Blue Bombers, Grey Cup and Victory.

Hey Everyone,

I'm excited. The Grey Cup is about to be played, and if you haven't heard yet, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going to be there. Not watching from afar, not taking in the late night parties, and not scouting for next year. No, the 2011 Blue Bombers will be playing in the Grey Cup.

I'm fairly certain that there's going to be a big party on Portage and Main. I'm also fairly certain that for that to happen the Bombers will need to win, and if we want to win, this is what they're going to have to do:

First and foremost,

Stop the BC Lions (this is the team the Bombers will be playing by the way, you know, in case you didn't know) run game. If the Bombers can make the Leo's one dimensional they have a good chance of winning. Last time the big Blue played the Lions they did just that, and Travis Lulay had a hissy fit on the sidelines and threw his helmet after getting benched, its true

Second, and secondmost,

Contain Travis Lulay. This is much like first and foremost, and just as obvious, if the Bombers are planning on stopping the run, they need to stop Travis Lulay from running with the ball. Should be easy right? Last week, when the Lions hosted the Eskies, Lulay ran the ball 3 times for 63 yards. This cannot happen. Pierre Luc-Labbe, the Bombers non-import middle linebacker needs to spy Lulay or the defensive ends need to play safe, probably a mixture of both is most appropriate. Either way, Winnipeg D-coordinator Tim Burke has his hands full on this front.

Third and you guessed it, thirdmost,

The Bomber offence needs to play half-decent. Yes, half-decent. They need to be able to run the ball with Chris Garrett. Here's the problem, Garrett is not exactly flying under the radar. His 29 carries for 190 yard performance in last week East Final has him squarely in the crosshairs of BC's game plan. So, what has to happen is the Bombers need to come out passing, and they need to pass the ball effectively and early on. If they manage to do this, then Chris Garrett will have room to run. Essentially, the Bombers need to play an inverse NFL game, set up the rush game, by being effective at passing the ball. This wont be easy, as it's something that the Bombers have struggled with all year. In fact, the biggest weakness of the 2011 Blue Bombers has probably been its passing game. If we are to party on Portage and Main this Sunday, then Buck's gotta make the throws, and the receivers must be effective.

Fourth and ....arg, just fourth on the list,

Grab bag. None of these things are necessarily make or break like the first three points we just talked about but they would go along way to helping out the Blue and Gold. First, Buck needs to run the ball like a crazed lunatic, whenever the play breaks down, and it will from time to time, he needs to scramble for positive yardage – without getting his head scrambled.. Next, unfortunately for the Bombers this game is essentially an “away” game instead of a neutral championship. Its in BC, and its going to be loud. The Bomber offensive line cant be offensive. They need to take as few illegal procedure calls as possible, say under 3; The Bomber offence just isn't good enough to overcome first and fifteen on a semi regular basis. Lastly, and I say lastly, not because they're aren’t more things that could be said, simply that the list needs to end at some point, we need to cash in on special teams returns. Call it a hunch, but the Bombers are going to break a kick or a punt for a touchdown in the 99^th Grey Cup on Sunday, I just know it.

Lemme know if you agree or not in comments, or if I missed something more important! See you at Portage and Main. Swag.