Blue Bombers visit Lions to settle Western semifinal

The BC Lions held off Winnipeg for the second seed in the West, but the Blue Bombers have had their number heading into Sunday's Western semifinal. Winnipeg beat BC twice this season, with both wins coming in October.

Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols helped turn around Winnipeg's season when he took over for Drew Willy, but the pivot is picking a bad time to get careless with the football. Nichols has tossed six interceptions in his past three outings after throwing only three on the season prior to that.

After dropping those two contests to the Blue Bombers, the Lions rallied to win their final three and lock up second in the West. BC quarterback Jonathon Jennings powered the Lions' winning streak, as the first-year full-time starter threw seven touchdowns and only two interceptions during that stretch.

While the quarterbacks will get most of the attention and certainly play a pivotal role in the outcome, the defensive side of the ball will also be crucial in determining who will advance to the Western final. The edge in that department could go to the Blue Bombers: Winnipeg generated more turnovers than anyone else in the CFL in 2016 with 59.