Game #9: Lions (5-2) at Blue Bombers (2-6)

Kickoff: Thursday, August 1st, 7:30 p.m. CDT; Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg, Mb.
TV/Streaming: TSN/RDS: CFL+
Radio: 680 CJOB
Streaks: B.C.: 1L; Wpg: 2L
Road/Home: The Blue Bombers are 2-2 at home; the Lions are 2-2 on the road.
Game theme: Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night; 50-50 starts at $100,000

Scene Setter

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers don’t do the hand-wringing thing. There has been no gnawing of the collective finger-nails, either.

And, just for the record, no one’s fist is balled up and poised to slam down on the proverbial panic button.

All that said, as the club hits the halfway point of the Canadian Football League season Thursday night against the B.C. Lions one thing is extremely clear to everyone in Bomberland:

“We need to win a football game. We NEED to win a football game,” said Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira. “We’ve got to put one together.

“I’m excited for another opportunity to go out there with my teammates, go compete, go battle and go put one together. It’s going to be a battle and it’s going to taste even sweeter at the end of this game on Thursday.

“Let’s string one together, let’s all work together, battle for one another, honour each other and it’s going to taste sweet at the end of it.”

Yes, a win over the Lions — first place in the West Division at 5-2 — would help soothe some of the wounds left gaping after consecutive losses in which the Blue Bombers essentially threw up all over themselves with too many errors.

And, most certainly a squad ravaged by injuries would certainly approach the upcoming bye week with a different frame of mind — they return to face the Lions again in Vancouver on August 18th — with a win to get them to 3-6 at midseason.

“I said this last week, the vibe in our locker room, the vibe in the meeting room, the vibe on the practice field doesn’t feel like our record,” Oliveira said. “Guys are still coming in here to work, are locked in and trying to bring an intense focus every single day. The energy and vibe in here is still good.

“There’s still lots of football left, but we need to win games. I know we all keep saying this and it’s true, there’s still lots of football left. But us being in close games means nothing because we’re still losing. We need to start winning football games here.

“We’re not going to have much more time if this keeps happening,” he added. “We really need to get this thing together and turn it around, which I know we can. If you go back to the games we’ve been losing, they have been close. We’re just making way too many mistakes.”

THE DEPTH CHART

The Blue Bombers have made four changes to the depth chart this week. On are WR Lucky Whitehead, OL Kendall Randolph, DB Jake Kelly and LB Soulymane Karamoko. Off are WR Drew Wolitarsky, OL Pat Neufeld and DBs Tyrique McGhee and Marquise Bridges.

Whitehead, Kelly and Randolph will all be making their 2024 regular-season debuts for the Blue Bombers, with Randolph — the University of Alabama product converted from tight end to tackle during his days with the Crimson Tide — making his CFL debut.

Wolitarsky and Neufeld have both been moved to the six-game injured list, joining FBs Michael Chris-Ike and Bailey Feltmate, receivers Kenny Lawler (who should be returning in a couple weeks), Dalton Schoen and Keric Wheatfall, LBs Kyrie Wilson and Lucky Ogbevoen, DTs Cam Lawson and Miles Fox, and DBs Brian Cole and Jamal Parker. Celestin Haba is currently on the one-game injured list.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

1. Cut the Blue miscues — The Sequel to the Sequel

An ugly storyline that is stuck on repeat for the Blue Bombers — they have six losses this season and, not surprisingly, so many of those downfalls have been due their repeated self-inflicted wounds.

The evidence: Winnipeg is 1-4 in games decided by 0-4 points, including overtime losses to Calgary and Toronto.

Over the last two weeks the team has been especially guilty of poor ball protection, having turned the ball over eight times with four fumbles, two interceptions and twice on downs, while forcing one turnover themselves. That’s a -7 differential and, repeating a stat, we mentioned in Upon Further Review that’s notable because the club is 71-8 since 2016 in games in which they have won the turnover battle and now 6-31 over that same span when they lose it.

Point made by head coach Mike O’Shea on the CJOB Coach’s Show earlier this week: with one less turnover — which would still have made it and unsightly four — the Blue Blue Bombers probably win the game in Toronto given the magnitude of each error: a Pick-6 on which many agree there should have been a pass interference call, three fumbles after long gains and a third-down QB sneak that was snuffed inside the final minute of a tie game.

“We talked about that at halftime, too,” said Oliveira. “It was a tight game, 6-6, it was going to be a grinder and it was going to come down to who played the cleanest football and whoever does is going to come out on top and win this football game.

“We know. We know turnovers are going to kill any team. If you’re on the other side of the turnover margin that’s a good thing and you’re probably going to walk away by winning that game.”

2. Protect The Bank

Coaches and quarterbacks say it all the time and it’s worth repeating here: sacks against an offence aren’t always directly related to mistakes at the line of scrimmage. They can also be the result of a QB hanging onto the ball too long, to a receiver running a wrong route, to simple missed assignments.

That said, some intriguing numbers this week courtesy Ben Grant of 3Down Nation: Zach Collaros dropped back to pass 37 times in last week’s loss to Toronto — Chris Streveler had one drop back to make it an even 38 — and in those plays the QBs were hurried nine times, hit five times, knocked down three times, and sacked five times. Grant also notes that four of the five sacks the Blue Bombers surrendered came with the Argos using basic three or four-man defensive fronts.

Having spit out all those nasty numbers, there’s also this, which is worth noting: Collaros threw for 317 yards while Oliveira rumbled for 96 yards on just 13 carries.

The injury to Neufeld means another change up front with Randolph stepping in at right guard to give the Blue Bombers three Americans along the O-line.

“We’ve got to win our one-on-ones,” said veteran tackle Stanley Bryant. “That’s something we’ve been doing and something we’ve taken pride of for years now. It’s things we can fix.

“We’ve got to be better all-round. I know that (sack) number speaks loudly, but we did do some good things. We’ll be better and bigger plays will happen.”

3. Corral VA

File this under the ‘Department of Easier-Said-Than-Done’, but the Blue Bombers must find a way to limit the damage done by Lions QB Vernon Adams, Jr. and his dangerous corps of receivers that sees veteran Keon Hatcher returning from injury to make his first appearance since last year’s West Final.

Adams, Jr. torched the Blue Bombers for 398 passing yards and two TDs in their first meeting this year back on June 21st in a 26-24 Lions victory. He also rushed five times for 24 yards and it’s his ability to move around the pocket to buy time that has again made him a Most Outstanding Player candidate.

“He’s a dynamic athlete with a really good arm and he’s very experienced,” said Blue Bombers defensive end TyJuan Garbutt. “I feel like he’s his most dangerous when he looks off his first read, gets his legs moving and it’s the scramble drill and all his receivers are finding spots in the coverage.

“There’s a reason why he’s one of the best players in the league. Our best thing to do is to keep him bottled up and make him have to make his decisions fast.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but I think we’re up to it.”

The Last Word:

“We know what’s ahead of us, and that’s a lot of football to be played. It’s not like anything is out of reach. That’s the beauty of it. We know where we are in the standings. We’ve got a beautiful opportunity here and that’s to play good football for the second half of this season.

“I feel like we’re on repeat, where we keep saying that it starts this week. But it does, it starts this week. We’ve just got to put our foot in the ground and get going. Get running.” — Blue Bombers receiver Nic Demski