Blue can pave way back to playoffs

Four more wins should be enough to end drought By Paul Wiecek

Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Friday, Sep. 18, 2015

With the Winnipeg Jets set to open training camp this morning, you can add yet another challenge to the myriad the CFL's Blue Bombers already face as they try to claw their way out of a 4-7 hole.

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With the Winnipeg Jets set to open training camp this morning, you can add yet another challenge to the myriad the CFL's Blue Bombers already face as they try to claw their way out of a 4-7 hole.

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This article was published 18/09/2015 (4012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With the Winnipeg Jets set to open training camp this morning, you can add yet another challenge to the myriad the CFL’s Blue Bombers already face as they try to claw their way out of a 4-7 hole.

Nobody in this town commands media attention, fan interest or entertainment dollars quite like the Jets do and the challenge for the Bombers every fall since the Jets returned is trying to stay relevant in a community that turns its attention to hockey the moment the leaves begin to turn.

And meeting that challenge is more important this year than ever, with the Bombers hosting the Grey Cup this November and, at last count, one-third of the stadium still unsold for the big game.

Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press
Head coach Mike O'Shea must coax at least four wins out of Winnipeg's seven games to make a serious bid for the post-season. — Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press Head coach Mike O'Shea must coax at least four wins out of Winnipeg's seven games to make a serious bid for the post-season.

With the big dog that is the Jets now barking once again on Portage Avenue, the Bombers and the Grey Cup will very quickly fade into obscurity unless the Bombers can claw their way back into contention.

All of which brings us to today’s topic: What will it take for this Bombers team to turn things around and become a legitimate playoff contender?

Not as much as you might think in what is a very weird season, with three teams in the West currently below .500.

Here’s our simple recipe for the Bombers to get back to the post-season for the first time since 2011:

1. Beat the Montreal Alouettes in Montreal Sunday.

The Als are currently in fourth place in the East Division with a 4-6 record but are a legitimate threat to cros over and take the third playoff spot in the West if they can finish ahead of the third place West Division team at season’s end.

Montreal has the same number of wins as Winnipeg right now, but the Als have played one less game than the Bombers. Winnipeg could neutralize that advantage by simply beating the Als this weekend. Remember: the Als only cross over if they finish ahead of the third-place West Division team. A tie would go to the West Division team.

Rating: Very doable — the Bombers are 5-1 in Montreal in their last six visits and already beat Montreal this year in Week 3.

2. Beat the B.C. Lions in Vancouver Oct. 10.

The Bombers and Lions both have four wins right now, but the Lions have also played one less game than Winnipeg. But again — Winnipeg could neutralize that advantage by simply beating B.C. next month.

The Bombers already beat the Lions once this year and a second win over B.C. next month would give Winnipeg the season series and the first tiebreaker if the two teams should finish the regular season tied for third in the West.

Rating: Very doable. The Lions are a tire fire, with starting QB Travis Lulay out indefinitely and a mutiny brewing in the locker-room over the way first-year head coach Jeff Tedford has handled things.

3. Win two of their last three games.

The Bombers play the Ottawa Redblacks back to back Oct. 16 in Ottawa and Oct. 24 at home and then take on the Toronto Argonauts on the final weekend of the regular season.

The Redblacks are 6-4 and no longer a woeful expansion team, but are still very beatable.

And the Bombers will have a few things potentially working for them when they play in Toronto on the final weekend — the Argos might be home and cooled by then and the game could be meaningless to them; and the Bombers have a bye week the week before and should be nicely rested when they land in Toronto.

Rating: doable.

If the Bombers do nothing more than the above three things, they’d finish this season at 8-10. While a sub-.500 record is nothing to brag about, there’s a good chance — given the struggles of the Lions and Roughriders this season — that it would be good enough to get Winnipeg into the playoffs this season.

Sound preposterous? Maybe, but consider this: the Bombers opened the 2008 season at 2-8, only to rattle off six wins in their final eight games and make the playoffs that year with an 8-10 record.

And then there’s this: the Bombers also have back-to-back home games coming up next weekend and the week after against the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos, respectively.

Win one of those two home games — and do all the rest described above — and Winnipeg would finish the year 9-9, which would almost certainly be good enough for a playoff spot this year.

The bottom line is this: sports fans in this town love their Jets, but they crave a winner even more. If the Bombers want to stay relevant and sell tickets this fall — to their own games and to the Grey Cup — winning will solve everything.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek