Unconfirmed sources have indicated Jeremiah Masoli is crafting a petition to the Canadian Football League schedule maker that would see the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as an opponent for more than just the token couple games a season.

Actually, we’re making all that up. But please play along, if you will, for a moment.

Yes, take a quick glance at the numbers the Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback has posted against the Bombers over the past couple of years and it’s easy to surmise that Masoli likely began the practice week leading up to this Friday’s date at Investors Group Field gleefully running his hands together.

Consider that in his four starts against the Bombers, he has averaged 352.3 yards passing per game – 1,409 in total – while posting a 71.7 completion percentage. In his last two games against Winnipeg, both wins, Masoli has completed 58 of 74 (78.4 percent) for 707 yards with three touchdowns against one interception.

And in their previous meeting this season back on June 29^th in Hamilton, Masoli was especially effective as the Ticats rolled to a 31-17 victory.

“We talked about it right after the game, too – we have to be tighter and contest more throws,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea after practice on Tuesday. “We were off the man and off the ball too far too many times. That was the biggest issue. But, take nothing away from them – they have a very strong offence and a very strong football team in all three phases. We went there and they put it on us.”

The Ticats will roll into town averaging 25.9 points per game (ranked fifth) and averaging 411.3 yards offence per game (third in the CFL) while ranking second only to Calgary in time of possession at 32 minutes and nine seconds.

In their win over the Bombers earlier this season there was a stretch in which the Ticats – who had the ball exactly 15 minutes more than Winnipeg – went on a 24-zip run that wiped out a 10-7 deficit. Even more disturbing for the Bombers was how they occasionally looked lost to counter Hamilton’s unique run-and-shoot offence.

“Masoli is somebody who is really good at improvising and extending the play,” said Bombers linebacker Chandler Fenner. “That’s something that can be a challenge to certain teams because you have to cover for longer. Instead of him getting rid of the ball in two seconds, he has an extra second to evaluate what coverage we’re in and that’s what he does a good job of doing: reading coverages and throwing strikes.

“(Hamilton’s offence) is a little different from what other teams run because the receivers and quarterback have to be so much more in tune to what they’re doing on each play so that they can read our defence and go to the proper spot on the field. If their connection isn’t good, they’ll throw interceptions all the time. As long as their connection is good they’ll have a better shot of getting down the field.

“Most teams don’t do it that way. It’s why they have less plays that they run, but because they’re so connected with each other the offence runs smoothly.”

There were a couple of other factors at play in the Bombers loss in Hamilton: Winnipeg was without Matt Nichols and had three changes in the secondary with Anthony Gaitor and Brandon Alexander out and Kevin Fogg moving from corner to halfback.

All that, coupled with Hamilton’s ability to effectively operate their passing attack AND pound the football along the ground led to a long and frustrating night for the Bombers.

“They’re on the field constantly,” said cornerback Chris Randle of the Ticats offence. “They keep drives alive. They get a lot of reps offensively. They get the run-and-shoot going with the screens… they get you going there. They get you going with the running game… and when the running game is running that’s when they’re the biggest threat.

“Our IQ of what they like to do needs to go up and we need to make more plays, at the end of the day. We had the opportunities and there were some times when we did do well. I feel like (the coverage) was tight at times. It was hit one play and miss one play.”

Since then the Bombers have steadied, winning three of their last four games while welcoming Nichols back at the controls. There’s been growth on defence, too.

“As long as we’re winning that’s fine,” said Randle. “Now it’s changing time of possession, let’s add more value to the defence and contribute more to the offence. Or let’s get more takeaways, let’s get more points. There’s always that want of more as a defence.

“Calgary is a pretty stingy defence. They’re doing well. And we’ve got our eyes on them, too.”

BOMBERS REPORT | August 7^th, 2018

OUCH UPDATE:

Not practising on Tuesday were LB/DB Maurice Leggett, DB Anthony Gaitor (who did practice on Monday) and LB Shayne Gauthier, who has come off the six-game injury list. Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said after practice he still hasn’t ruled out Leggett for Friday’s game.

HOME STRETCH:

The Bombers are in a stretch that will see them at home for a month – three home games and a bye week – before they are in Calgary on August 25^th. The club knocked off Toronto before the bye and has Hamilton and then Ottawa on consecutive Fridays.

“I love playing at home and there’s no better place to play in the CFL,” said Nichols. “That’s big for us and I feel like we play well here.”

Asked if there were any advantages to being at home for that long a stretch, Nichols added:

“There are two sides to it. When you’re on the road all you have are the guys in the hotel and your IPad and your sheets of paper to look at. There’s that side of it, where you’re on the road you’re just in football mode and when you’re at home you’ve got other things. Most guys have got families and everything. Obviously, there’s a comfort at being home and having your own facilities, and it’s great for a lot of guys and their pre-game routine.

“It’s the electricity in the stadium when you start making some plays with the home crowd.”

TRUST FACTOR:

New Bombers slotback Kenbrell Thompkins is coming off a solid CFL debut in which he had three catches for 81 yards. And with each practice a chemistry seems to be developing between the former NFLer and QB Matt Nichols.

“It’s coming along good. Me and Matt have got a great feel for each other,” said Thompkins. “I think he trusts me. I trust him. We’re just trying to go out there and be on the same page. We have a term, we consider it ‘Wi-Fi’ – that’s just having a connection in the air or wherever we’re at. Matt does a great job of distributing the ball and getting it to all the wideouts, even our running back Andrew (Harris) catches the ball a lot out of the backfield.

“I just go out there and try to execute and try to be where Matt wants me to be. I trust him to make the play and he trusts me to make the play as well.”