers could win tonight:
QB Kevin Glenn misses injured TD king Milt Stegall, but the Bombers must still find a way to push the ball into the end zone.
1. MEMO TO THE BOMB SQUAD: PRE-SEASON ENDED TWO WEEKS AGO
What was most alarming about last week's home loss to Toronto were the countless number of mistakes, both mental and physical, made by every unit across the board. Dropped passes; sure interceptions batted to the turf rather than squeezed by the defence; a botched punt attempt by Alexis Serna; horrible return decisions by Fred Reid; a late substitution by a veteran linebacker like Barrin Simpson; three interceptions and miscommunication by QB Kevin Glenn and his receivers...we could go on, but editors usually leave a hole here in this space for only 600 words. Let's be super kind and chalk up last week's sloppiness to a short pre-season. But the forgiveness of those sins ends here and now.
2. PEDAL TO THE METAL IN THE SCORE ZONE
The easy thing to do here would be to simply claim the Bombers dearly miss TD king Milt Stegall when they get inside an opponent's 30-yard line. They do. That's a given. But there are also enough weapons here to more than compensate for Stegall's absence, including a future Hall of Fame back in Charles Roberts and two 1,000-yard receivers in Terrence Edwards and Derick Armstrong. What must alarm the coaching staff is this stat: in the first 11 games of 2007 the Bombers went over the 30-point mark five times and posted an average net offence per game of 408.7 yards. But in the last 11 games, including the three playoff games last November, the Bombers have not once eclipsed the 30-point mark while averaging 284.1 net offensive yards. What are we to take from all this? More and more teams are dropping eight or nine defenders into coverage after forcing the Bombers into second-and-long situations. Not only do the Bombers need better first-down production, they need to hit more big plays, get Roberts more touches (13 carries, four receptions last week still isn't enough) and serve up some more offensive wrinkles so that they don't become predictable and easy to defend against.
3. COOL OFF A.C.
Hey, look, we know Montreal beat up on lowly Hamilton last week -- watching the Ticats has become akin to rooting for the Washington Generals vs. the Harlem Globetrotters -- but what we saw offensively from the Alouettes was impressive. Als' QB Anthony Calvillo, now 35, connected on 25 of 37 for 293 yards and two TDs while Avon Cobourne rushed 12 times for 107 yards. That kind of offensive balance, and Calvillo's savvy, makes for a frightening combo for the Bomber defence. That said, we loved the get-up-and-get-after shown by the Bomber front seven last week and that kind of push against an Alouette offensive line that surrendered the most sacks in the CFL last year will be paramount. Oh, and if the back end of Winnipeg's defence could squeeze some of those gimme interceptions this bunch could be stifling. FYI: Calvillo has thrown for over 300 yards 11 times in 28 career games against Winnipeg but, since accomplishing it eight times in 14 games during a span from 2000-2005, he has done the 300 thing just once in their last six meetings.
Bombers-Alouettes
How they match up
WHEN THE BOMBERS RUN
Big changes up front since last season for the Bombers with three different O-linemen manning the interior in Brendon LaBatte, Ryan Donnelly and Kyle Koch. But Charles Roberts should still be able to find holes.
Edge: Bombers
WHEN THE BOMBERS PASS
Bomber fans had better hope last week's performance by the aerial assault was just a blip. Three picks hurt, as did the breaking-in of newcomer Romby Bryant as well as Kerry Johnson and Arjei Franklin. Expect better.
Edge: Bombers
WHEN THE ALOUETTES RUN
Avon Cobourne was spectacular last week against the Tabbies. But that Bomber front is a beast against the run.
Edge: Bombers
WHEN THE ALOUETTES PASS
Big heat up front from the Bombers will limit Calvillo's effectiveness, but there are still too many potential interceptions dropped by this crew.
Edge: Alouettes
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Bombers are breaking in a new kicker, while Fred Reid struggled in the return game. Until this is resolved, it's a no-brainer.
Edge: Alouettes
INTANGIBLES
Homefield advantage is always huge for the Als, but we like the experience of the Bomber coaching staff and the resolve we saw from their squad since last week's loss.
Edge: Bombers
INSIDE THE Xs AND Os
OUCH REPORT: No Milt Stegall (knee), again, although he's progressing quickly enough that he may be available for next week's home date against B.C. Also on the mend are OL Matt Sheridan (groin); OL Dominic Picard (ankle); P Duncan O'Mahony (toe); DL Matt Kudu (knee). Matt O'Meara will be activated for Picard to provide OL depth. The Als welcome back SB Ben Cahoon from injury, although he'll split time with Danny Desriveaux and will likely play every third series or so. Key Als not playing include QB Marcus Brady (shoulder); DB Mathieu Proulx (hamstring); DE Alain Kashama (knee); WR Elijah Thurmon (knee); DT Jeff Keeping (knee) and DE Kai Ellis (knee).
MILESTONE WATCH: Kevin Glenn needs just 156 yards passing to move past Tom Clements into fourth place on the Bombers career passing yardage list. Glenn sits at 14,762; Clements is at 14,917. The top three are Dieter Brock (29,623), Khari Jones (20,175) and Ken Ploen (16,470)... Charles Roberts is 12 receptions shy of passing Ernie Pitts for fifth spot on the Bombers' all-time reception list, behind Milt Stegall (825); James Murphy (573); Joe Poplawski (549) and Rick House (385)... Alouette QB Anthony Calvillo needs 20 passing TDs to move past Matt Dunigan into third place on the CFL's career list at 307 and behind Damon Allen (394) and Ron Lancaster (333).
FYI: The Bombers won all three regular-season meeting last year against Montreal, but are still just 11-23 against the Alouettes since their rebirth in 1996. In that span, the Als do not have a losing record against any CFL team with their most-difficult opponent the Edmonton Eskimos (12-12 overall). Montreal is also an amazing 64-22 at Molston Stadium since '96.
VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE: "We're playing a very, very good football team. They're really well coached, they're highly disciplined and they're tough. This will be a measurement, at least in Week 2, of where we are. I don't know if it's a measurement of where we're going but it will be a good measure of where we are in the second week of the season. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle their success from last week; how they handle winning a game -- it's just as hard to handle winning at the professional level as it is being unsuccessful. We're going to find out a little bit more about ourselves." -- Alouette head coach Marc Trestman.
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