For the second straight year, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been so dominant that they’ve locked up first place and the right to host the West Final a month before the start of the playoffs.
Get your head around that.
The Bombers tied a franchise record by improving to 14-2 with a 48-11 crushing of the seemingly disinterested Edmonton Elks on Saturday night.
They will host the West Final against either the B.C. Lions or Calgary Stampeders (both 10-5) on Nov. 13 and are a win away from getting to the Grey Cup (Nov. 20 in Regina) for the third straight year.
The dream of a three-peat is very much alive in Winnipeg and the Bombers now have five weeks — with two byes — to prepare for the West Final.
There’s still a chance they can set a franchise record for wins, though their remaining two games against B.C., will mean much more to the Lions than the Bombers.
Winnipeg plays at Vancouver next Saturday and then, after a bye week, hosts B.C., at IG Field on Oct. 28. The Lions will be battling to lock up home-field advantage in the West semifinal, while the Bombers will surely be resting some starters.
Quarterback Zach Collaros, who is having his best CFL season at age 34 and is the front-runner for the most outstanding player award for the second straight year, will likely get a rest in one of the games.
Other stars may sit out as well, but with two byes over the next five weeks, including one in the playoffs, the Bombers will surely want to make sure the starters see some action as well.
Regardless, the Bombers will get to play in front of their raucous fans in the West Final once again — they beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home last year — and have a chance to establish themselves as a dynasty with two more wins.
Not since Edmonton won five straight Grey Cups between 1978 and 1982 has a team put together as many as three titles in consecutive years.
The Bombers aren’t absolute locks to do it — they’ve had a lot of injuries, they’ve looked vulnerable at times and both the Stampeders and Lions are good teams — but they’ve got a great chance and if they play anything like they did on Saturday night, they’re going to be almost impossible to beat.
Let’s look at the positives, negatives and conclusions we can draw from Saturday’s game.
THE POSITIVES
— There are usually many when a team wins by 37 points. The one that stands out the most from Saturday is the play of all three Bombers quarterbacks. Collaros threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns — giving him a league-leading and career-high 35 on the season — while backups Dakota Prukop and Dru Brown both threw touchdown passes as well. The three QBs combined to give Winnipeg 367 passing yards on the night. It must be comforting to the coaching staff, and fans of the Bombers, to know that the backups can throw darts as well. Prukop completed two passes for 61 yards and a touchdown to running back Brady Oliveira, while Brown threw a 65-yard bomb on the money to Dalton Schoen. Collaros has been brilliant this season and has thrown for a career-high 4,115 yards.
— What more can you say about rookie receiver Dalton Schoen, who is looking very much like an MOP candidate himself? Schoen caught seven more passes, for 162 yards and three touchdowns and he continues to be the most impressive rookie the CFL has seen in many years. A lock for most outstanding rookie honours in the CFL, Schoen currently leads the league with 1,275 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. His touchdown total is three better than any other player in the league, including short-yardage quarterbacks. The only thing that might temper the excitement about Schoen is the fact that he’s surely going to get an NFL opportunity next season after such a dazzling pro debut in the CFL.
— What more can you say about Winnipegger Nic Demski, who is making a case to be the CFL’s most outstanding Canadian this season? Demski caught five passes for 92 yards and a touchdown on Saturday and added 22 rushing yards on three carries. He has scored touchdowns in six straight games and has 10 in total. Despite missing four games, he’s tied for second place in receiving touchdowns and is 16th with 57 catches, 18th with 705 yards. Demski has been getting wide open, behind cover, and Collaros has been dropping dimes to him all season long.
— Running back Brady Oliveira had big shoes to fill in replacing future Hall of Famer Andrew Harris and he has done so admirably. The 25-year-old Winnipegger has shown toughness and versatility in pushing toward a 1,000-yard rushing season. On Saturday, Oliveira had 61 ground yards and a rushing touchdown and added 46 yards and another major on two catches. For the season, Oliveira has 919 rushing yards, second only to Ka’Deem Carey of the Calgary Stampeders, and has scored four touchdowns on the ground. He also has 22 catches for 243 yards and a major.
— Rookie cornerback Jamal Parker had a strong game for the Bombers while getting targeted repeatedly by Taylor Cornelius and the Elks. He had two pass knockdowns and a special teams fumble recovery, to go along with six tackles. Parker and rookie halfback Evan Holm have held their own over the last couple of games, despite being picked upon by opposing offences.
— Middle linebacker Adam Bighill had a season-high nine tackles to lead a Bombers defence that held up its end of the bargain while the Winnipeg offence was steam-rolling past the Elks. The Elks managed a total of just 261 yards and put up only 11 points.
— Kicker Marc Liegghio has been the picture of consistency lately. He made both of his field-goal attempts, from 37 and 43 yards, and booted six 32-yard converts. He also punted for an average of 49 yards and he’s been solid in both roles. Liegghio has made 28 of 32 field goal attempts this season (87.5%) — the Bombers score a lot of touchdowns so he doesn’t get as many opportunities as other kickers — and he has a punting average of 46.7 yards.
THE NEGATIVES
— It’s nit-picking, but the Bombers defensive line is not generating a ton of quarterback sacks. Star pass rusher Willie Jefferson hasn’t got to the quarterback a single time in the last three games, though he always has an impact on plays. The Bombers did get two late sacks on Saturday, one from newcomer Keion Adams and one from defensive tackle Casey Sayles. Adams got the sack despite choosing not to hit Cornelius from the blind-side, instead very gently holding him up and then easing him to the ground. Adams said he did not know Cornelius still had the ball and was trying to avoid taking a penalty for roughing the passer.
— Cornerback Winston Rose got burned for another explosion play, something that has happened to the veteran all too often this season. This time it was rookie Dillon Mitchell getting in behind Rose, who fell as he was trying to make the play. Mitchell was able to jog into the end zone for a 59-yard touchdown.
THE CONCLUSIONS
The Bombers are in an enviable position.
They are going to be able to rest players as much as they want, get some of their top players healthy and quite possibly have their optimal line-up available for the West Final.
The Bombers have been great all season, even with players like receivers Greg Ellingson and Drew Wolitarsky, defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat, weak-side linebacker Kyrie Wilson and defensive backs Nick Taylor, Demerio Houston and Brandon Alexander missing considerable time.
Imagine if they get those players back — Alexander is already back — in time for the playoff game.
A receiving corps of Schoen, Demski, Ellingson, Wolitarsky and Rasheed Bailey — with Collaros slinging them the football — would look pretty intimidating.
So would a defensive line, with Jefferson and Jeffcoat on the ends.
So would a linebacking corps with Bighill and Wilson.
It’s unclear just who might be back, and when, but with another month to get ready the Bombers are sure to add some injured players to the playoff roster.
For now, Bombers fans can dare to dream about another cold-weather West Final with the hometown house a-rocking, about representing the West in a Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, home of their arch-rivals, about celebrating a championship for the third straight season.
These are glory years indeed for a 92-year-old football club.
Twitter.com/Ted_Wyman
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