There are a couple of rivalries in the CFL; Edmonton and Calgary, Toronto and Hamilton, and Winnipeg vs Saskatchewan.

Sorry, no matter how hard TSN tries to market the BC vs Montreal game, that’s not a rivalry game.

What makes the Bomber vs Rider Labour Day Classic so exciting. Here it is; throw out the standing each and every year…they just don’t matter. When these 2 teams play each other the standings are completely irrelevant! The players come to play and the fans for both teams show up in true form.

And do you know what the absolute beauty of the thing is? They will do it all over again a week later!

This year we get the added bonus that these games absolutely matter in the standings for both teams. Saskatchewan is trying to hold on to first place and will need the win to do it. Winnipeg is looking to get into first place, and a win for them will out them there…for at least this one week.

These teams met up in Week 7 with Saskatchewan dropping the Bombers 19-9. But man, the season sure feels different in Week 13. Trevor Harris is back at quarterback for Saskatchewan; and as for Winnipeg they have been finding ways to win.

While Winnipeg has a number of guys labeled as “questionable” it is my belief that Bryant will be playing.

Since I am away on a well needed vacation with my family, I doubt I will have the depth charts before this goes to publication.

This is going to be a very important game for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to win. Not only do they need it for the standings, but right now Hamilton is floundering and you do not want to lose to a team that is all out of sorts.

Here is what Hamilton is up against internally.
They fired their Defensive Coordinator and have brought in Chris Jones to fill that role…he has been there less than a week. Hamilton moved on from Bo Levi Mitchell and gave the reins to Powell. However, Powell got injured and Bo is back as the starting quarterback.

As for Winnipeg, Bighill is moved, once again on to the 6 game injured list. On that list includes: FB Michael Chris-Ike, LB Brian Cole, DT Miles Fox, DT Cameron Lawson, OL Patrick Neufeld, LB Lucky Ogbevoen, DB Jamal Parker, WR Dalton Schoen, LB Kyrie Wilson and WR Drew Wolitarsky; some big names still missing games!

For a second week in a row we will see Lucky Whitehead return kicks and take some reps in at slot back, rotating in for Johnson.

How Do The Bombers Feel Ahead of The Game – Source

“Right now for us it’s like we said, ‘Enough is enough. We’re not going to take this any more” – Lawler

“We’ve done enough to keep us in a good spot,” said centre Chris Kolankowski. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but it’s not like it’s an insurmountable challenge. We can accomplish it, we just have to finish strong and play like we have for the last handful of games”

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The Recipe For Success
For the Bombers to win they need to play a solid all around game! Here is what I believe they need to do to win:

• Get to Harris early and often – in past years Harris has shown that he can be rattled
• Cover well down field – make Harris throw bad passes
• Make him just average; not super – limit Alford’s returns
• Take the rider fans out of it – while Mosaic can be loudish; they are having troubles drawing fans. This game is a sellout thanks to Bomber fans!
• Protect Zach – Saskatchewan will look to bring the heat and had a hit earlier this season that was suspect on Zach…sorry, I do not respect Saskatchewan and do not put it past them to play dirty. There I said it, no sugar coating it!

• Win the turnover battle
• Stay away from dummy penalties –Let Saskatchewan take them and evjoy the satisfaction of winning the game
• Keep the Bomber D rolling

If the Bombers do even most of those things it should be a great night for a Bomber win! However, if they do not use the above recipe, they just may get cooked and burnt by a sub-par Hamilton team.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this.

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