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July 20, 2018

Game Preview: WPG at TOR


GAME 6 | WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (2-3) at TORONTO ARGONAUTS (1-3)

THE 4-1-1

Kickoff: 3 p.m. CT, Saturday; BMO Field
TV: TSN, ESPN-+
Radio: CJOB
Vegas line: The Bombers are favoured by two points.
Streaks: Winnipeg: 1L; Toronto: 1L
Home/Road: The Bombers are 1-2 on the road this season, with a win in Montreal and losses in Hamilton and B.C. The Argos are 1-1 at home.
Series (since 1961): Toronto leads with a record of 60-55-2.
Recent history: The two clubs split their season series last year, with the Bombers winning 33-25 here in Winnipeg on July 13th and the Argos emerging with a 29-28 victory in Toronto on Octobert 21st. Toronto has won 11 of the last 18 meetings; Winnipeg is 3-1 in the last four.


3 STORYLINES

1. FINISH, FINISH, FINISH

A stat nobody in football anywhere on this planet will be doing cartwheels about: the Bombers are 2-2 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter – the two losses coming on last minute field goals against Edmonton in the opener and in Vancouver last weekend.

In the loss to the Eskimos, Winnipeg held a 30-22 lead at the end of three quarters but then surrendered 11 points in the final five minutes and 46 seconds. And the Bombers led 17-7 heading into the fourth last week before the Lions rallied with a TD and a field goal in the final four minutes and 44 seconds.

Clearly the defence owns some of the blame for not being able to protect a lead, but the offence is just as culpable in its inability in those two games to convert first downs and protect the football.

It’s an issue of killer instinct, which the Bombers have had in abundance in the past. Consider that last year the team was 10-2 when leading after three quarters and are 17-3 when protecting a lead into the fourth over the past two seasons.

Make that 19-5 now.

“If we have a lead at that point then our players have to learn from the previous couple of experiences that didn’t work out the way we expected it to work out,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “It’s all part of the process. The one thing I did say (earlier in the week) is that it’s learned more than anything. It’s about making sure they took the analysis of the previous game and apply it to this game in terms of focus at the end of the game, the refusal to be tired and some of the things you can do with your brain more than physically.

“The other side is making sure you’re still playing physical through the full 60 minutes or however long the game takes.”

2. GETTNG THAT O MOJO BACK

It’s way too early to be drawing any concrete conclusions from this, but the Bombers lead the CFL in rushing and are averaging 6.68 yards per carry. That’s significant – although almost impossible to maintain – because the CFL record is 6.678 yards per carry, set by the 1994 Birmingham Barracudas.

Further to that, with Andrew Harris leading the CFL in rushing and major contributions from Nic Demski and Chris Streveler, the Bombers are averaging 171 yards along the ground per game.

Counter to all this are the passing numbers through five games: Winnipeg’s 217.6 yards per passing per game are seventh in the league. There are any number of factors that play into that, from Matt Nichols missing the first three games, to changes in the receiving corps, to the need to just stay on the field longer.

“You’ve just got to keep your foot on the pedal,” said Bombers receiver Weston Dressler. “We’ve just had a few mistakes. We only had two penalties in the (loss to B.C.) that were unforced penalties, not a tough holding call or anything like that. It was an offsides and a false start/procedure penalty and they were both in situations where it was second and medium or second and short and it put us into second and long and into a hole. Those are the little things we can always control that have nothing to do with who you’re going against, the defence they’re bringing against you or anything like that.

“Those are the little things that we have to be as close to 100 percent on as possible.”

3. THE FRANKLIN FACTOR

James Franklin has been the CFL’s ‘Next Big Thing’ at the quarterback position since he broke into the CFL in 2015 with the Edmonton Eskimos – joining a team that featured Mike Reilly and Matt Nichols on the QB depth chart. Thrust into the spotlight with the recent injury to Ricky Ray, the Argos are becoming his team with every snap he takes. He’s a big (6-2, 225), mobile pivot who leads the CFL with a 68.9 completion percentage and has a sparkling 14:3 career touchdown-to-interception ratio. He differs from Ray in that he can move around the pocket more, although he has only 15 carries for 58 yards this season.

There’s that change, but also an experience factor at play here.

