Tracker

I was saddened by the loss today but not entirely surprised. The problems that Nichols ans his receivers has today were the same ones that were evident during the losing skid. I don't know whether to blame the players, the coaches or both, but the Bombers were beaten by a better team today. They scraped past a mediocre Rider team last weekend and the red flags were there in that game. Regardless of all this, I do not see Walters or O'Shea voluntarily making changes. Not putting Streveler in shortly after it was obvious following halftime that the offence was toothless was a major judgemental failure for O'Shea and/or LaPolice and they must answer for that. And then there was inserting Lankford- for what purpose? Walters has questions to answer as well- other teams can sign Chris Matthews, Posey, Rogers, etc etc and we sign a bunch of steers. Its gonna be a long winter and may be a long time before we have this opportunity again.

Okay. It is now officially a rout.

Too Late! Its starting to look suspiciously like a rout already. The only thing stopping the landslide was that last-second TD by the Ti Cats.

Things looking grim for the TiCats. Harris is picking their secondary apart.

FROM 3DOWNNATION: West Division Final Winnipeg at Calgary, 4:30 p.m. Forgive the Winnipeg Blue Bombers if they’d rather forget about the last time they faced Bo Levi Mitchell at McMahon Stadium. On Aug. 25, Mitchell threw for 452 yards three touchdowns in a 39-26 home win. The two teams return to McMahon Stadium on Sunday in the West Division final. To be fair, much has happened since then. Most notably, Winnipeg clinched a playoff berth Oct. 26 with a 29-21 home victory over Calgary, its first victory over the Stampeders in nine tries. The Bombers also handed Mitchell a career-first third straight loss, but the Stamps ended that dubious streak with a season-ending 26-9 road victory over B.C. to finish atop the West Division. Kamar Jorden played a big role in Calgary’s home victory over Winnipeg. He had 10 catches for a club-record 249 yards and a TD before suffering a season-ending knee injury later in the year. Then again, former Bomber Chris Matthews had five catches for 113 yards in last month’s loss to Winnipeg. Over the two games, Mitchell has completed 47-of-77 passes for 726 yards with four TDs and no interceptions as Calgary chases a third straight Grey Cup appearance and its first championship since 2014. But Winnipeg starter Matt Nichols has won his last six straight starts with eight TDs and just one interception over that span. Nichols had a season-high 358 yards and two TDs in the home win over Calgary. Winnipeg comes in off its 23-18 road win over Saskatchewan in the West Division semifinal, its first playoff victory since beating Hamilton in 2011 East Division final. The Bombers, who haven’t won a CFL title since 1990, went on to lose 34-23 in the Grey Cup to the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium. A big key to the Bombers ending their title drought could be running back Andrew Harris. For the second straight year the Winnipeg native was the CFL’s rushing leader (1,390 yards) and was named a finalist for the league’s top Canadian award (he won it in 2017). Harris ran for 123 second-half yards against Saskatchewan and is more than capable of carrying the Bombers’ offence by himself. However, Harris does get a lot of help from Winnipeg’s solid offensive line. That unit helped Winnipeg lead the CFL in rushing (134.9 yards per game) and rushing TDs (23) and finish tied in average rushing gain (5.7 yards). Although Winnipeg’s passing attack ranked sixth overall (244.9 yards per game), the Bombers led the CFL in offensive points per game (28.2) and offensive TDs (53) and were tied for third in fewest sacks allowed (36). Winnipeg’s defence finished tied with Calgary for most forced turnovers (49) and second to the Stampeders in fewest offensive points allowed (20.8), offensive touchdowns (35) and passing touchdowns (15). Linebacker Adam Bighill anchors the unit and will play Sunday despite suffering an undisclosed injury against Saskatchewan. However, questions exist about the status of linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox, who had a team-high eight tackles and a forced fumble in the win over Calgary. Calgary boasts a 34-20 (.630) home playoff record and was 7-2 this season at McMahon. The Stampeders’ last home playoff loss was in 2013 to Saskatchewan. Since 1972, the home team in the West Division final is 27-19 (.587). Winnipeg counters with a 22-32 (407) road playoff record and was 4-5 this season away from Investors Group Field. Edwards: I still think Calgary is the best team in the CFL. Time to prove it. STAMPS Dunk: Party in the Peg. BOMBERS Hodge: The bye week is everything. STAMPS Gasson: I said the Bombers before the began. Can’t back out now. BOMBERS Filoso: Hard to pick against the Stamps at home but Winnipeg is deeper and more consistent BOMBERS Smith: This should be a doozy. The Bombers put up one heckuva fight, but Calgary finds a way to get back for third straight year. STAMPS Totals: BOMBERS 3 STAMPS 3

I do not expect Lankford to be much more than a decoy, but it would be nice to be mistaken. Once the Calgary DBs realize that Lankford is not much of a threat unless the ball is gently delivered into his arms, his usefulness will be greatly diminished.

Apparently the Stamps' pre-game meal will consist largely of artichokes and choke-cherry pie.

How about: Too bad Suckatchewan Nation

I thought that I heard on the radio yesterday that the Bombers were favoured by 4 1/2 - 5 points.

LOVE IT!!!!!

They're ALREADY *******!

Citations? This should really be moved to another forum.

There is a strong element of luck/happenstance/fate involved in most championships. You can see that in the last two Cup games, where unlikely sets of circumstances led to Ottawa and Toronto getting their acts together in the last few games and then their opposition crapping out in The Big Games.

The allegations were made by the aforementioned Ezra Levant with no proof and repeated by that bastion of journalistic integrity, the Toronto Sun. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/20-questions-with-david-suzuki/article38077211/ https://davidsuzuki.org/story/false-allegations-pollute-well-public-discourse/

Yup. If all you have is the legs of your QB for offence, you're scrooged, but the Rider fans will not acknowledge this. "There are none so blind as those who will not see".

This may be the easiest path to the Grey Cup game and victory there than has been possible for years, maybe decades. The Bombers have come together in all three phases of the game and all the other teams with the possible exception of the TiCats have struggled. Now or wait another 28 years, folks.

I'm sure that Suzuki flies, but the allegation that he has three houses is pure baloney. He would have a hard time traveling to international or national conferences if he did not.

That is BS propagated by Ezra Levant (the Canadian version of Fox "News") and has been proven false years ago. Levant has been fired for spreading this crap and is no longer employable by any credible news service.

Forecast for Calgary on Sunday: +4 degrees and sunny. Go get 'em Bombers!

Fixed that for you.

A really great read. Wolitarsky comes across as humble and grateful for the chance to play a game he loves. He does look a lot like Matthew McConaghy is the movie "Reign of Fire", though.

O'Shea is being cryptic about Santos-Knox's availability. He apparently did not practice yesterday but O'Shea said he might do so today, so the "faint hope" clause is in effect.

You talk about the noise at IGF as if its a bad thing......

There is always room for improvement, but the Riders have had excellent return teams all year and the Bombers did reasonably well. I cannot see that Calgary's special teams are better.

Agreed. I cannot see the Bombers doing anything different than what got them here.