Bombers onto the one that ‘really counts’

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This article was published 04/11/2018 (2552 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — The CFL regular season has come to an end, and the playoffs are just around the corner.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers put a wrap on their 18-game schedule with a 33-24 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos Saturday afternoon at Commonwealth Stadium, in what was a meaningless game for both clubs.

The Bombers (10-8) had already locked up third place in the West Division and, with no chance of moving up or down, opted to rest a number of starters. For the Eskimos, who were eliminated from the playoffs last week, the win prevented the club from posting a losing record, and instead they finished 9-9, including a 7-2 mark at home.

“You always want to win, but we realize this next one is what really, really counts. Not that we didn’t go out there and try and win, but Edmonton… I told (Eskimos quarterback) Mike (Reilly) after the game, ‘It’s hard to imagine you guys aren’t in the playoffs,’ because they’re a great team,” Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill said. “It’s a shocker that they didn’t find a playoff spot, but at the end of the day we’re ready to move on and get back to our focus of doing what we’ve been doing.”

With that, here are five takeaways from Saturday’s game, with an added focus on what could be an exciting week of football:

NEXT STOP: RIDERVILLE 

The win was the Bombers’ 10th of the season, making it the third straight year the Blue and Gold have posted double-digit victories (33-21). Winnipeg still had to wait until late Saturday to find out against who and where they would be headed to play the West semifinal, set for 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

That answer finally came when Calgary defeated the B.C. Lions 26-9 to capture top spot in the West, earning them a first-round bye and sending the Bombers to Regina to do battle against their Prairie rivals in the first round.

Winnipeg will open the playoffs with what will surely be a heated affair against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Roughriders, who finished second in the West with a record of 12-6, won the season series over the Bombers two games to one, but were dominated in the latest matchup, with Winnipeg walking away 31-0 winners at Investors Group Field in Week 18.

What should only add intrigue to an already formidable matchup is the fact it’s been 43 years — no, that’s not a typo — since Winnipeg last played a playoff game in Regina, dating back to Nov. 8, 1975. To put that into perspective, not a single player on the Bombers’ roster had been born.

STEEP HILL TO CLIMB

With Saturday loss, the Bombers snapped a five-game winning streak that started back in the last week of September, and although many on the team were disappointed with the result, none seemed all that concerned afterwards.

“Over the last five weeks or so, we’ve really come together collectively as a defensive unit and improved on some of the great things we can do as a team. The numbers and the stats down the stretch kind of speak for themselves,” Bighill said, before noting the Bombers’ two main objectives over the past month. “One is: play your best football coming into November, and two: be healthy. I feel like we’ve been doing just that, and we’re ready to get out there and compete.”

Winnipeg is considered one of the hottest teams heading into the post-season, and with no injuries to report after the game, it is also one of the healthiest. But that doesn’t mean it won’t have a steep hill to climb to get to the Grey Cup game in Edmonton on Nov. 25.

History suggests the Bombers are in tough to make the championship. Of the 20 teams that have made the Grey Cup over the past 10 years, 15 finished first place in their respective division. The Bombers will also have to get there by winning twice on the road — three times if they hope to snap a 27-year Grey Cup drought.

The good news: Winnipeg has actually been quite the group of road warriors over the past three seasons. Since 2016, the Bombers are 17-10 away from Investors Group Field, though that doesn’t count the West semifinal loss in B.C. two years ago.

NO PLAYOFF PAYOFF FOR ESKS

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Eskimos, who will be watching playoff football from their couches rather than the field. At 9-9, Edmonton finished fifth place in the West, but still had a better record than the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who ended up in second in the East at 8-10. What’s worse, Hamilton will now host a playoff game against the B.C. Lions, who are 9-9.

Simply put, the Eskimos were eliminated for being in a much tougher division. How tough was the West this year? Consider this: since the crossover era began in 1996, the Eskimos are the only team not to make the playoffs when earning nine wins in a season.

While B.C. ended the year with an identical record to that of the Eskimos, the Lions held the tiebreaker (season series), and therefore earned the crossover spot to the East. It’s the third straight year a West team has earned a crossover spot, and the third year the second-place team in the East has hosted a playoff game despite having a losing record.

There has been plenty of talk over the last few years about making the nine-team CFL just one division, with the top six clubs earning a playoff spot. Perhaps this might be the year that talk turns to action — if not for next season, then in the near future. Don’t hold your breath, though.

HARRIS CLAIMS BACK-TO-BACK TITLES

Bombers running back Andrew Harris needed just eight yards to earn his second consecutive rushing title over Ottawa’s William Powell. Harris would do just that, needing only two runs in the Bombers’ first series, including an impressive 31-yard jaunt up the middle that ultimately sealed the crown.

It’s a spectacular feat for any player, but particularly for Harris, who, at 31 years old, had started to win over some critics that claimed his best years were behind him. Not only did he finish this season with more yards than the 1,035 he put up last year, he also set a new career high in 2018, rushing for 1,390 yards on 239 rushes.

“Yeah. I’m getting better — a fine wine,” Harris said through a smile.

Harris was thankful to the coaching staff for allowing him to risk injury in a meaningless game to reach his personal goal. But it is the O-line that Harris cherished the most after the game, a unit that he saluted as he made his way off the field Saturday, with the title now his. The gesture meant a lot to the big men whose blocks create the holes for him.

“As an offensive lineman, you don’t really have many stats, so I think we try to live vicariously through Andrew. Andrew is a really easy guy to block for. He takes care of us, buys us stuff — buys us food, which is always a plus — and so in that way, too, you have guys like that who genuinely want to be part and are part of the O-line,” Bombers centre Matthias Goossen said.

“Andrew has an O-line shirt, he’s part of us, and so, obviously, a guy like that, who you know has your back and you know is going to run hard, every time we say congrats, he says congrats right back to us. We have a lot of pride in our run game, and I think, especially at this time of year when it gets cold, the run game is big.”

LANKFORD, A.K.A. GOLDEN FOOT

While many players were rested Saturday, including four on offence — receivers Weston Dressler and Darvin Adams; right guard Sukh Chungh; and quarterback Matt Nichols — and two on defence — halfback Brandon Alexander and safety Taylor Loffler — the move that created the most buzz was the absence of kicker Justin Medlock.

Medlock was deemed healthy by game time, and yet the Bombers still decided to give him the day off. That paved the way for receiver Ryan Lankford — again, not a typo — to try his professional debut as a kicker, which included pulling double duty on field goals and punts.

Once a kicker for his high school team, and then used sparingly in college, Lankford had never attempted a kick at the pro level. Still, he nailed it — literally and figuratively.

Not only was Lankford good on his lone field goal — a 28-yarder that, given the circumstances, was no gimme — he was also perfect on three 32-yard, one-point converts.

As good as he was there, Lankford’s punting was even more impressive. He averaged 64.3 yards on four kick-offs and 44.3 yards on six punts. The highlight came late in the second quarter when Lankford got everything on a punt, driving the ball 69 yards down field, which forced returner Martese Jackson to retreat back before finally being smothered on his own 15-yard line.

“He was killing it — Golden Foot,” was the nickname Harris gave Lankford after the game, before sending a playful jab at Medlock. “Meddy should be at home sweating a little bit. Honestly, he was great.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton