Table of Contents
THE 4-1-1
Kicking off: Thursday 7:30 p.m. IG Field, Winnipeg
TV: TSN; ESPN+
Radio: 680 CJOB
House/Street: The Blue Bombers are 3-0 up this year with victories over Ottawa, Hamilton and Calgary. Montreal is going 1-4 in 2022, with three of those losses coming with a TD or less.
BetRegal.ca odds: The Blue Bombers are favored with 11.5 points. For more numbers from Bet Regal on this game click here.
stripes: Winnipeg: 9W; Montreal: 2L.
Heads up:
A Royal Canadian Air Force CT-142 from 402 Squadron at 17 Wing Winnipeg will conduct two flybys ahead of tomorrow’s game. One after the national anthem, the second just before kick-off.
This is always a perfect way to start an outdoor sporting event. #ForTheW
— Darren Cameron (@Darren_Cameron) August 10, 2022
Something to note: The Blue Bombers only started a season 9-0 twice in franchise history – this year and 1960, when they rocketed to a 10-0 start before finishing 14-2.
Attention II: Six teams in CFL history have gone 10-0 – the 1948 Calgary Stampeders (12-0), the 1949 Stampeders (10-0), 1955 Edmonton (10-0), 1960 Blue Bombers (10-0 ), 1993 Stampeders (10-0) and the 2005 BC Lions (11-0).
The QBs
- Montreal starts veteran pivot Trevor Harris. He is 42-43-2 in his career and 3-7 in his career in starts against Winnipeg.
- Winnipeg field Zach Collaros behind center. He’s 55-34 in his career and now has a remarkable 26-2 in his games as a starter at Winnipeg, including playoffs and two Gray Cup wins.
The trainers
Winnipeg: Mike O’Shea has a career win-lost record of 76-55. O’Shea’s 75 victories as Blue Bombers head coach ranks third on the club’s all-time list, behind only Bud Grant (102) and Cal Murphy (86).
Montreal: Danny Maciocia has a career record of 34-41-1 in his head coaching days, first at Edmonton and now with the Alouettes. The club is 1-3 since Maciocia, also a GM, fired Khari Jones and defensive coordinator Barron Miles.
Blue Roster Shuffle
The Bombers depth map has only one change from last week. On board comes receiver Greg Ellingson. Out is receiver Tavaris Harrison.
Ellingson led the CFL in admission when he was first injured, and even after missing three games he’s still 8thth in the league in reception courts with 518 to 34 receptions.
“It’s always good to get out of here. It’s tough to sit on the sidelines and watch the guys fight, but we have a strong team and there’s a next-man-up mentality here, so it’s 1-0 every week,” Ellingson said on Wednesday practice the team’s walk-through.
“As a competitor, you always want to be out there, especially with the guys you’re out there fighting with in the briefing rooms all the time. That’s her choice, right? It’s my job to get back on the field, get treatment and then make sure I’m ready to play whenever I can.
“Three weeks off… sitting on the sidelines isn’t that much fun, so I’m happy to get back out there and it should be fun.”
THE ELLINGSON EFFECT
Ellingson’s influence cannot be measured solely in receptions and yards. In his seven games he had already reestablished chemistry with Collaros. Even with his three games, he still ranks third in the CFL in second-down conversion catches at 15.
“He’s another target that’s basically seen it all,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “I think you saw that it was pretty easy for him and Zach to get on the same page. They saw the pictures in the briefing room the same way and how they talk about how they see things… anyone who’s played that many games and had that many catches and that many yards will probably get the gist of what they’re thinking pretty quickly , and trust is easy to build, I’m sure.”
“He’s a great teammate, great for the space,” added Collaros. “He keeps things loose so I think he’s going to be a great addition from that point of view. He’s experienced, he’s been in many situations, not just from a coverage recognition standpoint, but from a situational football awareness standpoint, he has a really high football IQ. Having him out there is like another Nik (Demski) or Woli (Drew Wolitarsky) so it’s huge.”
BLUE BOMBER HEADLIGHTS: DT Ricky Walker
The sophomore Blue Bomber dressed for just his third game of the season in last week’s win in Montreal and was a force to finish the game with two tackles, a tackle for the loss and a sack as part of the club’s defensive line rotation.
Walker has two sacks in his 10 games over the past two years and the energy he brought to the dark side’s defense last week was evident.
“If you look at how our roster was structured or what it was like with injuries, we had two ‘fresh’ guys coming in last week in Jackson (Jeffcoat) and Ricky,” said defensive coordinator Richie Hall. “Ricky had that extra energy and he really brought it to our team. I don’t apologize but we’ve come a long way here and haven’t had a significant break since the start of the season so it can always be important if you can get some fresh legs there. You saw the difference in Jackson and Ricky.
“That’s one of the reasons we have a good football team – we have so much depth.”
FYI
- This is the second home game for the Blue Bombers and Alouettes and the sixth time they have played each other. Montréal has the only sweep (2003), the other four are splits.
- The Blue Bombers’ 104-yard drive last week — topped by a Collaros-to-Dalton Schoen score — was the longest TD drive in the CFL this season. It covered the 104 yards in eight games and took four minutes and 41 seconds off the clock.
FUNNY BUT TRUE
The Blue Bombers have committed six turnovers in their last three games, but their opponents have converted them to just a single field goal.
REMARKABLE
Alouettes wide receiver Eugene Lewis leads the CFL in receptions (45), yards (742) and goals (77). He’s been targeted 30 times in Montreal’s last two games, including 15 times last week — a game in which he ended with nine catches for 123 yards, with 43 yards coming on the final drive, with the Blue Bombers perishing 14 lead.
“It’s all about playing a strong defense and messing up your guards,” Hall said of the defending Lewis. “You can’t stop them from aiming at him and throwing him the football. The five-meter clutches and stuff like that… that’s football. You are giving up something and minimizing gain.”
QUOTABLE
“The score was 14 – everyone went into the fourth. This is such a tough game as we played. The boys know. It was physical. You could see they were drained after that game and it wasn’t just the humidity or the heat, it was the fight that was going on on the field. They took the ball away early and often, created those plays – as Richie Hall says, it was takeaways, we didn’t just give them the ball, they took it away. They forced fumbling, they jumped in front of passes. It’s a tough game. We know we have another good one ahead of us here.”
– Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea on last week’s game in Montreal and tonight’s rematch at IG Field.