GAME 1 | EDMONTON ESKIMOS at WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
THE 4-1-1
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Investors Group Field
TV: TSN, RDS2, ESPN2
Radio: CJOB
Vegas line: The Eskimos are favoured by six points.
Pre-season: Winnipeg: 1-1; Edmonton: 1-1
Home/Road: The Bombers were 6-3 at home last year, tied for second with Toronto and Edmonton behind the Stampeders, who were 7-2 at McMahon Stadium. Edmonton was 6-3 on the road.
Recent history: The Bombers knocked off a pre-season squad dressed up as Eskimos in their first dress rehearsal, but those games mean diddly squat. The last meaningful game between these two franchises was the West Semi-Final last November, a game in which the Esks emerged with a 39-32 decision. Winnipeg won both regular season match-ups, 33-26 back on August 17 at IGF and then 28-19 on September 30 in Edmonton.
Game day weather forecast: Environment Canada is calling for a mix of sun and cloud with a daytime high of 26C. There is a 60 percent chance of showers in the evening.
Notable: This game is the season opener for the CFL. Canadian country duo The Reklaws will perform at halftime as part of a concert series this season.
3 STORYLINES
1. THE KID vs. THE GUNSLINGER
The CFL’s 2018 curtain raiser would have been billed as a battle of marquee quarterbacks just over a week ago, with Winnipeg’s Matt Nichols scheduled to duel old friend Mike Reilly of the Eskimos. That changed when Nichols went down in a non-contact play during Bombers practice with a knee injury that has landed him on the injured list.
Reilly will still take the first snap from centre for the Eskimos and the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player is a dominant, gritty, two-way threat who can eviscerate defences. He has a career record of 45-33 as a starter and is 7-3 lifetime vs. the Bombers.
Winnipeg counters with rookie Chris Streveler, the promising prospect who this time last year was a university student at South Dakota. He’ll be the first straight-from-college QB to start Week 1 for a team in this league since Anthony Calvillo for the now-defunct Las Vegas Posse in 1994.
“He looks good,” said Bombers all-star receiver Darvin Adams. “What I told him (Monday) when he walked into the huddle: ‘Have confidence and play football.’ That’s what he’s going to do. That’s what we say all the time… it’s best to be yourself because that’s why you’re here.”
Still, consider this: Reilly has more CFL starts to his name (78) than the number of days (39) Streveler has been a pro.
Hello.
“You know what, though,” countered Bombers right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick. “He’s got a little spunk to him. He knows the offence well. He’s got some exciting things he can do. He’s going to fit in well and we’re going to take care of him. We want to take as much pressure off him as we can and just let him do his job. He’s done great. He’s come into the huddle and not tried to do too much. He’s just doing his job, being the quarterback.
“It’s gotta be fun being the quarterback with a decent O-line, all these receivers and an all-star running back. It could be like playing Madden if we take care of him.”
2. A BIG-TIME ADDITION
There will be arguments from Saskatchewan, where the Roughriders added QB Zach Collaros and DE Charleston Hughes, from Montreal, which added Jamaal Westerman and Henoc Muamba, but it says right here no team filled a more glaring need in free agency this offseason than the Bombers when they added all-star linebacker Adam Bighill.
It’s not just that Bighill is a difference maker on the field, he was dubbed the defence’s ‘field general’ by all-star cornerback Chris Randle less than a week after he had pulled on Bomber colours. He’s a playmaker, leader, and master communicator who wills a defence to be better.
And the Bombers could use a bit of all that.
“Obviously, it’s exciting to make a debut with a new team, in a new locker room of teammates and friends in a new city with great fans,” said Bighill this week. “It’s going to be exciting. The first day I put on the blue… I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t weird. It’s obviously grown on me. I love it, I love being here and I love the people I’m around. I’m just excited to get out there and see what the homefield advantage is like.”
The Bombers defensive changes don’t stop there. In addition to Bighill, the club added defensive end Craig Roh, halfback Anthony Gaitor, and linebacker Chandler Fenner – all ex B.C. Lions – and have two new defensive assistant coaches in Jordan Younger and James Stanley, while Glen Young is now the front seven coach.
“We’ve got a bunch of great athletes that are working well together,” Bighill said. “We’ve got guys that have unique skill sets. We’ve got guys who play extremely hard and we have guys who are proven to take the ball away. That’s one of the most important parts of being a great defence: taking the ball away and we have those kinds of pieces and those kind of things that, at the end of the day, you look for in a defence.”
3. PROTECT THY TURF
The Bombers hardly made Investors Group Field a scary place for opponents from the moment the doors swung open at the place in 2013, going an abysmal 7-23 in the first 30 games played there. But since August of 2016, the Bombers are 10-5 at IGF and that’s the kind of homefield advantage most CFL teams covet.
Winnipeg enters Week 1 a six-point underdog, and even before the injury to Nichols, hasn’t been getting a lot of love from national media.
“That’s all the time with us, though,” said Darvin Adams with a shrug. “Nobody knows what’s really going on here on the inside but us. We try to knock that noise away and show it on the field. Nothing’s changed. All these guys in here wouldn’t be here unless the coaches had faith in them.”
Winning or losing a home opener hardly decides a season, but it can help define one and the Bombers could send a serious message if they were to knock off a powerhouse Eskimo squad with a rookie QB at the controls.
“I’m so excited for this I don’t know if I can even put it into words,” said Jermarcus Hardrick. “It’s essentially the same group of guys, the same coaches, the same family aspect. I’ll never take something like this for granted, to be able to come out and play in front of Bomber fans.
“This feels like home for me. I can’t put a comfort blanket on, but it’s like home. The vibe here is just different than anything I’ve been around before. It’s created from the top, from the coaches, on down. It doesn’t feel like work.
“I’m just so excited to get here every day to be around these guys.”
3 BOMBERS TO WATCH
#17 Chris Streveler, QB: Football fans in this town have been lamenting the organization’s inability to develop a QB prospect for eons. Streveler will attempt to keep the seat warm until Nichols returns, but there’s always an interest when a new QB steps into the huddle.
#4 Adam Bighill, LB: He’s a four-time CFL All-Star and past winner of the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award. Bomber fans wanted a ‘thumper’ patrolling the middle of their defence and Bighill more than fits that role.
#22 Chandler Fenner, linebacker: One of the underrated free agent signings in the CFL this past winter. He’s got the skills to move up and attack against the run and drop back into pass coverage.
X FACTOR
#12 Adarius Bowman, receiver: Returns to the Bombers after posting some stellar numbers during his days with the Eskimos. Injuries limited him to 12 games a year ago, but the Bombers are convinced his still got a lot of fuel in his tank.
In a national media call this week, Bowman was asked if he was looking at 2018 as a season for vindication.
“Definitely last year wasn’t up to my standards,” said Bowman, who had 45 catches for 534 yards and five touchdowns. “I think everybody is having those talks because I have set myself to a high standard throughout the years.
“For me, it’s the same preparation. Different place, same guy. I’m approaching the game the same and I’m going in to be the best this season.”
MISC.
- The 2018 season opener between the Bombers and Esks will be the earliest in league history by one day – the previous record was a game on June 15, 2004 between Saskatchewan and Toronto (21-10 Argos).
- Both Winnipeg and Edmonton are 5-5 in their last 10 season openers; the Bombers are 3-1 in their last four season debuts.
- Adarius Bowman needs 13 receiving yards to pass James Murphy for 27th place on the CFL’s all-time receiving yardage list.
