Key matchup 5 story lines

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/07/2012 (4827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five things to keep in the back of your mind as you watch the Bombers tangle with the Argonauts this evening:

222As opportunities for backup quarterbacks go, they don’t come any bigger than this.

Alex Brink takes his team’s 0-3 record into Toronto with a chance to set a course as a CFL starting quarterback for the unforeseeable future. Buck Pierce is out of commission for a while with torn ligaments in his foot — not that he was moving the Winnipeg offence much anyway — so the time is now for Brink to show that he’s ready to build off productive mop-up appearances and take command for the entire 60 minutes. That’s the popular sentiment out there, anyway.

Here’s where it gets hairy for Brink.

Garbage-time duty, those minutes of a football game when the soon-to-be-victorious opponent is on autopilot, has served Brink well. He’s looked pretty good during those times, but starting is a different animal. The expectations, the intensity, the pressure — all trend upwards at the beginning of the game and put a lot more emphasis on the quarterback play.

This is a big moment for Brink. How will he handle it?

22Brink isn’t the only new face on offence.

Chad Simpson, the former NFL back, gets the start over Bloi-Dei Dorzon for the Bombers tonight.

Dorzon has rushed the ball 28 times for 108 yards in the first three weeks. Not great. On top of that, he’s looked tentative coming out of the backfield, dropping a few passes.

Like the offence, he’s struggled to find a rhythm.

The Bomber coaches hope Simpson can provide some juice to the run game. One concern (or two): He’s been injured and may not be 100 per cent, plus he hasn’t played in a real game in over a year. No matter, he’s going in.

Desperate times…

22When the Bombers take the field, they will have already logged over 11,000 kilometres through the air on this four-game road trip (not taking into account the return trip to Winnipeg). That’s the most in the league through four weeks of the season.

It’s a lot of travel wear and tear on the body, and the winless Bombers have appeared out of gas late in games (with the exception of the Edmonton contest, when they looked gassed, both physically and mentally, after the first quarter). Travel sits next to injuries in the “no-excuse” section, the team says, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to this.

22Given their inability to stop anyone this season, one might be inclined to write off the Bombers’ defence when measuring it against Argos quarterback Ricky Ray.

Not so fast.

Ray, he of the career 41,000-plus passing yards and the career 96 rating on the quarterback efficiency chart, hasn’t been as dominant against the Bomber defence in recent years. In the three games against Winnipeg dating back to the 2010 season, Ray has thrown for an average of only 216 yards per game. He also has been picked off seven times in that span (against five touchdowns). What we’re trying to say is hope floats tonight, folks.

22Everyone knows the Bombers have been fast asleep to start games this year. They’ve been outscored — get this — 31-3 in first quarters through three weeks. To that end, or brutally slow beginnings, they’ve never led in any of the games in 2012. No other CFL team can boast that stat.

The possibility for a better start this week is there, though, as the Argos have had similar kickoff drowsiness, scoring just a touchdown against 34 points-against in the first quarter.

Get your popcorn ready!

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny

Cory Boyd vs. the Bombers defence

THE recent backstory isn’t great for Winnipeg.

Boyd, the Argos running back, rushed for a tidy 168 yards last weekend. That put him right at the top of the CFL’s rushing lead (317 yards). It was just the third time he’s rushed for 100-plus yards, and the Argos didn’t win (they are 10-3 when Boyd hits the century mark).

In his last two games against the Bombers, both Argos wins, Boyd has rushed for 200 yards total.

Wait, there’s more. Winnipeg’s defence is allowing a CFL-high 445 yards per game and 104 yards rushing per contest. Only Hamilton — whom Boyd torched on Saturday — is worse against the run.

Ricky Ray gives the Argos a legit quarterback, true, but No. 3 is still the biggest weapon for the Double Blue. Boyd cannot be allowed to run free, or it will be another long night for those in Gold.