“The difference is mainly in the veteran status,” said Bombers safety Taylor Loffler. “Ricky Ray has been in the league for so long he can really read everything that you do. Franklin… what I’ve seen so far – he hasn’t played a whole lot so his film is limited – he’s doing a good job for them right now, but I don’t think he’s able to see as much as Ricky Ray could.

“Ricky Ray’s ability to read the coverages before the snap, I don’t see that as much in Franklin. But that doesn’t mean we can relax at all. We have to play the same as if Ricky Ray was playing.”

“Ray is a veteran,” added defensive end Craig Roh. “I’ve had games where I’ve personally had six hits on him and no sacks because he knows where his check-down is all the time. Franklin is still learning that, so he may take a few more as opposed to Ricky.

“Ricky is very non-mobile. He knows that. We all know that. He makes more plays with his brain than with his body. Franklin is a pass-first guy, but has that ability to get out of the pocket and enough athleticism to do that. That’s something you have to watch with him.”


THE QBS

  • Winnipeg’s Matt Nichols 30-22 in his career as a starter; 22-10 since taking over from Drew Willy in July of 2016 and 4-1 lifetime vs. Toronto.
  • Toronto’s James Franklin is 3-2 in his five career starts with this being his first against the Bombers.

 

ROSTER SHUFFLE

The Bombers are making three changes to their 46-man roster. Coming aboard are RB Kienan LaFrance, DB Brandon Alexander and DB Abu Conteh. Coming off are LB Chandler Fenner, who is headed to the one-game injured list, along with LB Frank Renaud (injured) and WR Tylor Henry.

3 BOMBERS TO WATCH

#31 Maurice Leggett, LB: The Bombers defensive playmaker has bounced all over the field upon his return from his Achilles injury last October, moving from dime back to halfback and then back to dime. He could see a lot of the Argos S.J. Green on Saturday and that’s a tough assignment for any defender in this league.

#37 Brandon Alexander, DB: Alexander is a clone of so many in the Bombers secondary in that he has the versatility to play corner, halfback and dime. The defence has missed his physical play over the last few games as he nursed an injury and will be thrilled to have him back against Toronto.

#3 Kevin Fogg, DB/KR: Fogg, who has returned to being a solid player in the secondary after battling through an injury just prior to last season, leads the CFL in punt-return yardage (313), and has had two returns over 30 yards. He’s also chipped in with a 110-yard touchdown on a missed field goal that highlighted his ability to read blocks in the often-chaotic mess that is a kick return.

X FACTOR

#7 Weston Dressler, WR: The future hall of famer has put up some dandy numbers in his last three games against the Argos. He had eight catches for 129 yards and a TD in a loss last October, seven receptions for 109 yards in a win in July and then eight more catches for 93 yards in his lone game against Toronto in 2016. That’s 23 receptions for 331 yards and a score in three games. Dressler, with 9,693 career receiving yards, needs 45 yards to pass Jim Sandusky for 20th spot on the CFL’s all-time list. With 307 more yards he would become the CFL’s 17th 10,000-yard receiver.

CRITICAL NUMBER

5: The Bombers turned the ball over five times last week in Vancouver – three picks and the two botched short-yardage attempts on third down. Those numbers were critical in the loss and simply can’t be repeated if this team hopes to have any success.

MISCELLANEOUS

  •  Since 1996 there have been 150 back-to-back matchups in the CFL. Of those, 77 (51 per cent) have been sweeps; 71 (48 per cent) have involved splits while two games ended in a tie.
  • The Bombers continuity on the O-line has held up through the first five games and now dates back seven games to when Travis Bond was injured in an October loss in Toronto. Stanley Bryant has made 70 consecutive starts, followed by Matthias Goossen (45), Jermarcus Hardrick (32), Sukh Chungh (23) and Patrick Neufeld (7, since replacing Bond).
  • With 40 receiving yards this week Toronto’s S.J. Green would move into the 33rd spot on the CFL’s all-time receiving yardage list, passing Jamel Richardson, Bomber hall of famer Joe Poplawski and Andy Fantuz. Green has 8,324 career receiving yards.
  • Bombers DE Jackson Jeffcoat has three sacks in his last two games.
  • The Argos are the CFL’s least-penalized team at 5.3 infractions per game; Winnipeg ranks third at 6.6.