\u00a9 2023 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. All rights reserved.
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The Blue Bombers and Lions meet for an October showdown in Vancouver which could ultimately determine first place in the West Division. Both clubs are 11-4 and have split the two previous meetings in Winnipeg, leaving this one as the potential tiebreaker. They have also both secured home playoff games, with the second-place team ultimately settling for hosting the West Semi-final.
The Blue Bombers have a bye next week, followed by a home date with Edmonton and a regular-season finale trip to Calgary. The Lions are in Hamilton next week and home to Calgary before enjoying their final bye in the last week of the season.
Kickoff:<\/strong>\u00a0Friday, 9 p.m. CDT; B.C. Place, Vancouver, B.C.
TV:<\/strong>\u00a0TSN 1\/3\/5
U.S. and international live streaming:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.cfl.ca\/plus<\/a>
Radio:<\/strong>\u00a0680 CJOB
Last meeting:<\/strong> The Blue Bombers declawed the Lions 50-14 at IG Field back on August 3^{rd<\/sup>, avenging a 30-6 beatdown administered by B.C., also in Winnipeg, back on June 22nd<\/sup>.
PlayNow odds:<\/strong> \u00a0The Lions are favoured by 1.5 points. For more betting options on this game,} click here<\/a>.
Take note:<\/strong> The Lions are now calling their Thanksgiving weekend home game the \u2018Gravy Bowl\u2019, with an expanded tailgate party. The University of Washington Husky Marching Band will also be performing pre-game and during halftime. The Lions announced Wednesday that with less than 1,000 lower-bowl tickets remaining for Friday\u2019s game, some upper-deck seating would be made available.
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Winnipeg:<\/strong>\u00a0Mike O\u2019Shea has a career won-lost record of 93-62. O\u2019Shea\u2019s 93 wins as Blue Bombers head coach now ranks him second all-time in franchise history behind only Grant (102). O\u2019Shea\u2019s teams are 14-7 vs. the Lions all-time.
B.C.: <\/strong>Rick Campbell\u2019s career won-lost-tied record is 72-81-2. He is in his third year with the Lions and has a record of 28-19. His teams are 7-12 vs. Winnipeg all-time in the regular season.

He can be a game changer for the Blue Bombers and is itching to get back in the lineup after being out since the fifth game of the year. For what it\u2019s worth, some interesting numbers from the CFL with respect to average field position and the kick return and kick cover units: in the first five games of the year that Grant dressed the Blue Bombers average field position was their own 37.6 yard line and in three games the club\u2019s average field position was better than the opponent, with one game tied (the lone game in which they did not have superior field position was the loss to B.C. in June).
In the 10 games since, the average field position is\u2026 exactly their own 37.6-yard line, with the opponent having better field position in six of those 10 games.
The Lions are on a four-game win streak dating to late August and a loss to Hamilton \u2013 their lone defeat at B.C. Place this season. In their last victory \u2013 a 33-26 decision over Saskatchewan \u2013 Adams, Jr. threw for a CFL season-high 458 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Alexander Hollins. Those numbers pushed Adams, Jr. over the 4,000-yard mark in passing and he leads the league at 4,005. Collaros, FYI, is at 3,738, ranking behind Adams, Jr, and Calgary\u2019s Jake Maier at 3,820. Adams, Jr. has 28 TD passes, second to the 30 Collaros has thrown this year.
Here is Mike O\u2019Shea when asked about the play of Adams, Jr. this year:
\u201cHe seems to be running their offence very efficiently and effectively. He\u2019s productive. He\u2019s putting the ball where it needs to be put for guys to score, putting it in their playmakers\u2019 hands, he can make plays off schedule as we\u2019ve always seen. He\u2019s protecting the football more than he probably has in the past, but for one game he\u2019s been very good with that. He seems very comfortable, and I imagine the offensive coordinator is putting them in good positions.\u201d
B.C.\u2019s dangerous receiving corps already features two 1,000-yard receivers in Hollins (1,019) and Keon Hatcher (1,103), who ranks second in the league to Dalton Schoen (1,136). B.C.\u2019s ground game is paced by Taquan Mizzel (750 yards), but Adams, Jr. (302) is also a dangerous running threat when he opts to tuck the ball away and skidaddle.
The Lions\u2019 D ranks second to Winnipeg\u2019s in points allowed at 20.2 and in opponents net offence at 313.1 yards per game. That unit is led by defensive end Mathieu Betts, who has a league best 15 sacks and the Lions 49 QB takedowns is tied with Toronto for top spot in the CFL.

Blue Bombers tackles Stanley Bryant and Jermarcus Hardrick vs. Lions defensive ends Mathieu Betts and Sione Teuhema. Betts and the Lions feasted on the Blue Bombers in their June win, racking up seven sacks \u2013 three of them by Betts and a fourth by Teuhema. Betts, as mentioned above, leads the CFL with 15 sacks, while Teuhema has five and defensive tackle Woody Baron is at seven.
In the second game, the 50-14 Blue Bombers win, the Lions had just one sack, that coming from Bo Lokombo.
Bryant on facing Betts:
\u201cIt\u2019s about us as an offensive line winning our one-on-ones. When we get a chance to go against Betts, Baron, any of those guys, we\u2019ve just got to try and be physical. The first time we played them we didn\u2019t do a good job of winning our one-on-ones. The second game we did a great job of winning our one-on-ones and were able to push guys around.
\u201c(Betts) has grown over the years. From Edmonton (where he started his career) to B.C. you can see he\u2019s transformed his body and has become a better athlete. He\u2019s very fast, quick off the ball and a competitor. He\u2019s non-stop. You see him on special teams and he\u2019s flying around. He\u2019s one of those guys you have to have your hands on at all times.\u201d

\u201cThere is something about a loud crowd and being booed and all that other good stuff. I think going on the road is always good; teams enjoy that, especially close teams. The bottom line is I don\u2019t think it matters where guys play. You could probably say that about every team. They get to play a game, \u2018OK, tell me where. Do I get a helmet? Alright, let\u2019s go.\u2019\u201d \u2013 Mike O\u2019Shea on playing an important game in enemy territory.
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\u00a9 2023 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. All rights reserved.Now ReadingThe Blue Bombers and Lions meet for an October showdown in Vancouver which could ultimately determine first place in the West Division. Both clubs are 11-4 and have split the two previous meetings in Winnipeg, leaving this one as the potential tiebreaker. They have also both secured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n