Game #14: Blue Bombers (7-6) at Elks (5-8)

Kickoff: Saturday, September 21st, 6 p.m. CDT; The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium
TV/Streaming: TSN 1/4, CFL+
Radio: 680 CJOB
Streaks: Wpg: 5W; Edm: 2W
Road/Home: The Blue Bombers are 2-4 on the road and have won their last two away from Princess Auto Stadium; the Elks are 2-4 at home after posting two straight victories.

Scene Setter

They were two teams given up for dead just a few months ago as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers stumbled to 0-4 and then a 2-6 starts and with the Edmonton Elks even sorrier at 0-7 into early August.

The narrative in Winnipeg was that a championship-calibre team had suddenly grown old around the edges, while the Elks made dramatic midseason coaching and quarterback changes in an attempt to salvage their season.

Fast forward to this weekend and the Blue Bombers are on a five-game heater to improve to 7-6 while the Elks have won five of their last six to get back into the playoff discussion at 5-8. In fact, after combining to go 2-13 through the first eight weeks, these two squads are 10-1 since. And with the Canadian Football League’s West Division race as wacky as ever — just five points separate first from last — the sprint to the finish line will be as intriguing as the start of the Grey Cup derby in November.

“It’s insane. It’s still pretty much anyone’s game when you’re talking about the West,” said Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira. “Every game has seemed to be a big game for us. You look at the last couple weeks… B.C… big game; Saskatchewan… big game. And now you look at these back-to-back Edmonton games and both are massive games for us that I think are must-wins for us.

“It’s wide open. It’s really for anyone to take right now and the best team’s going to get it.”

THE RACE FOR FIRST… AND SECOND AND THIRD

The fight for West Division playoff spots is bonkers this season. A look at the remaining games for each of the five squads:

Blue Bombers : 7-6
Remaining games: 5
Home (2): September 27th vs. Edmonton; October 11th vs. Toronto
Away (3): September 21st at Edmonton; October 4th at Hamilton; October 26th at Montreal
Opponents current combined record: 33-33-1 (.485)

Lions: 7-7
Remaining games: 4
Home (3): September 27th vs. Hamilton; October 4th vs. Calgary; October 19th vs. Montreal
Away (1): October 12th at Saskatchewan
Opponents current combined record: 23-26-3 (.471)

Roughriders: 5-7-1
Remaining games: 5
Home (3): September 28th vs. Ottawa; October 12th vs. B.C.; October 26th vs. Calgary
Away (2): September 20th at Calgary; October 5th at Edmonton
Opponents current combined record: 28-35-3 (.447)

Elks: 5-8
Remaining games: 5
Home (3): September 21st vs. Winnipeg; October 5th vs. Saskatchewan; October 25th vs. Toronto
Away (2): September 27th at Winnipeg; October 12th at Calgary
Opponents current combined record: 30-33-2 (.477)

Stampeders: 4-8-1
Remaining games: 5
Home (2): September 20th vs. Saskatchewan; October 12th vs. Edmonton
Away (3): October 4th at B.C.; October 18th at Hamilton; October 26th at Saskatchewan
Opponents current combined record: 26-38-2 (.409)

The Blue Bombers have five games remaining — this back-to-back set with the Elks, followed by a trip to Hamilton, a home date with Toronto and then the regular-season finale in Montreal. Winnipeg has already secured the tiebreaker with B.C., Saskatchewan and Calgary and now have the same opportunity with Edmonton.

Still, if there’s a lesson to take from the first four months of this CFL season it’s this: making any sort of assumptions based on past evidence is an absolute fool’s game.

“The West is crazy right now,” said receiver Nic Demski. “I think it’s good for the league — the East is having a lot of success, the West is a lot more tighter. It’s fun. It’s definitely a lot closer of a battle in the West this year. It makes for some good football.

“… Every year is different. It’s funny, at the start of the year I’m sure everyone has their expectations and the way they want to write out their season and all that stuff. At the end of the day it doesn’t always work out. You let the chips fall where they may and you roll with the punches.

“If you expect certain things to happen in an 18-game season you’re probably going to be on the losing side of things.”

THE DEPTH CHART

The Blue Bombers have made five changes to the depth chart this week. On are LT Stanley Bryant, QB Jake Dolegala, LB Kyrie Wilson, FB Michael Chris-Ike and WR Keric Wheatfall. Off are QB Chris Streveler, DB Marquise Bridges, OL Micah Vanterpool, WR Drew Wolitarsky and WR Josh Johnson.

Streveler and Wolitarsky have been moved to the six-game injured list, joining LB Adam Bighill, WR Dalton Schoen, DTs Cam Lawson and Miles Fox, LB Brian Cole, FB Bailey Feltmate, DB Jamal Parker and OL Gabe Wallace.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

1. FORD vs. FORD

THE storyline for this week’s showdown in the Alberta capital is what we touched on above with the impact every game now has on the standings. That’s a given.

