Where the West will be won

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This article was published 05/10/2023 (768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have played some meaningful games this season, but none have meant more to their bid to recapture the Grey Cup than what’s in store at BC Place Friday night.

The Bombers face off against the B.C. Lions in a game that will have a significant bearing on who finishes first in the West Division. At 11-4 the clubs have identical records and the season series — the first tiebreaker in the standings — is level at a game apiece, the result of a pair of blowout victories at IG Field.

Both sides have done their part not to overhype the game, while also understanding the importance of earning the victory. There’s a lot of respect for one another, as both teams possess a prolific offensive attack, a stingy defence and solid special teams.

“We know what’s at stake, they know what’s at stake,” Bombers receiver Drew Wolitarsky said earlier this week. “It should be entertaining to watch, and it’s going to be fun to be a part of. These are the games that we live for and that gets you up in the morning.”

With that, let’s dive deeper into this pivotal matchup in the latest edition of 5 Storylines.

WILD WEST UP FOR GRABS

It really can’t be overstated the importance of winning this game and no one knows that better than the Bombers.

While earning a victory won’t seal first place in the West, it definitely gives the inside track by providing a two-point cushion with two games remaining in the regular season. The Bombers know well the benefits of finishing atop the division and how much easier the path to the Grey Cup game is, as it’s something they’ve accomplished the last two seasons.

The winner of the West gets a bye in the first round of the playoffs and needs to win the Western final, at home, to punch its ticket to the championship game. A second-place finish for the Bombers would mean playing an extra game, likely against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western semi-final, before travelling back to B.C. to play the Lions in enemy territory.

To put things in perspective, the team that has eneded the regular season atop the West Division has gone onto the Grey Cup game seven of the last 10 seasons. It should be noted the last team that won the Grey Cup in a year they didn’t finish atop their respective division was the Bombers in 2019.

MOP RACE HEATING UP

With just a few games remaining and no clear front-runner for the West nominee for the CFL’s most outstanding player, Friday’s game could go a long way in determining who gets the official nod.

Bombers QB Zach Collaros, who has won the award the last two seasons, is in the midst of another good campaign. He currently leads the CFL in passing touchdown (30) and passer efficiency rating (112.6).

On the other side is Lions pivot Vernon Adams Jr., who, in his first full season as a starter in B.C., has taken his game to a new level. He leads the CFL with 4,005 passing yards and has thrown two fewer TDs than Collaros, as well as two more interceptions, with a league-leading 16.

The knock against Adams has been his reputation for being inconsistent, something he’s improved on this season; for Collaros, swaying voters to give him a third consecutive award will be no easy task. What could and should help with that decision is how the two perform against one another in Friday’s high-stakes affair.

COLLAROS NEEDS TO LEAD EFFECTIVE ATTACK

Collaros has played in BC Place just twice since the start of the 2021 season and has won both games by healthy margins, leading the Bombers to 43-22 and 30-9 victories. In his most recent tilt against the Lions, a convincing 50-14 win at home in Week 9, the Bombers star QB completed 70 per cent of his passes for 369 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

The Bombers will need another good effort from Collaros if they plan to leave with a victory Friday, especially against a Lions D that is tied with the Argos for the most QB sacks, with 49, and allows the third-fewest points against, averaging 22 points per game. The Lions have sacked Collaros nine times in two games this season, including a seven-sack effort in a 30-9 win over Winnipeg in Week 3.

An improved running game should give Collaros more time to hit his targets down field. RB Brady Oliveira has been a beast in 2023, leading the CFL with 1,359 rushing yards, but has been limited to a combined 119 yards on the ground in two games against B.C. He’ll need to be better, too.

Despite the Bombers success at BC Place, it hasn’t been an easy place to play in recent years. The Lions, who enter the game on a four-game win streak, have won 10 of their last 11 games at home, including a 6-1 record this year.

QUICK START KEY FOR BOMBERS D

The Bombers defence has been prone to slow starts this season, including allowing a pair of TDs on the first two drives against the watered-down Toronto Argonauts last week. Adams will be a much bigger threat than Argos second-stringer Cameron Dukes.

A strong start this week will help tame what should be an excited fan base at BC Place. The Lions are expecting a larger than-usual crowd after selling out the lower bowl and opening sections in the second level. The last thing Winnipeg will want is for B.C. build momentum from its fans.

In the 30-6 loss to the Lions earlier this season, the Bombers D didn’t play badly, allowing a modest 304 offensive yards against. Where they failed, though, was an inability to force any turnovers, allowing the Lions offence to play a relatively mistake-free game. In Week 9, they had five turnovers in the dominant win.

That first game didn’t feature defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, who had suffered an ankle injury in week 1. When Jeffcoat isn’t in the lineup, you don’t get the full effect of fellow DE Willie Jefferson. Getting pressure on Adams will be integral. The more time he has to work in the pocket, the better chance he has to carve up the Bombers secondary with receivers as talented as Keon Hatcher, Dominique Rhymes, Alexander Hollins and Lucky Whitehead.

The Bombers will be without cornerback Demerio Houston, who is out with a knee injury sustained last week against Toronto. Houston is a significant loss. Not only does it force a shift in Winnipeg’s secondary — Winston Rose will move over to Houston’s boundary side, withJamal Parker taking over Roses’ spot at field side — it takes a major ball hawk out of the lineup, as Houston leads the CFL in interceptions (seven) and takeaways (10).

WELCOME BACK JANARION

The Bombers have been treading water in the return game ever since Janarion Grant suffered a knee injury midway through a Week 9 win over the Calgary Stampeders. Well, 10 games later, Grant is ready to return to action.

While Greg McCrae and Parker showed flashes playing in relief, neither comes even close to how dynamic Grant is with the ball. Grant finished tied for first in the league with three punt-return TDs in 2022, two of which he scored against the Lions, plus a third one against B.C. in the West final.

Grant has looked close to a return the last few weeks, but he ramped things up this week, taking part in both practices before being cleared to play by the medical staff.

The return of Grant won’t help with kick and punt coverage — something that has been seriously ailing the Bombers with injuries to Mike Miller and Shayne Gauthier — but it should help get the offence some much improved field position. In five games this season, Grant is averaging 24.8 yards on 12 kickoffs and 13.7 yards and a TD on 23 punt returns.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.