Getting Ready For The 'Peg

[Blitz]

Getting Ready For The ‘Peg

SETTING THE STAGE FOR SUNDAY

It’s autumn In Canada, the time of year which separates the winners from the wanna be’s in the CFL. The leaves on deciduous trees are a kaleidoscope of colours, outdoor stadium fields begin to look like arctic tundra, and it’s so dam cold in Winnipeg that the mosquitos and flies, which are the size of prehistoric flying dinasours have finally succumbed to the elements.

Winnipeg fans sit on icy bleachers, wearing touques, thinsulate gloves, and fleece filled winter jackets to cheer on the blue and gold, with a backdrop of memories of Leo Lewis and Kenny Ploen embedded in their long history.Mike Kelly, the controversial first year Head Coach of the Bombers, will play host with a three game winning streak. Our B.C. Lions are coming into the game as the visitors and sporting a two game winning streak. It’s a big game for both teams.

OFFENCE

Passing

The often injured Buck Pierce will lead our Leos again. Pierce is coming off two effective games as our starting quarterback. His quarterback efficiency has improved to 82, just two below the presently injured Jarious Jackson and comes into the game as a more confident and dangerous quarterback than he has been for the past two seasons. Lulay and Printers will back up Pierce for this game.

His counterpart, Bombers Michael Bishop, only has a 54% completion average but that stat can be deceiving in that he can be very dangerous, especially on the rollout or when given time and he has big strike capability with his strong arm.

Rushing

Our Leos impressive rookie Martel Mallett will not make the trip to the Bombers frozen tundra. Instead A. J. Harris will get his first start for our Leos while recently signed Lee will see some reps. The recipe for success for opposition teams has been to shut down our running game and then crowd or jump Pierce’s penchant for throwing the underneath short passing routes. However, our Leos passing attack, with Buck going downfield more and our receivers starting to make big plays makes this strategy less effective. Still, we need to run the football effectively in Winnipeg to take the heat off the pass rush and give Pierce time to throw.

For the Bombers Fred Reid is nicked but is going to play. Reid has rushed for over 1100 yards this season, has a 6 yard rushing average, and made our Leos defense look like a junior high collection of misfits last time we tried to shut him down. Reid will be complimented by Yvenson Bernard, who brings a 7 yard rushing average into this game and gives the Bombers a one-two punch.

Receiving

For most of this season Paris Jackson has been a bright spot in a receiving corps that has only provided an average performance. However, recently that has changed. Geroy Simon, now our leading receiver in terms of yardage, has had some big games and is proving that he is ever dangerous. Paris Jackson returns to his slotback position to give us a double inside threat. Our young rookie Emmanuel Arceneaux has 51 catches and is proving that he has the potential to become a big time CFL receiver.

Once you get past these three Leo receivers there is a big drop off in Wilson and Gryce Mullen but our Leos appear ready to give Bumpus a chance to prove himself by inserting him into the lineup.

For the Bombers Adarius Bowman is a huge target as Winnipeg’s leading receiver. Terrence Edwards is also a very solid receiver and Brock Ralph brings speed to the Bomber’s receiving lineup.

DEFENSE

Our Leos were embarrassed last game in their feeble attempts to shut down the Bombers rushing game. However, there have been changes to our defense since then. Armour has solidified our defense and will be keying on Reid and Bernard and the addition of Williams, at tackle, to compliment Aaron Hunt has also payed dividends.

Our Leos pass rush, led by Ricky Foley, who has had an impressive first season as a starter, will need to keep the heat on Michael Bishop. The ability to insert both and Gibbs will provide a rotation to keep our defensive line fresh.

Korey Banks has really stepped up his game on pass defense and is having an outstanding season. Ryan Philipps joins Banks as a defensive ball hawk who is dangerous to throw against. Our Leos pass defense is really starting to play well at a key time of the season. Barrin Miles is starting to play like he knows it’s his last season and performing with a strong sense of desperation and intensity to go along with his smarts.

