The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and their faithful can debate this week the pros and cons of having a bye week smack-dab in the middle of a four-game losing streak.
On the plus side, this is a team that limped into the break with a pile of injuries, with the sick bay featuring starters like Jermarcus Hardrick, Jackson Jeffcoat, Weston Dressler and Maurice Leggett as well as important depth pieces like Derek Jones, Manase Foketi and Trent Corney. Hardrick, Jeffcoat and Dressler are inching closer to being ready while the status of Leggett is unknown.
Conversely, given what happened in the Banjo Bowl – a 32-27 loss in which the Bombers essentially threw up all over themselves – the extra time off is only going to fuel a growing quarterback debate as to whether Matt Nichols or Chris Streveler should get the start when they return to work against the Montreal Alouettes on September 21, while all the other concerns about this team will only further fester.
In any case, the Bombers have reached the two-thirds mark of the CFL season, and with the team taking a knee for a week, we thought we’d dive into some of the 12 numbers with 12 games done and six on the horizon…
THE BASICS
Record: 5-7, fourth in West Division, 6th overall
Currently: The Bombers are on the second of their three byes this week and hold a two-point lead on the B.C. Lions in the West, although B.C. – 4-6 – has two games in hand. Both the Bombers and Lions have better records than the third-place team in the East Division – Toronto and Montreal are 3-8 – meaning if the season ended today there would be a crossover.
Remaining games: 6 – Home: 3; Road: 3
- vs. Montreal, Friday, September 21
- @ Edmonton, Saturday, September 29
- @ Ottawa, Friday, October 5
- vs. Saskatchewan, Saturday, October 13
- Bye Week
- vs. Calgary, Friday, October 26
- @ Edmonton, Saturday, November 3
12 GAMES | 12 NOTABLE NUMBERS
1-5
The Bombers record in the West Division. Winnipeg’s lone victory against a divisional foe came back on July 7th, with a 41-19 victory over the B.C. Lions.
The Bombers are 1-1 vs. B.C.; 0-2 vs. Saskatchewan, 0-1 vs. Calgary and 0-1 against Edmonton. Winnipeg holds the tiebreaker with the Lions in points for/against at 58-39, but has already lost the season series with the Riders and is down a game with the Eskimos with two more trips to Edmonton.
The Bombers have five wins this season with only one – a 29-23 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats – coming against a team currently with a winning record. The other four wins have against a Toronto (2), Montreal (1) and B.C. (1).
4
Winnipeg’s current losing streak; the longest since the end of the 2015 season and start of 2016, when the club dropped five in a row. The Bombers last lost four in a row in a single campaign in 2015, when they suffered through a four-game skid from August 9 – September 6.
72.0/85.8
The Bombers quarterback ratings – 72.0 being the CFL’s new QUAR system, the 85.8 representing the old QB efficiency rating.
Winnipeg’s 72.0 QUAR rating is fourth best in the CFL behind Edmonton (91.4), Calgary (84.1) and Hamilton (83.9). The 85.8 QB efficiency rating ranks sixth after Edmonton (106.9), Calgary (106.2), Hamilton (100.4), B.C. (88.6) and Ottawa (87.7).
Just by comparison, the Bombers had the third-best QUAR last year at 81.5 and fourth-best QB efficiency rating at 99.9; while Matt Nichols led the entire league with an efficiency rating of 103.8. His rating this year through nine starts is 78.9.
59/3
Career QB starts for Matt Nichols and rookie Chris Streveler. Nichols is 33-26 as a starter with the Bombers and Edmonton. Nichols is 25-14 since replacing Drew Willy in late July of 2016; Streveler was 1-2 in his three starts earlier this season with Nichols on the shelf with a knee injury.
Nichols has a 78.9 QB efficiency rating this season and a QUAR of 59.8. Streveler’s numbers are 96.5 and 83.9.
984
The rushing totals for Andrew Harris through 12 games, best in the CFL heading into this week’s action. Harris has a 138-yard edge on William Powell, whose Ottawa REDBLACKS have played one less game than Winnipeg. Harris is attempting to become the first Bomber running back to win consecutive rushing titles since Charles Roberts in 2005-06.
355.1
The Bombers defence is surrendering an average of 355.1 yards offence against per game, ranking fifth overall (Calgary is first at 302.8). That is down from the 396.9 total allowed last year, which was second-last.
Further to that, Winnipeg’s points-against total is 26.3, which ranks seventh and is an improvement on the 27.3 surrendered a year ago. But what is lost, especially in recent weeks with the Pick 6s by Calgary and Saskatchewan and a punt return surrendered on Labour Day, is Winnipeg’s defence is allowing 22.7 points per game – fifth overall, and just behind Saskatchewan’s 22.6.
+2
Winnipeg’s turnover ratio, now ranking fourth overall behind Calgary and Saskatchewan (+10) and Edmonton (+5).
Worth noting is during the four-game losing streak the Bombers takeaway-giveaway ratio has been a putrid -7 and featured three Pick 6s (another returned to Winnipeg’s one-yard line) and a fumble recovery for a TD.
The Bombers were +14 last year, second only to Calgary’s +20.
0
The number of 300-yard passing games by either Nichols or Streveler. It was Nichols who recently wondered aloud why so many fixate on the 300-yard passing mark for QBs. There’s merit in what he is saying, given the Bombers still do lead the CFL with an average of 135 rushing yards per game while their average passing yardage per game of 244.8 ranks fifth. Winnipeg’s net offence of 368.8 ranks fifth overall as well.
But consider this, too: Nichols has posted ten 300-yard passing games over the 2016-17 seasons while emerging as the Bombers QB1. And in those games, the Bombers were a solid 8-2.
The asterisk to all this is this nugget: in the last two playoff losses – West Semi-Final defeats to B.C. and Edmonton – Nichols has posted some of his best numbers, with passing totals of 390 (vs. B.C.) and 371 (vs. Edmonton).
11th
The ranking, in receiving yardage, for Winnipeg’s Darvin Adams – the club’s top receiver, with 41 catches for 665 yards and seven touchdowns. Just to compare – and remembering that both Winnipeg and Edmonton have both played 12 games, more than all the other teams – the Eskimos and Tiger-Cats have three receivers each in the Top 10, while Calgary and Ottawa each have a pair.
10
Second-down conversion catches for Weston Dressler in the seven-plus-one-quarter games in which he has played this year. That’s significant because, even though he has missed essentially five games, he still ranks fourth on the team in that category behind Andrew Harris (16), Darvin Adams (15) and Nic Demski (11).
9
Punts placed inside the opponents’ 10-yard line by Justin Medlock, most in the CFL. The veteran kicker continues to be solid in the placekicking department – he has hit 26 of his 30 (86.7) field goal attempts and is a perfect 38-of-38 on convert attempts. But his punting, and his variety of punts that can confound returners, has improved immensely over the past few seasons.
9-1
Current odds for the Bombers to win the Grey Cup. Calgary is 1-1, followed by Saskatchewan at 9-2, Edmonton and Hamilton are both 5-1 while Ottawa is 8-1. B.C. is 30-1 while both Montreal and Toronto are 50-1.
