Blue and Gold have learned from losses

By: Adam Wazny Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Friday, Sep. 23, 2011

FACING a standings-approved inferior opponent this week, the talking points around the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-3) stem from the lessons learned earlier this month.

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FACING a standings-approved inferior opponent this week, the talking points around the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-3) stem from the lessons learned earlier this month.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/09/2011 (5462 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FACING a standings-approved inferior opponent this week, the talking points around the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-3) stem from the lessons learned earlier this month.

You remember the Saskatchewan Roughriders — the one-win team that pounded the Blue and Gold in back-to-back games and planted a seed a doubt among observers about Winnipeg in the process? Well, with the lowly Toronto Argonauts (2-9) on tap for the Bombers Saturday, the club is big on focus and avoiding overconfidence, so as to not repeat the mistakes of the past.

It sounds clichéd, but in the crapshoot that is the CFL this season, can lessons actually be learned from one week to the next?

“I’ve taken away a lot from those games,” quarterback Buck Pierce said Thursday. “You have to. If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’re not going to last too long in this game or this industry. You have to continue to learn.”

Head coach Paul LaPolice hopes all his players adopt that message. He might not want to go there, but it’s easy for Winnipeg to look at the 2-9 Argos record and not take things too seriously. It already happened once this season.

“We’re going to play a team on the road that’s a good football team,” LaPolice said. “I don’t care what their record is.”

AT STAKE: On paper, this game carries a different weight for each club.

The Bombers would like to win to keep at least four points up on Montreal in the East standings, while the Argos need a win to start a late season, last-gasp push for a playoff spot.

Toronto trails Hamilton by six points.

FIRST MEETING: Part of the plot Saturday night revolves around former Bombers and current Toronto quarterback Steven Jyles.

Saturday’s contest marks the third game for Jyles, who replaced Cleo Lemon earlier this season, and it should be interesting how he performs against his old club.

Jyles is completing just 56 per cent of his passes and holds a quarterback efficiency rating of 71 per cent — easily the worst among the eight CFL starting quarterbacks.

— Wazny