Breaking the curse

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This article was published 06/07/2017 (3017 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The main takeaway in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers locker room following last week’s season-opening win against the Saskatchewan Roughriders was this: though there were far too many mistakes made, leaving Regina with two points made a subpar effort much easier to swallow.

What won’t sit well is a similar performance tonight when the Bombers clash with the class of the Canadian Football League in the Calgary Stampeders, who boasted the best regular-season mark in 2016 (15-2-1) but lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the Ottawa Redblacks in the Grey Cup game.

The Stampeders have continued their dominance into this season, earning a tie and a win in back-to-back games against the Redblacks, while the Bombers are 1-0 after a Week 1 bye.

“We spent time this week going through the film and making sure that all the corrections were made and the little details were talked about,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said after the team’s walk-through Thursday. “The point is, as the season progresses, so do we. We’re supposed to get better every week and we’re not supposed to make the same mistake twice, so I’m looking forward to that result.”

With that, here are five storylines heading into tonight’s game.

 

Breaking the Calgary curse

There aren’t many fond memories from the Mike Kelly era in Winnipeg. The former head coach was fired after one season, ending his tenure with the Bombers at the end of a 2009 campaign that saw them win just seven games.

As tumultuous as those times were, Kelly is the last Bombers coach to get a victory against the Stampeders on home turf. When the Bombers take the field tonight it will be almost eight years to the day — July 10, 2009 — Winnipeg last beat Calgary at home.

“Nobody has had any success against Calgary at home in years,” said quarterback Matt Nichols. “They’ve been the best team in the league since I’ve been in the league and they’re a tough team to beat… if you want to be the best you’ve got to beat the best. We’re not putting any added pressure on this game — it’s not going to make or break our season — but it will go a long way in our confidence to beat this team.”

Under O’Shea, the Bombers have defeated the Stampeders just once in eight games, with the lone victory coming in the final week of the 2014 season, an 18-3 win at McMahon Stadium.

If the Bombers snap their current Calgary curse, it will be just the second victory in the last 18 meetings.

 

Bo bests Bombers

The Bombers’ secondary had their hands full last week trying to limit a Saskatchewan Roughriders’ attack led by veteran pivot Kevin Glenn, 37, who threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns (two interceptions), completing 73.5 per cent of his passes. If that seemed like a tall task, the challenge that awaits in stopping Bo Levi Mitchell is an even bigger undertaking.

Mitchell, 27, is the reigning CFL most outstanding player. Last season he threw for 5,386 yards (second in the CFL) and 32 touchdowns (first) along with eight interceptions for a league-best 107.9 efficiency rating.

He’s been particularly strong at Investors Group Field. In five games here, Mitchell is 5-0, with 11 TDs and five picks while completing three-quarters of his passes for an average of 318 yards per game. Mitchell couldn’t come up with a reason fort his success in Winnipeg, but added he’s certainly comfortable playing here.

“If you have multiple good games in a stadium, I think you start to get that vibe like you can play well. But it only takes one game to change that,” said Mitchell, who has thrown for 671 yards and five touchdowns this season. “We’re confident in this stadium but we also know it’s probably the loudest in this league. We’ll need to be sharp.”

The Stamps get back a familiar weapon this week, with DaVaris Daniels, last season’s rookie of the year, returning from injury. He joins an attack that already has top-end receivers in Kamar Jorden (eight catches, 143 yards, three TDs) and Marquay McDaniel (13 for 129). If that’s not enough, the Bombers will also have to contend with Jerome Messam, who led the league in rushing in 2016 and was named most uutstanding Canadian.

 

Put points on the board

It took Nichols a while to get warmed up in his season debut — to put it politely. The Bombers’ starting quarterback struggled to move the ball for much of the first half, totalling just 10 yards of offence in the first quarter against the Roughriders. He’d eventually find the end zone late in the second quarter before exploding for three touchdowns in the second half.

Nichols finished the game 23-for-36 passing for 331 yards, with his four touchdowns being the most he’s thrown in game over his seven-year career. Despite the late burst, Nichols said he spent what was a short week of preparation working to rid a number of issues present a week ago.

“Obviously there was a lot of things we didn’t do well last week,” he said. “The glaring issue for us is trying to start a little bit faster. But that’s why the game is four quarters long and having the veteran guys that we do, I feel we’ve been in every situation now together.”

The Stampeders are averaging nearly 35 points a game, meaning a strong performance by the Bombers’ offence will be critical. Though Nichols was able to find the end zone last week, the Bombers still settled for five field goals from Justin Medlock. Against a Calgary team that can hurt you on offence, defence and special teams, Winnipeg can’t afford to leave points on the field.

“That’s a focus of ours, always,” Nichols said about the stalled drives. “But our goal is just to score one more point than the other team.”

 

Get the house rocking

Andrew Harris combined for nearly 100 yards in the win over Saskatchewan — 57 yards on the ground, 38 through the air — for a total that would have any running back feeling good about his day. But Harris, who is often the heartbeat of the Bombers’ offence, didn’t have the kind of explosive impact fans have become accustomed to.

In a chat earlier this week, Harris said he felt good about his game, adding Saskatchewan double and sometimes triple-teamed him, including one play that resulted in an 87-yard touchdown for Weston Dressler. Tonight, Harris hopes to add a bit more excitement to his game and for the crowd.

“I want this place to be rocking and I want to be a contributor to that,” Harris, 30, said. “Across the board on offence we want to make explosive plays and get this crowd on their feet and keep them into it all game.”

The timing couldn’t be better, as the Stampeders enter the game riddled with injuries on the defensive line. Already without one of the league’s top pass rushers in Cordarro Law, who was injured in the pre-season, the Stampeders will have a front four featuring three new starters from last week.

The biggest loss is at defensive end, with Charleston Hughes suffering a minor injury last game that is likely to keep him out tonight. Hughes led the CFL in sacks last season with 16.

“Calgary always has good depth from top to bottom,” said Harris. “Whatever they’re doing there, they’re doing a good job and they continue to find solid guys to come in. With Charleston not playing, it’s an advantage for us but I’m assuming that the next guy up is going to be just as good.”

 

Coming back Roc solid

Bombers halfback Roc Carmichael is coming off a nasty introduction to the CFL. The Roughriders picked on the rookie, who was playing at field halfback for an injured Bruce Johnson. Carmichael figured of the 66 plays he was on the field for, he wished he could have two or three back. Though he wasn’t specific, there were two touchdowns that were caught by the receiver Carmichael was assigned to.

“It’s just staying focused and sticking with what got me here,” Carmichael said. “I just have to trust myself.”

In his short time with the team, Carmichael, 28, has earned the praise of O’Shea for his work ethic and how quickly he’s been able to adjust a new league.

Carmichael took the last two years off to tend to family issues, even turning down a contract in the NFL, so rust, in some ways, was almost inevitable. He’s put extra work into this week’s preparation, including picking the ears of the receivers to see what improvements he can make.

Carmichael understands the level of competition he’ll be up against, and fully expects to be tested again.

“I’m expecting to see that all season,” he said.

“Being a new guy out there in a new system and in a new league, I’m definitely going to have a lot of chances to make some plays.”

 

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

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