Raise your hand if you saw this score coming. No you didn’t, put that hand back down.
No one who follows the Canadian Football League would have predicted, from a non-bias standpoint, the 45-21 demolishing from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the Toronto Argonauts, last Thursday night at Investors Group Field.
Fellow writers here at Last Word On Sports tried predicting week 1’s scores (in our weekly prediction article) and only one of the three of us correctly predicted the Bombers coming out on top. And it was by a much slimmer point differential, with the score being predicted at 27-17.
Now that opening game to the 2014 CFL season stunned the Canadian Football world.
The Blue Bombers, who went 11-25 the past two seasons after losing in the Grey Cup game in 2011, were far from expected to beat the Argonauts, who went 20-16 the past two years, including a Grey Cup win in 2012.
Winnipeg was playing their first ever game under rookie head coach Mike O’Shea and rookie starting quarterback, Drew Willy. O’Shea took over the head coaching position from Tim Burke and Drew Willy was traded from Saskatchewan to replace the ineffective QB duo of Max Hall and Justin Goltz.
Toronto had all the swagger possible coming into this one, especially after their starting QB, Ricky Ray, was named the CFL’s best player according to TSN’s top 50 players list. Wide receiver Chad Owens was ranked #9 and slotback Andre Durie was slotted at 21. Only 2 Blue Bombers (Nick Moore, 33 and Bryant Turner, 38), compared to Torontos 6, were named to the list.
Then the kick off was underway and everything changed. Because of one man. His name; Drew Willy.
Drew Willy was absolutely amazing out there on the Canadian-sized field. He was in command of his teams offense and looked confident and poised under center. His offensive line, led by veteran Glenn January at left tackle formed a perfect passing pocket for the quarterback with 4 games of experience in his CFL career.
The University of Buffalo product went 19-27 passing for 308 yards with an incredible 4 TDs and 1 INT. His only 7 dropped balls couldn’t have been achieved without the help from his wide receivers, of course.
Aaron Kelly was his main target, catching 5 passes for 100 yards and 2 TDs, the first being on the opening drive. Willy spread his passing around throwing to 7 different receivers. Julian Feoli-Guidino caught the second most passes, with 4, for a total of 36 yards and 1 TD. Cory Watson had the second most receiving yards, 72, with only 2 catches and 1 major.
Nic Grigsby was handed the duties of being running back and he too was stellar rushing for 122 yards on 21 attempts, averaging just under 6 yards a carry.
Simply said, offensive coordinator, Marcel Bellefeuille’s attack was amazing.
Drew Willy was undoubtedly prepared mentally with confidence, for his first game in the first season that he will be a full-time starting quarterback in the league.
“I kind of thought I could do it but I’m a confident guy. I knew if I went through my reads and did everything possible things would go right.” said Willy to the National Post for an article published last Friday.
Confidence is a huge part for preparation to every game in this young man’s young career. With each win like this, confidence and self-reassurance will grow, and so will Winnipeg’s number in the ‘W’ column.
Willy’s performance even inspired fans on social media to rename the Manitoba town from Winnipeg to Willy-peg. He certainly is in control of the town from a football standpoint.
He will continue to surprise the league this season and turn around the once dismal Winnipeg franchise. Soon enough, Willy-peg will turn into Winning-peg.
For more on sports injuries, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on twitter – @LWOSNick. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Football fans…check out our two partnered NFL podcasts – Thursday Night Tailgate Radio and Overtime Ireland. Both shows bring you interesting commentary, critical analysis and fantastic guests including former and current NFL players, coaches and personalities.
Main Photo:
