The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, defending champions of the Canadian Football League Grey Cup Championship, have continued to demonstrate their dominance of the league after a convincing 26-16 victory on Friday. The bombers were already sitting pretty in the first-place spot on the league table and have now also become the first team to guarantee themselves a spot in the post-season thanks to their victory over the Edmonton Elks.
The bombers have long been one of the most popular teams, but their status as defending champions has seen the team attract even more attention. Their strong defensive line managed to effectively slam the door shut at their end of the field, whilst teammates including Rasheed Bailey scored touchdowns at the offensive end, leaving the teams undefeated status during this season intact.
The Blue Bombers in 2022
The defending Grey Cup champions have won their last seven games in a row, with many pundits attributing their success to the strong teamwork between their defensive players. This dominant defensive partnership has not allowed any opponent to gain a fourth-quarter touchdown in any game of this season so far. After Friday’s game, defensive end Willie Jefferson was quoted as having said “At the beginning of the fourth quarter, we always say ‘This is our quarter; this is our quarter to take the game over,”.
Edmonton did their best to stage a late comeback, with rookie quarterback Taylor Cornelius repeatedly trying to break through Winnipeg’s defense. Unfortunately for the Elk’s, he was unsuccessful, being brought down repeatedly including two back-to-back sacks in the fourth quarter, forcing a punt, and ensuring that Winnipeg maintained their lead on the scoreboard.
Wide received Rasheed Bailey, who scored one of the key touchdowns late in the game, gave credit to his defensive teammates after the game. “Those guys are hard-working, lunch pail, hard hat type of guys. They com down and play hard, show up in practice every single week. They get a chance to go up against one of the best offences in practice, and they’re showing up in the games”, the player stated.
The Blue Bombers have a big test coming up when they host the British Columbia Lions on Saturday. Winnipeg are five for zero in their home games at the IG field this season so far, a run which the Lions will be desperate to break if they are to keep their own dreams of a Grey Cup Trophy alive this season.
The Bookies Outlook: CFL Grey Cup Championship 2022
Unsurprisingly considering their position at the top of the table, the Blue Bombers are currently the favorites to win this years Grey Cup Championship as well. Such a victory would be a momentous achievement for Winnipeg, who had a near thirty-year wait for a new Grey Cup trophy between 1990 and 2019. As the Canadian Football League cancelled their 2020 season, a victory for the Bombers in 2022 would effectively mark a three-year streak as Grey Cup champions – a feat that has not been achieved since the Edmonton Eskimos won five consecutive Grey Cup victories between 1978 and 1982.
A look at the odds available over at Unibet, a legal sports betting Canada platform, suggests that the Bombers are well on track to make this historic achievement, but as we all know, nothing is ever guaranteed in sports. Both the British Columbia Lions and Calgary Stampeders have the skill and position on the table to steal the cup away from the Bombers if their performance on the field begins to falter in the coming games, although there is currently no reason to suspect such a thing will happen. Full odds for the nine remaining competing teams are given below:
| +110 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
| +425 | British Columbia Lions |
| +425 | Calgary Stampeders |
| +900 | Saskatchewan Roughriders |
| +1,000 | Toronto Argonauts |
| +1,500 | Montreal Alouettes |
| +2,200 | Hamilton Tiger Cats |
| +10,000 | Edmonton Elks |
| +10,000 | Ottawa RedBlacks |
