For Bomber fans there certainly will be mixed emptions when the Grey Cup champs, Toronto comes to town on Friday. Yes, I know that is a bit of a bad taste in Bomber fan’s mouths reading that sentence. We already know that Andrew Harris has been placed on the 6 Game Injured List and will not suit up on Friday. Will he be in attendance? I am not sure.
But we also know that Toronto did rest A.J. Oueellette, their featured running back on Saturday and will be resting other players on some type of rotation as they have secured the Eastern Final. The Bombers, for their part, have secured a home playoff game…we just do not know if t will be the Western Semi-Final or the Western Final.
Watching the Toronto/Hamilton game, Hamilton had chances to win…they simply seemed uninspired. As as we know from past Bomber years it is really hard for a team to keep the intensity up after solidifying their spot in the playoffs – be that first, second, or third place.
At that point the game is not pointless, but they can not move in the standing…and that is where Toronto is right now. So can Toronto keep the intensity up with ‘nothing to play for’? I am not convinced.
With BC’s win last Saturday night over Edmonton, BC has now tied Winnipeg’s record of 10-4. With 4 games each remaining, the Friday October 6 game in BC will be huge as it will give the winner the season series. That means whichever team loses that game will need to win 2 more games than the other team in the last 4 games.
That count starts next week. So if Winnipeg were to beat BC on October 6, BC would have already played one of their last 4 games on September 29 (vs. Saskatchewan), and BC would need to win 2 more (in their final 4 games) than Winnipeg.
Not clear? Try this. If Winnipeg and BC played each other in the next game, the loser would need to win 2 more of their last 3 games than the winner of BC & Winnipeg to take first place.
As a result, should Winnipeg win at home vs Toronto (who may be resting some players) and also win in BC the following week, BC would have to win 3 of their remaining 4 games and Winnipeg would have to lose their last 2 games for Winnipeg not to secure the Western Final.
While the Bombers may not look at Toronto as their friend (after losing to them in the 2023 Grey Cup), and may or may not view Andrew Harris as a friend, the Bombers may get some help from them as they rest their starters.
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