Photo Credit: Steven Chang
You can toss out any age-old cliche you wish. Yes, the goal is to simply go 1-0 this week. No, there won’t be any hardware presented to the victor. Conversely, the loser won’t and shouldn’t be eliminated from any Grey Cup handicapping hot stove chats.
But the facts are also this: with identical 11-4-0 records, the BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been on a collision course for Western supremacy since 2023 commenced and the winner of this Gravy Bowl clash (7:00 pm/TSN/CFL+/AM730) Friday will be firmly planted in the driver’s seat to host the Division Final. That seems like a long way off, but those are the scenarios. The home side appears to have the proper focus and mindset for this critical tilt.
“Winnipeg is a great team, man. We’re a great team too, we’ve got a lot of dudes over here working hard,” said Vernon Adams Jr. on the matchup.
“I heard GP (Garry Peters) talk about talking about how everyone is still doing their same routine, no one is getting complacent, so we’re working hard. We know we want this win at home to win the (season) series, so we’re doing all we can to work hard throughout the week and just trust the process.”
They put the league on notice with a dominating 30-6 win in week three at their house. Six weeks later back at IG Field, it was a 50-14 beatdown for the Bombers. Two lopsided results between two evenly matched teams. TJ Lee and the Lions won’t dwell on the last battle.
“Victimhood isn’t the neighbourhood we want to live in. We want to live in the solution hood where we find the solutions to the problems,” said the veteran Lee.
“It happened. I love the line-it-up factor in football. You have to prove yourself every time, every week. We were playing good football in June, we lost to them whenever we played them again. Now it’s Fall Ball. Who are we in the Fall? That’s what we’ve got to show.”
You can certainly argue these two teams mirror each other. Adams Jr. and Zach Collaros are atop most major passing categories in the CFL. Both teams are extremely deep at receiver with Winnipeg’s Dalton Schoen leading the league in yards while both Keon Hatcher and Alexander Hollins eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark last week.
Both squads boast opportunistic defences with the energy starting up front and filtering down through to the ball-hawking secondary. It should be a doozy and Adams Jr. and his teammates know what to expect.
“Bringing their A game, you know what I’m saying? They know how important this game is as well,” added the Lions’ quarterback.
“They’ve got all their players healthy as well, most of them. We’ve got to bring our A-plus game and that’s that.”
They all know the stakes. Going 1-0 this week will pay massive dividends.
View From Bomber Land
Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea had this nugget when asked about Adams Jr. by Ed Tait from bluebombers.com:
“He seems to be running their offence very effectively and efficiently. He’s productive, he’s putting the ball where he needs to be put for guys to score, putting it in their playmakers’ hands. He can make plays off schedule as we’ve always seen, he’s protecting the football more than he probably has in the past but for one game, he’s done very good with that, he seems very comfortable and I imagine the offensive coordinator is putting him in good positions.”
The depth chart is here ‼️
Here is how we will line up against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at home tomorrow night 😤@PlayNowSports #BCLions pic.twitter.com/LQcVLEQDsN
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) October 5, 2023
4 Lions To Watch
QB Vernon Adams Jr. # 3 – with a season-high 458 passing yards in the most recent win, Adams Jr. now gets to test himself against the stiffest competition in the West. Adams Jr. was out with his knee injury in the last meeting at Winnipeg in early August but put together a 237-yard and two-touchdown outing in the 30-6 triumph there in week three.
WR Lucky Whitehead #7- having flown under the radar in this star-studded receiving corps., Whitehead can still flip the field on any given play when called upon. You know he’s anxious to show out against his old squad after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in a victory over the Bombers last October 15th.
DL Mathieu Betts #90- just two sacks shy of the Canadian record of 17 shared by Brent Johnson and Jamaal Westerman, Betts has the high motor you want in these matchups.
DB Garry Peters #1- the secondary was, to put it lightly, embarrassed in the last meeting. Peters and company now have home field to give them a boost in this Bombers rubber match.
Extra Yardage
The Lions get right guard Sukh Chungh, defensive back Jalon-Edwards-Cooper, fullback David Mackie and quarterback Dane Evans all back from injury for this big clash. Defensive lineman Josh Archibald (shoulder) heads to the injured list.
On the other side, Winnipeg gets dynamic return man Janarion Grant back this week while their defence takes a bit of a hit with corner Demerio Houston sitting this one out.
Into the Penthouse: the winner takes over top spot in the West and would have a magic number of 1 to clinch home field for the Division Final on Nov. 11th. The Lions’ remaining games are at Hamilton and home to Calgary. Winnipeg is home to Edmonton and at Calgary to wrap up.
MOP chase: it’s safe to say Adams Jr. and Collaros are on a collision course of their own when it comes to talking about West nominee for Most Outstanding Player. Adams entered this week as the CFL’s passing leader with 4,005 yards. Collaros’ 30 touchdown strikes are two ahead of Adams for the league lead.
The Lions will aim to win a regular season series against Winnipeg for the first time since 2017 which, coincidentally, was when the Leos saw a 20-year run of making the playoffs come to an end.
Bringing the ‘Smoke:’ he has been perhaps overshadowed the last couple of weeks in an offence stacked with elite talent yet Taquan Mizzell enters this week five yards shy of 1,000 from scrimmage (750 rushing, 245 receiving).
Oliveira test looms large: the Lion run defence has been stout these last two weeks while allowing only 38 yards on the ground in the win over Saskatchewan. CFL rushing leader Brady Oliveira presents an entirely new challenge. It’s an area the Lions need to measure up in as the race for a division crown heats up.