3 Keys To Victory

By: Ed Tait Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Friday, Sep. 24, 2010

1. AN ACT OF GOD, THREE MIRACLES AND OTHER ASSORTED DIVINE INTERVENTIONS

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1. AN ACT OF GOD, THREE MIRACLES AND OTHER ASSORTED DIVINE INTERVENTIONS

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2010 (5527 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

1. AN ACT OF GOD, THREE MIRACLES AND OTHER ASSORTED DIVINE INTERVENTIONS

But seriously, folks…

Look, despite their direct opposite records, the Bombers do feel they can hang with the Grey-Cup champs. And any time two squads trade blows in the centre of the ring, the underdog — no matter the odds — has a puncher’s chance to deliver a KO. Consider this: in the Als’ three losses this season they have surrendered an average of 43 points and 486 yards offence.

Quarterback Anthony Calvillo is the straw that stirs the drink for Montreal.

Question now is can the Bombers get up off the mat following the loss to the Argos?

“How do you attack them? You attack them by punching them in the face,” said Bomber centre Obby Khan. “I mean, they’re going to come right at you. And when you’ve got somebody coming at you like that the only way to fight it is to go right back at them. We have to take the run game right to them. We have to take the passing game right to them… none of this fancy stuff. It’s going to be a bare-knuckle brawl and after our last game I think a lot of our guys are looking forward to a fight.”

2. THE A.C. FACTOR

Same old, same old whenever the Bombers and Als meet: unless the defence finds a way to keep QB Anthony Calvillo from getting comfy, they will be scorched. Calvillo has led the Als to a 12-5 record in games vs. the Bombers since ’04, including throwing for two scores and a 24-0 lead in their win last month before an Odell Willis hit sent him to the hospital with a dislocated rib. Interestingly, in the five Bomber victories over the Calvillo-led Als, Winnipeg has registered 14 sacks.

“He’s a pocket passer, he’s one of the elite quarterbacks in the game,” said Willis. “He knows his reads… you just got to get there and throw his rhythm off and if you don’t it may be a long game. (The hit that sent Calvillo to the hospital) was a freak play that happened and I didn’t try to cause no hurt on him. If he’s out there suited up, I mean, I’m sorry if he gets sacked and hurt. I’m just doing my job. He gets paid to throw touchdowns and complete passes, I get paid to make tackles and sack quarterbacks. Hopefully we can go out there and knock him around a little bit and hopefully he don’t have to get carted off again.”

3. BOUNCE BACK, FOOT SOLDIERS

One of the most disturbing developments from the loss to Toronto — along with the offensive ineptitude and three or four questionable play calls — was the breakdown of the Bomber special teams units which have been so stellar since early in the season. Not only did the punt-cover unit surrender a TD to Chad Owens, the punt return squad was hurt by a 31-yard gain on a fake punt. The Bombers, clearly, need their infantrymen to be better against the Als.

“It’s hard for us because our punt team has been really great since the beginning of the season,” said linebacker Pierre-Luc Labbe. “That’s the first punt return TD against us and we had the best average for punt net yardage… we were proud of that. There’s no excuses. Two weeks ago we played really well. So now we’ve just got to try to forget it, learn from it and move on. My linebacker coach said the first day we came in here this week, ‘Nobody’s dead. We’ve got to try and forget it and learn and get better.’ “