Kickoff: Friday, September 27th, 7 p.m. CDT; Princess Auto Stadium
TV/Streaming: TSN 1/5, CBS Sports Network; CFL+
Radio: 680 CJOB
Streaks: Wpg: 6W; Edm: 1L
Road/Home: The Blue Bombers are 5-2 at home, having won five straight at Princess Auto Stadium after dropping their first two of the season; the Elks are 3-4 on the road this season.
Game theme: Orange Shirt Game. For more details on the meaning of this game:
“This is an act of reconciliation and is something that brings healing to our lives.”
Scene Setter
It’s one of the toughest asks in the Canadian Football League — turning a double-play against the same opponent with back-to-back wins — and especially so if those victories come during the urgency of the second half of the season.
Well, here are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers prepping to host the Edmonton Elks Friday night at Princess Auto Stadium for the second of a home-and-home series with their division rivals and a chance to sweep the two games.
If they can convert, they would go a perfect 6-0 in back-to-backs this season after turning the double against the B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders in August and then September.
Even more impressive in the big picture is this: dating back to 2016 the Blue Bombers are 29-12 in their 21 back-to-backs with opponents and have nine sweeps — this current matchup with the Elks still to be determined — while being swept only once, by the Roughriders back in 2018.
The evidence:
2024: B.C.: WW; Sask.: WW; Edm.: W?
2023: Sask.: LW
2022: Ott.: WW; Mtl.: WL; Sask.: WW; B.C.: LW
2021: Tor.: WL; Sask.: WW; Edm.: WW; Mtl.: WL
2019: Sask.: LW; Cal.: LW
2018: B.C.: WL; Tor.: WW; Sask.: LL
2017: Sask.: LW
2016: Sask.: WW; B.C.: WW; Ott: LW
Clearly those superb numbers are part of why the Blue Bombers are on such an impressive run over the last few years and with a chance to clinch an eighth straight playoff appearance with a win against the Elks.
It’s also worth putting that 29-12 record in back-to-backs over the last eight years into perspective — in the eight seasons before that, 2008-15, the Blue Bombers were a grotesque 8-30 in double-headers.
Ouch.
Nic Demski
“Honestly, I love back-to-back games,” said receiver Nic Demski in a chat with bluebombers.com this week. “It’s tough to win both, but that’s the exciting part of the CFL — you get these challenges to win.”
The challenge to win now for the Blue Bombers is part of the chess match of football, as they expect a counterpunch from the Elks after last week’s win — a game that was tied 10-10 in the fourth quarter before Winnipeg cranked out a 27-14 decision.
“It’s funny… the first time you play them you over-prep in a way and then you save some of the bullets for the next game,” Demski explained. “Obviously there’s a lot of carry-over from stuff you thought will work, but you also have some plays that maybe didn’t work against them, or you did run but you want to tweak to make it better.
“There’s definitely some new stuff but there’s also some stuff we think is going to work against them that we’re saving for a rainy day, if you will. Again, though, this is why I like these back-to-backs, and this is why I love football. This part is the most fun. Obviously, you get frustrated in a game sometimes when something doesn’t work. But when you get a second chance after making adjustments it’s cool to get out there and make it work.
“We’ve got a good gameplan coming up so we’re just excited to get out there and run our stuff and do our damage.
THE DEPTH CHART
The Blue Bombers have made two changes to the depth chart this week. On are LB Brian Cole and DT Devin Adams; off are LB Kyrie Wilson and OL Kendall Randolph.
Wilson has been moved to the six-game injured list, joining LB Adam Bighill, FB Bailey Feltmate, DT Cam Lawson, DB Jamal Parker, WR Dalton Schoen, QB Chris Streveler, OL Gabe Wallace and WR Drew Wolitarsky. DTs Miles Fox and Kyle Samson are on the one-game injured list with Randolph moved to the practice roster.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
1. THE FORD vs. MBT DECISION
The Elks have flip-flopped their starting QBs again this week, turning back to McLeod Bethel-Thompson after giving Tre Ford the start in last week’s loss to Winnipeg. Bethel-Thompson is 3-8 in starts this year for Edmonton, 27-31 overall in his career and 1-3 lifetime vs. the Blue Bombers.