For the Bombers, their defensive line gets to the quarterback by committee, with Dorion Smith, Gavin Walls, and Fred Perry sharing the hurt so far this season. The disgruntled Barrin Simpson will solidify the Winnipeg focus on shutting down our Leos running attack. Lenny Walls and Siddeeq Shabbazz are ball hawks in the Bombers secondary.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Paul McCallum plays his second game for our Leos. He is usually deadly inside of 40 yards but lacks long range abilities. McCallum needs to improve his punting in this game, where field position will play an even more important factor in the prairie cold. A big special teams return by Gryce-Mullen would be a real boost in this game.

The Bombers Alexis Serna has made 85% of his field goal attempts this season and also has long range ability, with a 54 yard shot through the goal posts. Jovon Johnson retuns punts effectively with just under a 9 point return average.

KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Shut down the Winnipeg running attack. Forcing the Bombers to pass to win puts them at a disadvantage.

2. Keep Bishop in the pocket. Michael Bishop is most effective when he can get outside and buy time. He also can make big plays that way.

3. Be aggressive offensively. Buck has been successful in his last two games because he has gotten away from dink and dunk. We need to continue to threaten downfiel. If we get a lead we need to continue to be aggressive and not become conservativve and predictable.

[WestCoastJoe]

Good synopsis, Blitz.

Here are some of my opinions.

O Line

I like the way this group has settled in. Heerspink is unspectacular but solid at left tackle, pretty much what you want. Jimenez is back at right tackle. Dean Valli seems to be mostly over his rookie nerves.

RBs

Mallett out. A.J. Harris in. Good time for Mallett to rest up. Harris should be effective in his place.

Receivers

Geroy getting into his stride late in the season. PJ back from IR. AA playing with the injured hand. These 3 are great contributors to our offence. We need more from Wilson and RGM.

QB

Buck has played very, very well now for 2 games. Keep it up, Buck. And stay healthy.

D Line

Steve Williams has firmed up the middle of the D Line. Hunt, Johnson and Foley have played well most of the year, IMO.

LBs

Much better now with Armour settling in as MLB. McKenzie on the outside is also settling in. It looks like Glatt will get lots of playing time at outside LB vs the Bombers.

DBs

A very talented group. Toney shows a lot of athleticism and skill. Just a rookie. I would say he has a very promising future. Halfback or corner.

STs

McCallum should be very valuable now as the weather cools and playoffs approach.

Coaching

Trying some new wrinkles, a bit more aggressive in their schemes. The team has improved greatly as the year has gone on. Wally's patience and perseverence are paying some dividends.
...............

Should be a very good game vs the Peg. For me, the biggest key, and the most interesting, is to see how we do against the Bombers' running game, which devastated us last time. We should be much better this time around.

[Rammer]

If the Lions force the Bombers to throw, our veteran DB's should be able to confuse and take advantage of Bishop. So to simplify the game strategy is to stuff the Bombers running game with our front 7, and get a helmet on Reid as he is tender and Bernard is a pretty good 'I' backup, but does put the ball on the ground.

[ziggy]

If the Lions force the Bombers to throw, our veteran DB's should be able to confuse and take advantage of Bishop. So to simplify the game strategy is to stuff the Bombers running game with our front 7, and get a helmet on Reid as he is tender and Bernard is a pretty good 'I' backup, but does put the ball on the ground.

I might be out to lunch on this but I really don't have a lot of confidence in outr DB's. Whenever the opposition needs a big play it seems to be there. Hope your right Rammer, I'd be happy to be wrong on this but I can't shake my belief that we play pretty loose back there.

