Bombers hope to bust Stamps’ bye streak

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/07/2016 (3366 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If playing the formidable Calgary Stampeders wasn’t enough this week, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will have to contend with a team that hasn’t lost in more than a decade coming off a bye week.

It’s a remarkable record: the Stamps are 15-4 following a week a rest since 2002, holding an impressive 13-game win streak. Winnipeg has played the most teams coming off the bye in the same span, a total of 25 times for an 11-14 record.

“It’s nothing new,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “Through the course of the season, you always play a host of teams that come off bye weeks. I don’t know if there’s anything different. They have their own methodology on how to prepare for that.”

Second chances

The Blue Bombers have already met and lost to the Stampeders this year, a 36-22 drubbing in Week 2 when the Bombers put 15 points on the board in the fourth quarter to mask what was a slaughter for most of the night.

The winning formula is simple: get off the field quicker on defence and stay on the field longer on offence, according to O’Shea. The Bombers lost the possession battle handily in their first meeting, but O’Shea didn’t feel the team was out of it early.

“Our second and third quarters were rough, our first and fourth were good,” he said.

Bombers quarterback Drew Willy, who has been under fire all week due to his performances through the first four weeks, said Calgary does all the right things.

Calgary won each of their three meetings last season, but Willy feels the team has been close in what’s a very lopsided rivalry on paper.

“Two out of three games last year came down to a field goal,” Willy said. “Obviously, this first game we didn’t do as many good things as we need to.”

Extra Mayo

The Bombers will look to rookie receiver Thomas Mayo to fill in for the injured Ryan Smith this week.

Mayo started in Week 2 against the Stampeders, amassing 78 yards on five receptions.

“I made a couple of mental errors (in that game), but I’m all cleaned up and ready to go,” Mayo said. “They gave us a lot of different looks… but we just got to execute and do what we do.”

Stamps starting rookie

If Willy can pull his socks up and get his game together this week, he could have the run of the mill over the middle.

The Stamps will start rookie Alex Singleton at middle linebacker, whom they selected in the first round of this spring’s CFL Draft.

Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said Singleton’s CFL debut as a starter is one part necessity and another part proof he is capable.

“We were high on him drafting him, we felt we were very lucky to get him,” Dickenson said. “To me, he’s exceeded where I thought he was even because not only is he a good athlete, he’s also super smart — he likes to compete. He will be tested this game.”

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Quotable

“When I start hitting these deep balls, everyone will be good with everything.” — Willy on what needs to change in his game to get the fans and media off his back.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott 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.