And you couldn’t have two quarterbacks more stylistically different.
Blue Bombers defensive coordinator Jordan Younger
“With Ford there’s a lot of off-schedule plays you’ve got to be concerned about that you have to have answers for built into your defence,” said Blue Bombers defensive coordinator Jordan Younger, who put together a brilliant scheme for last week’s win. “And with Bethel-Thompson maybe you don’t have the same type of off-schedule type plays but his experience, his awareness, his ability to anticipate coverage and break down coverage is a little bit different. The timing of the game changes. There are probably some aspects of the play-action game that they can build off their run game that Bethel-Thompson can execute a little differently than maybe Ford can.
“We’ve got to be able to mix it up and give him some differently looks.”
2. THE RACE IS STILL ON
One of the wackiest races for playoff spots followed the form chart last week with Winnipeg and Saskatchewan knocking off division opponents below them in the standings in Edmonton and Calgary, respectively.
Still seldom this season has any week gone according to scrip out here in the wild, wild west.
A win for the Blue Bombers would lock up a playoff spot for an eighth straight season, although no one seems to be talking about that in Bomberland.
Blue Bombers QB Zach Collaros in last week’s win over Edmonton
In any case, here’s a look at the remaining games for each of the five West Division squads:
Blue Bombers: 8-6
Remaining games: 4
Home (2): September 27th vs. Edmonton; October 11th vs. Toronto
Away (2): October 4th at Hamilton; October 26th at Montreal
Lions: 7-7
Remaining games: 4
Home (3): September 27th vs. Hamilton; October 4th vs. Calgary; October 19th vs. Montreal
Away (1): October 12th at Saskatchewan
Roughriders: 6-7-1
Remaining games: 4
Home (3): September 28th vs. Ottawa; October 12th vs. B.C.; October 26th vs. Calgary
Away (1): October 5th at Edmonton
Elks: 5-9
Remaining games: 4
Home (2): October 5th vs. Saskatchewan; October 25th vs. Toronto
Away (2): September 27th at Winnipeg; October 12th at Calgary
Stampeders: 4-9-1
Remaining games: 4
Home (1): October 12th vs. Edmonton
Away (3): October 4th at B.C.; October 18th at Hamilton; October 26th at Saskatchewan
3. FINDING SOME MAGIC ON ‘O’
The Blue Bombers were stuck severely in the mud in the first half of last week’s win over the Elks, leading only 3-zip at the intermission despite the defence repeatedly gifting them the ball with turnovers.
Yet in the second half the offence came alive with 24 points and three touchdowns — a Zach Collaros-to-Pokey Wilson score through the air and two Brady Oliveira rushes along the ground. That 24-point second half outburst is more than the Blue Bombers have scored in six games this season and exceeds the league-low 21.4 points the attack has averaged all season.
So maybe, just maybe, the second half of last week can spark something?
Blue Bombers offensive coordinator Buck Pierce
“It’s just consistency and execution. We’ve been battling that all year a little bit,” said offensive coordinator Buck Pierce earlier this week. “We need to start playing at a level that’s consistent and is at that high level. The good teams that are going to win at this time of year, you’ve got to do that more consistently. It’s still the same focus we’ve had throughout the course of the year. We need to ramp that part up. We need to play physical and more consistent and more mistake-free football. The good teams that do that, they win.”
The Last Word:
“The milestone that was reached is a big accomplishment and something I strive for, but I’m surrounded by such amazing people I get to work with every single day. The coaches put us in positions to be successful and my offensive line, they come to work every day and work their butt off. They’re a really great unit that allows me to get to the second level and allows me to get explosive runs.
“We’ve just been grinding out these thousand-yard seasons and it’s the same faces, pretty much, on the O-line and I owe it all to them… and also the receivers on the outside who are blocking downfield to allow me to get past that second level.
“I love my team. I really love this team and appreciate the work they put in.” — RB Brady Oliveira on reaching the 1,000-yard rushing mark for a third straight season last week.