Basement Battle: Which team is going to rise above?

No Joe Smith andno Milt Stegal for BC and Winnipeg, the two teams that should be in the fight in their divisions. It is only two weeks into the season, but neither team has risen above adversity to stay in the midst of the pack. BC's defense is notorious for being slow starters and strong finishers. But the reality is one team will be 0-3 tomorrow night.

Kickoff is 8PM Eastern time at the friendly confines of Winnipeg's Canad Inns Stadium. When the game gets underway, what are we going to see? The teams are much more than just the two players missing, and even though it is week three, a start like this can set a team in a tail spin that may not be recoverable. Winning begets winning and losing begets losing.

The BC Lions found ways to win games last year, and I think that had a lot to do with their success. This year they have found ways to lose. One more loss could see ole Wally reaching for the cutting knife. Their team has been good for a while, but the same thing happened in Calgary with players that were hung onto a little too long. The irony is, he still has one of those players.

Winnipeg came out of an Eastern division that was full of turmoil. Toronto could win if Michael Bishop was in the lineup, Hamilton could win if Jesse Lumsden was in the lineup, and Montreal had emotional issues with Anthony Calvillo taking a very much needed step aside to be with his ailing wife. They won when it counted, and made it to the Grey Cup without their starting quarterback. They have that quarterback and they have their running back. They just haven't been using their running back.

There is a distinct pattern to how many times you run the ball, and how much you win. Kent Austin was fired in Toronto two years back because he didn't use his running backs. You need your quarterbacks and receivers to be having near perfect games if you aren't using the run. Without Milt Stegal in the lineup, you need to use Charles Roberts more, either by running or quick dump-offs.

So that said, which team is going to win? My guess is that Winnipeg will be on the winning end and the Lions will be left looking for answers. Milt is important, but there are other receivers for Glenn to go to. Buck and Jarius don't have another Joe Smith running out of the backfield, and Winnipeg's line will eat them up.

Prediction: Winnipeg 31 BC 18