[zark]

Thanks Blitz...always a good read
Explain schults vs the world
it was always sort of though that the Blue Bombers were a quarterback away from being competitive each and every week. Well, Michael Bishop has improved and that previous thought has turned into a reality. The other individual player that has really made an impact for the Bombers is wide receiver Adarius Bowman. The five plays he made in the game against the Ticats on Monday just did not happen a month ago. Because of Bowman's height, 6'4", and length of arms, Bishop does not have to make as accurate of a pass as would to a 5'10" or 5'9" receiver. This is going to be a good game. The Lions are only two points out of first place, but the Bombers are really starting to believe in themselves. The Lions are a dome team that are suiting up in Winnipeg in mid-October. B.C. 29, Winnipeg 30
C'mon...????
Buck is back and some one introduced him to Geroy....Bombers and Bishop can take a big long suck on my ....what a stupid prediction.

[pennw]

The Lions are a dome team that are suiting up in Winnipeg in mid-October. B.C. 29, Winnipeg 30

If I recall Edmonton is a somewhat cold place too ,and if I recall correctly our guys looked pretty good over there last week even though the EE are supposed to have the big advantage on their own turf in the cold . Seems our guys looked even better than the EE until they got conservative in those frozen conditions . This topic comes up every year and our guys always handle the weather no problem . I too think if they can shut down the Bomber running game they BC wins .

[PigSkin_53]

Our defensive stats have changed marginally from the last game in Edmonton, but before that game this is the way our run stopping game abilities broke down…

Rush Yards allowed / game - 147.4 - last in the league
Average gain allowed / rush - 6.6 - 7th
Rushing 1st downs allowed - 102 - last
Rushing touchdowns allowed - 16 - last

Obviously the Bombers are in receipt of this knowledge too and our tendencies to be week at stopping the run at the line, at line backer position, and also weak at tackling (approaching out of control, wiffing on 1st attempts altogether, arm tackling, lauching stops ect.) in the secondary.

Notably Reid is banged up and tender with a hip flexor injury for the game Sunday, but they have two other capable backs in Daryl Stephenson (6-2" 232) and Yvenson Bernard (5-9" 207)

Unless these glaring shortcomings on the Leos defense have been addressed by game time, second-and-short and second-and-medium will be a gimme.

Add YAC to that and we all will be in for a very, very long day gentlemen.

[Belize City Lion]

if the Lions can force Bishop to throw, I expect a big game from Banks. He seems to be one of those guys you don't always notice in July or August, but come crunch time he can really step up his game. BP and Geroy have had a great couple of weeks, but I think our defense will win this one tomorrow.

[Toppy Vann]

The Lions defence needs a strong offensive performance to help but it seems they like the offence are getting better and at times they have been victimized earlier in the season by the DC's schemes. My "boy hero" - assuming that tighthead means the Lions QB - has been getting better and attributes some of this new success to the better mix of play calls. The good thing is my boy hero has always taken responsibility for his play and if anything has often been heard in the media taking more of the blame that he should have.

They still might need to find some better LBing somehow. MB has proven that he can make adjustments to run stopping but I think the Lions talent at LBing is not where it could be to be challenge for no. 1. It isn't bad and is good enough to win which is pretty much what has been the case with the offence. The Lions no longer have oodles of talent at every spot which is understandable with the tight SMS.

My other concern for this game will be Lions discipline. Based on what Ricky Foley and Paris Jackson are saying they are harboring a lot of ill-will as Doug Brown broke "the code." Let's hope this is not a team feeling as that is a precursor to bad penalties. Actually I think PJ and RF broke team discipline as I thought they were supposed to close that event down and move on- not be doing interviews on it. The last thing the Lions need to do is take undisciplined penalties so look to referees to be trigger happy with flags.

[Rodu]

We need a big game from McCallum punting the ball. Winnipeg has lost their punter to injury, and Serna the kicker is taking those duties. He didn't do a very good job of it last year

[hwgill]

Doug Brown "broke the code"? What does that mean? What did he do that has Foley aall upset?

Forget it, took a look at the papers, and now I know.

That should have died a long time ago. I don't know why they're bringing it up again.

[Disturber]

I fear McCallum will be our weakest link this afternoon. I hope I'm wrong and that his punts are deep and accurate.