Bombers better not be looking past opener

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/06/2016 (3402 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sometimes, when you are so focused on the upcoming challenges that a professional football schedule can throw at you — going toe-to-toe with some of the top contenders in the first third of the schedule, for example — it can be easy to underestimate a lesser-ranked combatant waiting to pounce.

When you take a look at your upcoming schedule and your opponents between the second week and the eighth averaged 12 wins a piece in the 2015 regular season and were all competitive in the playoffs, it’s easy to lose focus on the importance of the opening-week challenge against a team that went 6-12 last year and missed the playoffs.

While success in 2015 guarantees you nothing going forward, when you play Edmonton, Calgary, and Hamilton two times each by Week 7, it is pretty much universally agreed that this is the death valley trial of your schedule. Which means that gaining confidence and momentum right out of the gate, and getting that all-important first win, is critical for the players on this team. Losing to the Als — at home — to open the season on June 24, could set the charges for a disastrous early season landslide for the boys in blue and gold.

So if you think the Bombers are going to kick off 2016 with a cakewalk victory against the Alouettes after beating them into submission by a margin of 23 points in last week’s first preseason game, or because the Als accounted for 20 per cent of the wins in the club’s 5-13 record last year, well… that’s precisely the kind of thinking that could set the stage for big trouble a week from Friday.

First, leading the way will be Kevin Glenn, a quarterback who has thrown for more than 46,000 yards in his career, which is No. 7 all-time among quarterbacks who have played the vast majority of their careers in the CFL.

While his tendency to stay in the pocket will make things easier for the Bombers’ much-anticipated pass rush, when you’ve played as long as Glenn has, there really isn’t much any defence can do to surprise him. In just over a quarter of work, he threw for 140 yards and completed almost 74 per cent of his passes last week while holding onto the ball for almost two-thirds of the first quarter.

Glenn is at his best and most dangerous when he has a chip on his shoulder and something to prove, and there is plenty of that in Montreal these days.

While we all got a first-hand look at the kind of offensive talent he has at his disposal this year with S.J. Green, Duron Carter and Nik Lewis last Wednesday, what we didn’t see is cause for concern. Veterans John Bowman, Tyrell Sutton, Chip Cox, Bear Woods and Alan-Michael Cash didn’t play last week. They’ll be in the lineup if they’re healthy on the 24th.

While it says here that the Als should not be underestimated and have a solid defence and a veteran-laden offence, they weren’t the only team that showed flashes of potential in little over a quarter of exposure last week. Though it was only 3-0 at the end of the first, when the majority of starters on hand for both teams were playing

It could well have been 10-0 for the home team had Andrew Harris’s touchdown rumble not been called back. Glenn was also sacked twice by the Bombers in his limited playing time, so if that suspected offensive line vulnerability continues for an entire game, it could dramatically affect the outcome of the contest.

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.

Thus far, Harris, Ryan Smith, Euclid Cummings and Keith Shologan all look to be capable of living up to their billings. And Weston Dressler didn’t even play. So if this first regular-season game is weighted properly in accordance to it’s importance and addressed with appropriate urgency, this team could very well start the season off on the right foot.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears weekly in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97