Bombers fighting momentum in a must-win game

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This article was published 23/09/2014 (4088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At this point of the season, it’s not just about how many wins you have, it’s where and when you got them.

Even though head coach Mike O’Shea would probably tell you it doesn’t matter, and the only important game is the next one, if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had a choice, they would reverse the order of the first two-thirds of their football season without hesitation.

A lot of CFL coaches like to break down the 18-game regular season schedule into thirds. They often have expectations and goals set for each six-game stanza, which helps focus their staff and players. If this team had started the season 1-5, and had gone into the break 5-1 — without their starting QB getting injured — things would be noticeably more bright-eyed in Bomberville right now. They would still be 6-6, but momentum, confidence, and the buy-in for the stretch run would not be in question.

When you’ve lost five of the last six, however, and your franchise player is questionable for the next game, the only pep rally in town right now is the one you hold internally.

That being what it is, six wins are still six wins, and if you can convince your team their bye week away brings a new start and break from the disappointing second stanza of the season, they have a hope to get past it. This final six-pack of games is all the focus now, and it will be the defining mark of how much this team has improved since 2013.

The immediate good news for this squad is the two franchises in the West that they are most capable of catching — for either a crossover or divisional berth — are coming off of losses themselves. Both the Lions and the Eskimos — teams that have one and two more wins respectively than the Bombers — lost this weekend to East Division opponents, and they are both teams Winnipeg will face down the stretch.

Looking at the remaining schedule for the B.C. Lions, realistically, they will probably win at least three or four of their remaining six. One against Ottawa, possibly on the road against Hamilton, and then most likely the last game of the year at home against Calgary — mainly because the Stampeders will have nothing to play for by then. Their most important remaining game is at Winnipeg, where the tie-breaker of this best-of-three series will be decided.

The Bombers play all the same opponents as the Lions in the final third of the season, with one inherent scheduling disadvantage. The last week of the regular season — where you can often catch playoff teams napping — the Bombers have their final bye week. This would be advantageous if the team has a playoff spot wrapped up by then, but will most likely mean the team will learn its post-season fate as a spectator.

Either way, things get critical in a hurry for the Bombers as they return from their first week off this season, hopefully with the resolve and polish they showed when the season began.

Playing Hamilton at home, with or without Drew Willy, is an absolute must-win for this team, as is victory on the road against the Redblacks. If they can win those two games, which they are more than capable of, and steal one of the three remaining games against Edmonton and Calgary (two against Calgary), then they will get to decide their playoff hopes at home against the Lions in the tie-breaker game. The winner of that game, and the team with 10 wins, should secure the highly sought crossover berth to the East. Anything more is simply over achievement.

This team may not have the momentum like they did during the first third of the season, but if no one thought they could start the year at 5-1, and then go 1-5, then no one necessarily has to believe they can finish the year at 4-2 either.

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

Twitter: @DougBrown97