Lions, Blue Bombers set to battle for inside track to West's top seed
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The BC Lions will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday in a critical game for both clubs in West playoff seeding.
Dubbed the ‘Gravy Bowl’ as it is taking place on Thanksgiving Weekend, the winner of the matchup will have the inside track for the top seed in the West and a bye into the divisional final next month.
“It's going to be a Grey Cup-type game that needs to come out of this,” CFL on TSN analyst Milt Stegall said. “I'm excited about it. I'm sure everyone across the country is excited for it, and hopefully we're not hyping it up too much. Hopefully they don't let us down because I think it's going to be a good game.”
The Blue Bombers and Lions sport identical 11-4 records and have split a pair of contests so far this season – a 30-6 rout for the Lions in Week 3, followed a 50-14 blowout by Winnipeg in Week 9.
Winnipeg and BC enter Friday’s contest sitting tied for first in the West, well ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are third at 6-9.
Following this week's matchup, the Lions will close out their season with games against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders, with a final week bye. The Blue Bombers, who have a bye next week, will close out their regular season with games against the Edmonton Elks and Stampeders.
“Whoever wins this game, it's safe to say is going to win the West,” said Stegall. “Not only will they have a game up on them, but they'll have the tiebreakers because both of these teams split those two games.”
The game features plenty of star power, including the quarterback matchup.
Vernon Adams Jr., has been a steady force for the Lions this season, leading the league in passing yards with 4,005. The 29 year old has also completed 284 passes on 414 attempts and thrown for 28 touchdowns.
Zach Collaros has thrown a league-best 30 touchdowns for the Blue Bombers and has amassed 3,378 yards with 247 completions on 365 attempts.
“This is what both teams wanted,” Stegall said. “Big-time players, make big-time plays in big-time games. So, we will see which one of these teams have the most big-time players. That's what it's going to come down to. The superstars making the plays.”
The Blue Bombers are fresh off a 31-21 win over the Toronto Argonauts in Week 17. The Lions are riding a four-game winning streak after defeating the Roughriders 33-26.