WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers welcome the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to Princess Auto Stadium on Friday Night Football.
Winnipeg has looked like the Blue Bombers of old over the past few weeks, picking up a pair of impressive wins while holding the BC Lions to 11 points.
Hamilton has lost three straight and brought in Chris Jones as senior defensive assistant in hopes of correcting some of the issues that have led to a 2-8 record.
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It’s hard to talk about the Bombers, who have won four of their last six, without putting an emphasis on the play of their defence.
Tyrell Ford and Deatrick Nichols are aiming to continue their strong performances against Ticats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. Both had an interceptions in the Week 11 finale and are set to face a quarterback who has thrown 10 this season.
Turnovers have hampered the Ticats but if Mitchell can take care of the football, he has the ability to move his team downfield as well as anyone. He led the league coming into the week in passing yards with 2,522 and touchdowns with 18.
Ford and Nichols will be fixated on Shemar Bridges, Steven Dunbar Jr. and Tim White who have produced 1,572 collective receiving yards.
Head coach Scott Milanovich was looking for improved play in the run game and received it from Greg Bell in their loss to the Elks last week. Bell gets the bulk of the carries again and is facing a team coughing up 110.9 yards per game on the ground.
Exploiting the run defence could be the key to success but Milanovich’s team can’t overlook the talent that presents itself in the Bombers’ front. Willie Jefferson and Jake Thomas hold down the line of scrimmage, with Redha Kramdi controlling the middle of the field. They’ll be without Adam Bighill, though, who leads all Bombers with 43 defensive tackles.
Zach Collaros in the pocket and Brady Oliveira at running back have been helping steer the Bombers’ offence.
With a mix of veterans and young players in the receiving game, Collaros can make it tough on a Hamilton secondary that ranks fifth in passing yards against per game.
Nic Demski enters off a six catch, 109-yard performance, and Kenny Lawler seems primed for a big game after returning from injury in Week 11.
DB Jamal Peters has two interceptions for the Tiger-Cats in 2024 (The Canadian Press)
Giving up 47 points to the Elks certainly isn’t sitting well with the Ticats defence but the play of their secondary was encouraging as they allowed 234 yards through the air.
They’ll need Stavros Katsantonis and Jamal Peters to be at their best against Collaros and his array of weapons. Peters has two interceptions and creating momentum for their offence can go a long way in helping them put points on the board.
With their 0-4 start well in the rearview mirror, the Bombers have turned their attention to going on a run in the second half, which continues on Saturday as they search for their third straight win.
“You have to believe in what we’re doing, speak to it and execute it,” Collaros told reporters.
“We’re put in a good place often. From an execution standpoint we’ve still got to do it as players. The expectation is obviously to win every game.”
One of Jones’ biggest tests in his new position comes in finding a way to stop the run game and he’ll see one of the best in Oliveira on Friday night.
Oliveira is eyeing his fourth 100-plus yard rushing game this season and sits with 689 after 174 in the two games against BC.
And he’ll face a reeling Ticats run defence fresh off giving up 122 yards to Edmonton. Brandon Barlow and Nick Usher anchor the defensive line off the edges and are backed up the middle by Kyle Wilson.
Wilson feels like he can already sense a change under Jones heading into this week’s game.
“The thing about Chris is he’s really intentional about what he wants to bring to the defence, I feel like guys are buying into that,” Wilson told reporters.
“Little tweaks if anything, simplifying what we already had, just making guys play a little faster. It’s definitely a spark, any change is always a spark. It’s just another opportunity to go out and do what we love.”
Being disciplined is critical to Hamilton’s success as they’ve given away a league high 768 yards in penalties.
Winnipeg can continue their ascent up the West Division standings with a win.
Hamilton hopes a road victory can help them turn their season around.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT. Canadian fans can watch the game on TSN or RDS. U.S. audiences can catch the action on CBS Sports, while International fans can watch on CFL+.
— With files from BlueBombers.com and Ticats.ca