CFL.ca
It’s essentially a win or go home tilt set for BC Place on Saturday night.
Winnipeg travels to the Left coast for a meeting with BC’s Lions in a matchup that will play a large role in determining the fate of each team’s season. Should either the Bombers or Leos have real aspirations about making the playoffs, a win is an absolute must in Week 16.
According to Sportsclubstats.com, Winnipeg has a five per cent chance of making the playoffs and BC checks in at 36.7 per cent. If the Bombers can produce a victory against the Lions this week, Winnipeg would bump up to 13.6 per cent. Conversely, a BC win pushes its percentage of earning a post-season berth all the way up to 47.4 per cent. If the Bombers suffer a defeat you can all but declare them out of the playoffs with their percentage dropping to 0.5 per cent. On the flipside a Lions loss drags them down to 17 per cent.
Win and march on towards a possible playoff spot. Lose and you might as well get a head start on cleaning out lockers. Stakes don’t get much higher in the regular season.
Back exactly 10 weeks ago, Winnipeg and BC met with the Bombers earning a 23-13 victory at home. That game featured Travis Lulay and Drew Willy going head-to-head in the quarterback matchup, but both those men suffered injuries since that date and that means two different signal callers get the starting call this time around.
With Willy out for a lengthy amount of time, Bombers general manager Kyle Walters went out and acquired veteran pivot Matt Nichols from Edmonton for a conditional draft pick. Nichols has started four games for Winnipeg, but he’s only been able to register one victory. However, No. 15 has put together two solid outings and he had his team on the cusp of beating the top two teams in the West Division only to fall by a combined three points with Lirim Hajrullahu making just one of six field goal attempts in those close defeats.
Rookie QB Jonathon Jennings knows how it feels to drop a tough ball game because BC lost in his CFL starting debut 29-23 in Edmonton. That said, Jennings has burst onto the CFL scene by throwing for 645 yards and six touchdowns in his first two CFL starts. BC’s first-year quarterback shredded the Riders’ defence for 364 yards and four touchdowns on his way to a victory and being named one of Shaw’s Top Performers for Week 15. Jennings’ emergence has boosted BC’s playoff hopes and re-energized the Lions’ offence.
He’s displayed a calm, cool demeanor on the field and an ability to make throws from the pocket and extend plays with his feet if needed. But two full game tapes should help Winnipeg prepare for Jennings, and you can bet Bombers’ defensive coordinator Richie Hall will draw up some calls that the rook has never seen before in an effort to try and make Jennings uncomfortable.
| Rookie Jennings in for a challenge vs. Bombers |
|---|
|
Rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings made it look easy in a win over the Riders last weekend, but Justin Dunk says a veteran defensive coordinator in Richie Hall could make Jennings’ life a little more difficult on Saturday. View Bio |
While much of the buzz in Vancouver has been focused around the quarterback position, all the talk in Winnipeg has surrounded the Bombers’ place kicking situation. Hajrullahu tweeted that going 1-for-5 in Week 15 was one of the hardest days he’s ever experienced.
Those struggles have put Hajrullahu’s job on the line. If he isn’t attempting three-pointers for Winnipeg on Saturday it will be rookie import kicker Sergio Castillo, who has never attempted a pro field goal. In 2013 at West Texas A&M, Castillo went 24-for-30 in his senior season on the way towards winning the Fred Mitchell Award, given to the top kicker in the FCS. So it’s not like Castillo hasn’t made kicks ever before, but if he has to step into a pressure-packed situation in BC for his first professional attempt, that will be no easy task.
With Winnipeg’s kicking struggles and the team in desperate need of a win, expect Mike O’Shea to have a few trick plays ready to pull out of his sleeve. When O’Shea sees an opportunity for a gadget play out of a kick or punting situation, expect him to make the call and try to catch the Lions off guard because anything goes for the Bombers in their most important game of the year.
Seasons are all but on the line Saturday night under the lights in BC, which makes for high stakes football.
