The Winnipeg Blue Bombers pounded the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 32-22 on Wednesday night. It was a game that produced a statement within a Statement.
All four Bomber quarterbacks played near error-free football in front of more than 27,000 at Canad Inns Stadium as Winnipeg absolutely dominated Kevin Glenn the visiting Ti-Cats.
Now, I know, pre-season games mean nothing. After all the Goldeyes went 0-4-1 in the pre-season and are now 21-8 in the regular season. But Bombers head coach Mike Kelly wanted to show how good his new-look Bombers could be and Wednesday night, his players made one statement with a dominant win over a division rival and the coach himself made another statement: “Let’s stop talking about all the tired, old Jeff Reinebold stuff, shall we?”
Wednesday night, with lefty Stefan LeFors at the helm, the Bombers built a 19-0 lead after the first quarter, built that lead to 26-0 and coasted to a 32-22 win. In terms of starters vs. starters, the Bombers were in complete control.
“I hope everybody feels a little more relaxed right now,” Kelly told reporters afterwards. “These guys played the way I had expected them to play. We executed pretty well and I thought, as a whole, we played with a lot of discipline.”
The Bombers built their 19-0 lead thanks to LeFors ability to move the football and a pair of one-yard touchdown runs by Lavarus Giles, the kid who looked so good at training camp. After one quarter, the Bombers lefthanded-throwing starter completed 5-of-8 passes for 98 yards.
“I thought the offensive line did a good job giving me time,” said LeFors. “The running backs were outstanding, as well. “They’ll probably find something wrong with what we did, but really what matters is what happens in this room. We know that most of the things we did were positive, but we also had some things that kind of went wrong. But we’ll fix that. It’s only a pre-season game.”
Look, the Bombers aren’t going to go 18-0. But they will be very competitive. In fact, if you know Mike Kelly, you know his team will take a serious run at Montreal for first place in the East.
This team isn’t perfect, but it’s a helluva long way from being a return to 1997.
Related posts:
- Bombers drilled by lousy Roughriders and Winnipeg is rewarded with its first sellout of the season.
- Mike Kelly on his way to Winnipeg. Will appear with Tom & Joe, Thursday, on 92-CITI-FM and then name his staff by Feb. 1
- A week of CFL shake-ups: Matthews back, Taafe gone and the Bombers acquire Zeke Moreno for virtually nothing. What does Hamilton know that Winnipeg doesn’t?