Go with what you know…. I’m picking Lions

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/06/2012 (4842 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some coaches thrive on the “us against the world” mentality.

Well, when it comes to the Bomber’s chances tonight against the defending Grey Cup champion B.C. Lions, if Paul LaPolice wants to go down that road to light a fire under some posteriors, he won’t have to look too far for ammunition.

Dave Ritchie used to be a master at motivating his teams by convincing them that no one believed in them outside of the building, that everyone had already written them off, and that the opponent had in some way, shape, or form, disrespected them.

Many of these variables can be found to be true for any team on a weekly basis in pro football, but Dave would have us believing this stuff in the middle of a 12-game winning streak.

He just never felt good about letting his players enter a game without having something to prove and a chip on their shoulders, regardless of how good they were.

Fast forward 11 years, and this motivational approach would not be a bad idea tonight, as everybody and their sister (outside of the blind faithful) is expecting a tough go of it against the Leos.

But I know what you’re saying: How can a player, months removed from a football team he spent over a decade with, pick against them?

There are just too many things we don’t know about the Blue and Gold yet this season, and too many things we do know about the Lions.

Add to this equation that they are on the road, playing against a team that pretty much stopped losing last August, with an improved secondary, and a reigning MVP quarterback, and it’s a tough Week 1 test for the New England Patriots, let alone the Blue and Gold. What is most important, when picking winners, is when you are faced with a host of unknown entities, you go with what you do know.

Let’s start with the offensive line. Never mind that this group in Winnipeg has never played in a game together as a unit, and offensive lines thrive on cohesion and continuity.

Forget the fact that there will be a new tailback back there, who is just as vital in the protection scheme as the hoggies are, who may not be up to speed.

The biggest unknown for this group is that there are two players on the offensive line that have never started a regular-season game before in professional football.

Both Jordan Taormin (tackle) and Chris Kowalczuk (centre) will make their first starts tonight against some formidable talent on the B.C. defensive line.

The difference between the pre-season and the regular season is that not only is the tempo is ramped up a notch, but defences don’t show their blitz packages in exhibition contests. Kowalczuk will be tested on recognizing what he sees in front of him and making the right calls to execute the play. How this group comes together in a few hours time will go the longest way in determining how the club fares tonight.

But question marks on the offensive line and at tailback aren’t the only things we don’t know about this crew tonight. Chris Matthews (WR), Brandon Collier (DT), and depending on the offensive set, Rory Kohlert (WR) will all be making their first starts tonight in professional football.

Pierre Luc Labbe will be making his third ever start at middle linebacker, Dustin Doe will be playing in his fourth regular-season game of all time, and if Brandon Stewart has spent a lot of time playing the strong side linebacker spot before, I must have missed it.

In fact, in the front seven, a group that is hot-wired to the prowess of the dominant back end the Bombers do have, five of the seven are different from the starters that occupied these spots for the majority in 2011.

This realization doesn’t necessitate a loss this evening or even forecast a road of difficult challenges for the Bombers this year.

They could have just as much swag or swagger as 2011, if that’s what you want to call it.

The scarcity of buyers for what the Bombers are selling so far this year only says one thing: That nobody yet knows what they have at a number of positions and what they can do when the bright lights turn on for real.

One thing that isn’t a question mark, however, is that we won’t have to wait too long to discover just what these new players and this new team are made of.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays and game days in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97