THREE KEYS TO VICTORY Game Day

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/08/2009 (6220 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

1. CARRY ON, WAYWARD ‘O’

There is a belief in Bomberland that the second half of last week’s loss to Calgary — a 30-minute stretch in which the offence threw up 20 first downs and more than 350 yards — can somehow magically carry over into tonight’s game with the Alouettes. Yeah, well, a group can hope can’t they? Still, the second half against the Stampeders did hammer home the one thing the Bombers can build an offensive identity around: running the ball. Winnipeg leads the CFL with 132 rushing yards per game and now with the arrival of howitzer-armed Michael Bishop needs to establish the run to help set up more play-action and attack downfield. Worth noting here in that regard: Bishop’s 213 yards passing against the Argos two weeks ago is the Bombers’ season-high. Winnipeg also has just three passing TDs this year; by comparison in the Edmonton-Calgary thriller Thursday night both Henry Burris and Ricky Ray threw for three scores while combining for 821 yards — or, roughly, the equivalent of a month of offence for the Blue and Gold. Nobody asked us, but we’d love to see more offensive wrinkles… wacky stuff like the shotgun and five-receiver sets the Esks and Stamps used in their track meet and everybody else uses in this league.

2. FLOGGING A DEAD BEAST

Allow us, if you will, to continue to hammer away on a topic that doesn’t seem any closer to being resolved by the Bombers: The kick-return game, or, more specifically, the lack of a consistent big-play threat in that department. Again, just to use the Calgary-Edmonton game as a reference, Eskimos ace Tristan Jackson was critical in the win, setting up the game-winning score with a 35-yard kickoff return in the final minute and also returning another 71 yards in the fourth quarter. All told, Jackson had 195 yards on nine returns. The Bombers, meanwhile, will hand off the return chores primarily to Jovon Johnson and Yvenson Bernard with James Johnson (turf toe) on the shelf in the hopes of finding a home-run hitter in that department. Clearly something has to change here because the Bombers continue to lose the field-position war with a yardage-challenged offence and a defence that is on the field far too long.

3. UNPLUG THE AC

Alouettes QB Anthony Calvillo has scorched a lot of defences in his Hall of Fame career, but the Bombers have regularly played the unwilling victim. As we told you Friday, Calvillo is 17-7 against the Bombers as a starter and has thrown for more than 300 yards in 12 of those games. Nobody really throws up a stop sign in front of Calvillo, but the Bombers hope they can limit his success by taking away Avon Cobourne and the ground game and forcing the Alouettes into second-and-long situations. Montreal runs a precise NFL-type offence that is big on quick reads by Calvillo and an effective short-passing game, with the occasional home-run shot added for good measure. All CFL teams essentially attempt to implement the same game plan against the vet: get pressure up front, force them into second-and-long and disguise coverages in the back end so that he doesn’t get too comfy. Good luck with that.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca