The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a massive game coming up this weekend at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. 680 CJOB’s coverage with Bob Irving and Doug Brown starts at 4 p.m Saturday with the pre-game show, and then the play-by-play at 6 p.m.
Here are a few helpful suggestions from bluebombers.com Director of Digital Content, Ed Tait to get you “game ready.”
FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Bombers head to Edmonton for the first time this year. They will return in early November for their final regular-season contest —
in what will be a critical west division showdown. Winnipeg trails Edmonton by two points in the standings and also lost the first meeting this season 33-30 back in their home opener. In other words, the Bombers need this one not just to tie the Eskimos, but to have a shot at winning the tiebreaker. The Bombers are coming off a win over Montreal last week, while the Esks fell to Ottawa in the nation’s capital. - Saturday’s match-up is a showdown between two of the Canadian Football League’s offences. The Bombers rank second to Calgary
in average points per game at 30.5 while the Esks are third at 28.3. Interesting stat from an Edmonton perspective: they have scored
42 touchdowns this year, all of them on offence. They are the only team in the CFL without at least one defensive or special-teams touchdown. - The key to stopping the Eskimos is limiting the damage done by quarterback Mike Reilly, the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Player.
Reilly leads the CFL in passing yards and TD passes with 27 — 17 of which have covered 20 yards or more. Edmonton leads the CFL
in passing, with an average of just under 326 yards per game. The Bombers counter with a balanced attack of their own — Winnipeg
leads the league in rushing, and is sixth through the air. - Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton has forever been a nasty place for the Bombers, but they have won their last two visits there —
28-19 last Sept. 30 and 30-23 back on July 28, 2016, in what was Matt Nichols first game as the club’s starter after replacing Drew Willy. Nichols is 3-3 in games versus the Eskimos, the team that traded him here, including last November’s playoff loss. - The Bombers practice week began with Andrew Harris, Darvin Adams and Nic Demski all not on the field and instead nursing an assortment of bumps and bruises. All three players have exactly 44 receptions to lead the club, while Harris is second to Ottawa’s William Powell in the race for the rushing crown. Both Harris and Adams were back practising on Wednesday, with Demski expected to be a game-time decision.
NOTABLE:
The CFL and NFL are partnering for a second year on a joint Flag Football program that will host regional tournaments in each of the nine CFL cities, with a tenth tournament added in 2018 to take place in Atlantic Canada.
The first-place teams from each regional tournament will win an all-expenses paid trip to the CFL-NFL Flag National tournament during Grey Cup week in Edmonton for a chance at the CFL-NFL Flag Championship.
The winning team will also earn an all-expenses paid trip to the NFL’s Flag tournament during Pro Bowl week.
The Winnipeg regional tournament goes Oct. 21, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and deadline for entry is Oct. 15.
To register, contact Mike Watson at mwatson@bluebombers.com.
NEXT:
The Bombers continue their road show next week in Ottawa, facing the Redblacks on Oct. 5. The team is back home again on Saturday, Oct. 13 against the Saskatchewan Roughriders with a 1 p.m. start. For tickets, call 204-784-7448 or visit bluebombers.com/tickets.
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