Bob Irving
CFL.ca Staff
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers franchise is in its 81st year of existence.
But when the Bombers defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 28-16 on Friday night in front of a second-straight sold out crowd of 29,500 at Canad-Inns stadium, it marked just the fifth time in the often glorious history of the team that it has sported a 5-1 record.
And that is perhaps the ultimate means of measuring the impact of the Bombers remarkable start to the 2011 Canadian Football League season.
Dating back to their first of 10 Grey Cup wins in 1935, through the wonderful Bud Grant era that produced four Grey cup victories in a five-year span from 1958 to 1962, only four previous Bomber teams have managed to produce 5-1 starts.
Two of those four went on to win the Grey cup, Grant’s 1982 team and Cal Murphy’s 1984 Blue Bombers.
The other two saw the team finish the year with heart-breaking playoff losses.
The 1982 Bombers wound up at 11-5 before dropping a 24-21 decision to the powerful Edmonton Eskimos in the West Final, while the 1960 Blue Bombers, wound up 14-2, but were upset by Edmonton in the best-of-three West final.
What does all this mean?
Based on history, it’s quite apparent that if you start 5-1, chances are you will finish the year with a winning record and make the playoffs.
On the other hand, if you listen to head coach Paul LaPolice, it doesn’t’ mean much of anything because there are still 12 games to play.
“We thought we were going to be a good football team this year, so we are proud we’re proving it on the field. But we’re not going to get into records and statistics and probabilities. Those things are for others to talk about,” said LaPolice.
“What we have done up to now has no bearing on whether we win the following week or at the end of the year. We have to remain humble, execute better, and remember that there is tremendous parity in the CFL and no team is much better or much worse than any other,” he added.
It’s also worth noting the Blue Bombers have played four of their first six games in the friendly confines of Canad-Inns stadium where the decibel level in their last two outings has been deafening.
But, what is undeniable is that the Bombers are playing some of the best defensive football that has been played in recent years.
At least they are through the first one-third of the season.
In six games, the Winnipeg defensive dozen has allowed a league-low 113 points. They have surrendered just eight touchdowns, a remarkably stingy number. They lead the CFL in yards allowed per game, just 290, and the Bombers defensive unit has forced the most turnovers, 22 and has recorded the most sacks, 25.
Even without all-star defensive tackle Doug Brown during last week’s win over the Eskimos they limited Ricky Ray and company to 14 first downs and 226 yards passing while recording four sacks and forcing four turnovers.
There doesn’t appear to be a weakness in the Bomber defence, although injuries to Brown and fellow defensive tackle Dorian Smith, who suffered a high ankle sprain against the Eskimos, could pose some challenges.
It has been a long time since Blue bomber fans felt so positive about a season.
A 5-1 record will produce that kind of feeling.
Still, as LaPolice rightly points out, there are many games still to play.
And, among those many games are three against the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes.
For all the euphoria in Bomber-ville these days, it is good to remember that the East Division path to the Grey cup has gone through Montreal for most of the past decade.
