Game Day 3 Keys To Victory

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/07/2010 (5638 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Free Press football writer Ed Tait outlines how the Bombers could win tonight:

1. COME TOGETHER QUICKLY

Change can be a good thing and, obviously, the Bombers needed a complete overhaul after last season’s nightmare. But there’s also little time to get the right personnel pieces in place — let alone absorb a new playbook — in a short training camp that runs less than a month and includes just two pre-season games. It’s also especially important knowing the Bombers play the Ticats four times in their first seven games, a ridiculously stupid schedule that means the two teams likely to fight for second in the East Division won’t face each other after Aug. 13. To his credit new head coach Paul LaPolice hasn’t talked about rebuilding, taking time to gel or blah, blah, blah. He’s pushing for his troops to get after it from the moment the ball is put on the tee tonight. "We haven’t put a crutch on our players and said, ‘Hey, listen, it’s going to take awhile for us to execute,’ " said LaPolice. "We fully expect this is the time we’ve got to start executing because our big-picture goal is to put a winning product on the field as soon as possible."

2. GET AFTER GLENN ASAP

Bomber fans saw both the best and the worst of Ticat starting QB Kevin Glenn during his 4 1/2 years as the starter right here in River City. When he’s on he can be effective as any pivot in the land by making quick reads and delivering strikes to his vast array of targets. Couple that with a dynamic tailback in DeAndra’ Cobb and the Ticats have a multi-dimensional offence that can be a nightmare to defend. But if the Bombers’ defensive dozen can disguise their coverages and force Glenn to second-guess his reads, his ability to improvise isn’t nearly as deadly as the mobile QBs in this league like Henry Burris, Casey Printers or Darian Durant. Consider this as the picture of comfortable for Glenn: In the five games he started after taking over the chores from Quinton Porter last fall he threw for 1,652 yards with eight touchdowns and just three interceptions. But also worth noting is in three appearances against the Bombers in ’09 — two of them Ticat victories — he also tossed five of the seven interceptions he threw all of last season.

3. BE OFFENSIVE…

IN A GOOD WAY

So much of what the Bombers did offensively last season, especially in the passing game, was just plain putrid. Winnipeg finished with 3,600 passing yards, its lowest total since 1979 (the year Dieter Brock was injured and replaced by the immortal Bill Troup). The QBs combined to complete less than 50 per cent of their passes, a first since… ah, why bother going on? The new boss is considered an offensive wizard and in Jamie Barresi they have a proven offensive co-ordinator who can adapt on the fly, not a guy who arrived as a guest coach — had never really seen a CFL game live — and was calling the plays by August (hello, Manny Matsakis). The Bombers will use the shotgun formation this year. There will be five-receiver sets and multiple looks from the attack. In other words: they’ll be running what is considered a real CFL offence. Look, Lord knows the Bomber fans have been a patient lot over the years. The least the Bombers could do in return — the very least — is showcase an ability to have fans slide to the front of their seats when the team has the ball, not nod off in boredom or blow a major artery cursing the ineptitude.