Battle of unbeatens

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This article was published 26/06/2019 (2265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It will be the battle of the unbeaten when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos meet at IG Field tonight.

The Bombers (1-0) are feeling refreshed, coming off a bye week after opening the season on the road in B.C. with a 33-23 win over the Lions. Their performance in Vancouver had pundits around the league listing them atop the CFL power rankings — a place they remained after being idle last week.

But it’s the Eskimos (2-0) that have been perhaps the most impressive team, joining the Bombers as the only other undefeated team in the West Division but with one more win (Hamilton and Ottawa are both 2-0 in the East). Victories against the Montreal Alouettes and Lions have Edmonton atop the division, with the chance to open a season 3-0 for fourth time in the past 10 years.

“These games mean as much as a game in Week 17, Week 18, because this is a Western opponent, a four-point game,” Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols said following Wednesday’s walk-through.

“If we want to be in a position at the end of the season of being a first-place team in the West, these are games that become very important.”

With that in mind, here are five storylines to keep an eye on in tonight’s game:

HOME SWEET HOME

The Bombers have posted winning seasons in three consecutive years, boasting a regular-season record of 33-21 since the start of the 2016 campaign.

Ask any team across the CFL and they’ll go on about the importance of a good start, putting particular significance on defending home field. Winnipeg has been mostly good in this department, with a 16-11 home record over the last three years, but hasn’t been able to earn a home-opener victory the last four seasons.

What does that mean? Well, nothing to Mike O’Shea, as the Bombers’ head coach rarely sees history as anything more than a tool for media to create storylines (Busted!).

But as Nichols alluded to above, the Bombers haven’t been shy about their desire to finish first in the West, knowing well it’s their best chance to earn a berth to the Grey Cup and snap a championship drought dating back to 1990.

It’s still early in the season but a victory over the Eskimos would help create distance from Calgary (0-1), B.C. (0-2) and Saskatchewan (0-2), while giving Winnipeg an early edge in the season series with Edmonton — the first tiebreaker when determining standings.

For those concerned about the Bombers’ home-opener slump, here’s another stat that might help you sleep at night: Winnipeg has won their last five games after coming off a bye.

BATTLE IN THE TRENCHES

It was a slow start for the Bombers’ offence in Week 1. But as the game wore on Nichols and Co. morphed into a balanced attack, chewing up yards through the air and on the ground.

A big part of Winnipeg’s success came from the strong play of the offensive line, which was a welcome surprise given there were three new starters. The trio of centre Michael Couture and guards Geoff Gray and Cody Speller, flanked by veteran tackles Stanley Bryant and Jermarcus Hardrick, opened up holes for running back Andrew Harris and provided Nichols time and space to execute a tidy game plan by offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice.

Nichols finished with 184 passing yards and three touchdown tosses, while Harris rumbled for 148 rushing yards on 16 carries. Still, the Bombers only slightly outduelled their opponent, putting up 348 net yards of offence to the Lions’ 317.

The Bombers will face a much stiffer task against a sturdy Edmonton defensive front, led by veteran tackle Almondo Sewell. In a 39-23 win over the Lions last week, Edmonton racked up a whopping seven sacks against quarterback Mike Reilly, limiting the Lions to just 153 yards of offence.

“You’re going to have to match Sewell or you’re going to have to be better and to do that those guys in the middle will have no choice but to be nasty in this game,” Hardrick said. “Those are the guys you want to play against. Those are the games you look forward to, the ones you circle on your calendar.”

MATTHEWS TO PLAY

He was the kind of player the Bombers were looking for and tried desperately to get in free agency. And after multiple attempts to throw big money at a few different names, including Edmonton’s Greg Ellingson, the Bombers reached a three-year deal with Chris Matthews.

Matthews, who got his taste of full-time professional football with the Bombers in 2012, winning the league’s most outstanding rookie award, came exactly as advertised when he returned for training camp in May. A big body at 6-5 and 230 pounds, Matthews stood out on a daily basis, frustrating his defensive teammates with athletic catches. But a lower-body injury just five days into workouts stalled that momentum, putting him on the shelf until now.

Despite being back at practice this week, the Bombers still wrestled with whether Matthews was in good enough game shape to play. He ultimately proved he was and is ready to make his 2019 debut in front of the home crowd.

“Hopefully a whole lot of touchdowns, a whole lot of great blocking for our running backs and for our other receivers and just an all-around complete player,” Matthews said, when asked what he hoped to show fans.

O’Shea had to make the tough decision of taking out Kenny Lawler, who has performed well in his first CFL season. But he looks forward to the payoff of putting in a big-bodied target such as Matthews.

“You’re hoping to see 10 touchdowns, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. He’s going to make some plays and he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be and if there’s a 50-50 ball, he’s going to contest it and he’s going to come down with it. That’s what we expect and that’s what he expects.”

BIG PLAYS A CONCERN

Safety Jeff Hecht has quickly become the best quote in the Bombers’ locker room.

Not one to shy away from making strong projections, he’s the perfect mix of confident and cocky. It helps that the 10-year CFL veteran has backed up his talk.

Hecht finished with two interceptions against the Lions, while also providing some added entertainment value with his various antics against B.C. receiver Duron Carter. In one example, he mocked Carter with a chicken-wing gesture after Carter exited his route early to prevent a violent collision between the two.

When asked Wednesday if he was capable of keeping up his current pace of 36 interceptions, Hecht answered in true form.

“Not expecting but I won’t be surprised, to tell you the truth. This is what we prepare for, to put ourselves in good situations and when they come you have to finish,” he said.

Hecht’s confidence, albeit amusing, is born out of how serious he and his teammates prepare. As one of three new starters in the secondary, he understands there is plenty to improve on from Week 1, most notably limiting big plays down the field.

Reilly put up 324 passing yards against the Bombers, with a big chunk of that coming on two passes to Bryan Burnham for a combined 97 yards in the first quarter.

“They gave us some stuff we weren’t really prepared for but it was some of our fundamental mistakes that allowed them to get wide open,” Hecht said. “If you give up a big catch and it’s a contested throw than that’s a little different than the two wide-open catches that Burnham caught. Obviously, with two games of film on Edmonton versus zero on B.C., we have a little bit more of an idea of what we think they’re going to try to do and where they’re going to try and attack.”

HARRIS HOT WITH NEW CLUB

It’s hard to gauge just how good Edmonton really is.

Though perfect through the first two weeks, the Eskimos managed to defeat the lowly Montreal Alouettes by only a single touchdown, 32-25, even if they were the much better team. The Lions, after spending nearly $3 million to steal Reilly away from the Eskimos, also don’t appear to be the juggernaut many predicted over the winter, as the Bombers figured out two weeks ago.

What is clear, however, is whatever hangover existed with the departure of Reilly has been cured with the stellar play of newcomer Trevor Harris. Harris, who signed with Edmonton after three years in Ottawa, admitted there was a feeling-out process.

“It is different. Mike is gone, so there was this ‘what do we do now?’ feeling. He’s been an MVP, a Grey Cup champion and obviously been in the Tier I of quarterback’s with (Calgary’s) Bo (Levi Mitchell) the last number of years in the league,” said Harris. “So I understand pushing the panic button a little bit but I try not to focus on that. I’m just going to be myself every week, try to stay in the moment… if you can stay in that mindset it gives you the best chance to be a leader and be the guy that guys look at and trust.”

Harris has always shown flashes of being a prolific passer, but his start to the season couldn’t have gone much better. The 33-year-old has already racked up 741 passing yards and six touchdowns through two games, while adding a rushing TD in each one. He has an experienced O-line in front of him, a formable crew of receivers, and a threat in running back CJ Gable, who keeps defences honest.

“Coming together with the team they put together and the culture that they’ve set here with the players… we expect to be great,” Harris said. “If you expect to be anything but great as pros then you’re probably in the wrong business.”

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.

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