The coolest subplot, however, is a tasty one with Blue Bombers cornerback Tyrell Ford facing off against Elks quarterback Tre, his twin brother. According to the fine folks at CFL headquarters, it marks the first time twin brothers playing QB and corner will be on the field at the same time against each other. Tre continues to emerge as one of the league’s most-exciting players and yet it’s Tyrell, who is having a bust-out season and is tied for the league lead in interceptions with six, who is seemingly en route to an All-CFL campaign.

One more plug for our interview with Tyrell earlier this week on The Huddle when the subject of lining up against was broached, with this as one of the highlights:

the twins battle it out this Saturday 👀#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/DOQBKUZ4wb

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) September 18, 2024

2. FORD vs. MBT

One more Ford-related element to Saturday’s contest. Elks head coach Jarious Jackson has opted to make a quarterback switch back to Ford from veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who had lost the gig after an 0-7 start but was back at the controls when the young Canadian pivot was injured. Bethel-Thompson has been superb since and in completing 64.9 percent of his passes for 905 yards with seven TDs against just one interception in the last three games.

And stylistically, Ford and MBT couldn’t be more different, all of which makes for an intriguing challenge for the Blue Bombers defence.

“Ford is more of an athlete who can get outside of the pocket and extend plays way longer than they need to be, make guys miss in a phone booth and then when he gets outside of the pocket to show his arm he can still make some of those throws,” said Blue Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson. “He’s just not as much of a pocket passer as Bethel-Thompson. He’s one of the most elusive quarterbacks the CFL has seen in the past couple of years — him, Vernon (Adams, Jr.), Cody (Fajardo), Nathan, Masoli… the thing is you’ve got to try your best to keep him in the pocket and moving around and not just putting his foot down and just running. That’s what makes it hard for defenders like big defensive linemen because he’s an agile guy who likes to juke and make a guy miss.

“It’s not necessarily about changing the scheme but we do have to know which quarterback is in the game. We do have different ways of rushing the quarterback depending on which quarterback is in the game. When Tre Ford is in the game we try to keep him in the pocket, don’t let him get outside the pocket and use his legs to extend plays and run around the edge so he can get to the sidelines and get a first down. When Bethel-Thompson is in we try to get him moving around — not necessarily outside of the pocket — to bring that pressure and squeeze it on him because he wants to stay in the pocket a little bit longer to wait for his receivers to get open.”

3. THE REVOLVING DOOR KEEPS SPINNING

It’s cliché to say it but here goes anyway: the one constant during the Blue Bombers 2024 season has been change and the five changes to the depth chart this week perfectly represent that theme.

Bighill announced on social media this week he had undergone season-ending knee surgery. Ditto for Streveler. Dolegala will dress for his first game as a Blue Bomber after being added following the injury to Streveler. WR/KR Lucky Whitehead did not practice earlier this week before Thursday’s closed session and remains in the lineup as a reserve receiver and primary kick returner. Wilson returns after missing six games; Wheatfall is back for the first time since Week 2 while Tony Jones steps in for Bighill at middle linebacker.

The impact of those changes is significant in terms of the starting lineup but it also means rookie Terry Wilson moves to the No. 2 QB spot behind Zach Collaros and will presumably handle the short-yardage packages which Streveler handled so effectively. Wilson was three-for-three in those situations in the Banjo Bowl after Streveler went down.

“You can’t rep that stuff in practice, that’s the hardest thing,” said offensive coordinator Buck Pierce earlier this week. “You have to have a feel for it, you have to have a mindset for it, you have to thrive in it, you’ve got to enjoy that kind of stuff. I thought he did a good job (in the Banjo Bowl) and the guys rallied around him as well. What you want is consistency. If the new guy has to overtake those roles, especially at the quarterback position, you don’t want it to be a complete change. ‘Hey, this guy does it this way, he’s this way.’ It was good for him to be able to get in there and execute along with the other 11 guys on that opportunity.”

Wilson hasn’t thrown a pass in a game situation since the preseason but feels he is light years ahead of where he was back in May after months of practice and film study.

“Once you know what you’re going to see you just react,” he said. “You don’t have to go out there and guess and think about anything; just go out there and play ball and do what we do, be comfortable, rely on your technique, rely on your teammates and that they’ll do what they’re supposed to do and once it clicks, you know it. I’m excited.

“This is football. This is what we love to do. This is what we signed up for, so you’ve got to take pride in making plays and showing people what you’re capable of.”

The Last Word:

“We obviously didn’t start the way we wanted to start but we’re getting hot at the right time. And I really don’t think we’re still playing our best football on the offensive side of the football. Our defence is playing lights out and special teams is doing an incredible job but that with the skill and star power we have on this offence I still don’t think we’re seeing everyone come together for an entire 60 minutes so I still think there’s room for us to heat up at the right time.” — Brady Oliveira.