Coming fresh off a win against Calgary, Winnipeg will face its next test against a familiar foe in Hamilton.
This one has the makings for a great game right off the get go! First of all, you have Collaros vs Mitchell - always an entertaining matchup. Adding to that will be the battle of the receivers. Kenny Lawler (for Hamilton) signed a massive contract extension. Meanwhile, the Bombers brought in White who is already showing his worth. But it will not be a walk in the park for the Bombers, and here are some key areas that they will have to do well in to get the "W".
3 Things To Watch For
1) Quarterbacks
For me, this game does not come down to which quarterback makes the most plays, or passes for the most yards. Rather, it is which quarterback makes the least amount of mistakes that result in the least amount of damage. Both Collaros and Mitchell are gun slingers. They are going to go out there, forget about the last play....and toss it up again, and again. While that is a ton of fun to watch, when it does not work it is problematic. Collaros played some of his best football when he was disparagingly called a "game manager." On the other hand, Mitchell plays his best football when is is not a game manager.
So Collaros is going to have to find a way to manage the game while at the same time stretching the field. As for Mitchell, he is going to need to continue to air out the ball and hope his players can make big time catch after big time catch. Because here is the thing about the Bombers, their defence will allow some big shots down the field.
2) Ground Game
Hamilton did not have a great ground game against Montreal - and that would be putting it mildly!
In case you cannot see the decimal points, that is not an average of 29, 15, and 25 yards. Rather, it is 2.9, 1.5, and 2.5 yards average. To say that is 'bad' is an understatement. That is down right terrible. If Hamilton does not get their running game going then it will only make things easier for Jefferson and Ceresna...not something Mitchell wants to see.
On the other hand, Winnipeg had a really good ground game last week.
If Calgary is going to hang in this one they either need to go up big early (to talk Winnipeg out of the ground game), or they need to find a run game of their own.
3) Getting After The Quarterback
I am going to go out and say that Hamilton comes up short against the Bombers. That is not to say that I expect Collaros to have a walk in the park. Nor do I expect him to be able to stand back their, make a proverbial sandwich and eat it. I simply cannot discount Hamilton that much. What I can say is that I think Winnipeg will do a much better job getting after Mitchell than Hamilton will do against Collaros.
Why? Jake Ceresna, that is why! Surely some will say, 'What about Willie Jefferson?' My comment to that is this; Ceresna allows Jefferson to play to his own strengths. I think it would be foolish to say, 'Ceresna makes Jefferson better.' That is a massive slight to Jefferson. However, with Ceresna and Jefferson in the lineup one of them will get double teamed and open spots for the other one. Ceresna is already on a personal record pace for sacks.
Final Thoughts
I have listed these as key areas for the Bombers if they are going to win. I can hear/read it already from some, "Of course the Bombers need to do well in those areas to win...very insightful" - add sarcasm emoji. Cool. You could go that route, but in the CFL there are many different ways to get a win. It is not always pretty. It is not always having your key components step up - while that sure makes it easier, the CFL is a wild game where anyone can win within 2 minutes remaining.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this. Catch all my articles here.