Blue Bombers out to pound nail in Cats’ coffin

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/07/2010 (5864 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HAMILTON — Once again, for the second time in the first three weeks of the CFL season, please welcome the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats to the stage.

Many of the faces are the same — and you better get used to those mugs because after tonight’s game at Ivor Wynne Stadium, the clubs will meet two more times in the next four weeks — but there are a few changes to the production. The venue is foreign and both troupes are coming off of disappointing acts last week, with Winnipeg stumbling to a two-point loss to Toronto at home and Hamilton suffering an excruciating one-point defeat against Calgary.

The real differences come in terms of what’s at stake for both sides tonight. Winnipeg would like to win on the basis that it’s a four-point game against division rival. A road loss, however, wouldn’t really cause too much concern. On the other side, if it’s not a ‘must win’ for Hamilton — Week 3 might be a little early for that kind of talk — it’s certainly one they can’t afford to lose.

"They’re going to come and play hard — everybody plays hard," Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce said after the club went through its walk-through on the blistering Ivor Wynne field turf Thursday. "Is there added pressure on them to win? Well, there’s pressure on us to win, as well."

That’s true to an extent, but here’s where the collars tighten for the Tiger-Cats:

— A loss puts them at 0-for-3 on the season, with two of those coming at the hands of Winnipeg. Sinking those in your division is the best way to ensure your own standings, or so they say.

— After the Bombers, the Tabbies then travel to Montreal for a game against the defending Grey Cup champs. That’s the home opener for the Alouettes, by the way, so they’ll be in a good mood.

— It gets worse for Hamilton. A trip to Saskatchewan in Week 5, followed up with a home-and-home series against the Bombers again. That’s why tonight’s contest is a little more valuable to the Ticats’ side, and why Marcel Bellefeuille should consider hiding the pocket schedules from his players.

"We feel a need to win every week, but obviously the longer you go without doing that, the more important it becomes," the Hamilton head coach said. "With expectations obviously comes some pressure. It’s kind of nice for them to have the opportunity to play under a little bit of pressure early in the season."

The issue for Bellefeuille is urgency, though. They need to win to take some heat off themselves now. What good is building some character on a club when that team is already past the point of no return in the division standings?

"We’re working on things that we think will make us a better team than we were last season, and we’re finding some growing pains along the way," Bellefeuille reasoned. "The most important thing is that you have to know you’re doing things the right way, even when you’re not winning. When you’re winning, it’s easy to know that."

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Winnipeg overcame some early adversity and laid a 49-29 beating on the Tiger-Cats in Week 1. In that contest, the Bombers defence made life miserable for QB Kevin Glenn and the bland Ticats attack, swarming the pocket (the Bombers had seven sacks) and holding the offence to minus-2 yards in the first half. The defence is expecting a little more salt this time around.

"If we can weather that first punch… we know they’re going to come out hard," linebacker Ike Charlton said. "We get through that, like we did when they ran the first kick-off of the season back, and we should be in good shape.

"They’ll be hungry, we know that. We have to be starving."

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

bomber game day c3