1st Half - Nic Demski 10 touchdown celebration
It was late Thursday night, so late that just a few cars remained in the parking lot at IG Field after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had finished putting the final strokes on another masterful win, when a number hit yours truly like a 2×4 across the forehead: 10.
As most know by now, Winnipeg’s thrilling 31-29 over the Calgary Stampeders Thursday improved the club to 10-1 through 11 weeks and keeps the two-time defending Grey Cup champions atop the West Division and the Canadian Football League’s overall standings.
And the number 10 is significant because for the sixth straight season the Blue Bombers have hit double-digits in wins – a first since the Glory Years of 1957-62 when the club accomplished the same feat while winning four Grey Cups and appearing in another.
Dating back to 2016, the Blue Bombers have amassed a 65-32 record, won the last two Grey Cups, and appeared in three straight division finals. In the big picture, this edition of the club will be judged in late November, but with a four-point cushion on the second-place B.C. Lions – who fell to 8-2 Friday night and have quarterback concerns with the injury to Nathan Rourke – and an eight-point lead over the Stamps and Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Blue Bombers are certainly trending to a home playoff game and, barring catastrophe, possibly hosting the Western Final again.
Now – quite clearly – no one in Bomberland is celebrating hitting the 10-win mark. That’s not how this club operates, with its focus instead on a slow build to playing its best football in late November.
Still, given what preceded this run it shouldn’t just be swept away with a ho-hum shrug of the shoulders, either. Consider that from 2008-15 the Blue Bombers had just one winning season – the 10-8 2011 campaign that ended with a loss in that year’s Grey Cup – and posted an abysmal 50-93 won-lost record.
It’s much, much too early to refer to what we’re living right now as the Glory Years 2.0 – especially with the Labour Day Classic and Banjo Bowl next up on the schedule – but it certainly is worth soaking up in the wake of the Glory Years that came before this run.
More on the Blue Bombers 10th win of the season in this week’s UPON FURTHER REVIEW…
THE BLUE BOMBERS WERE STUNG HARD BY THE INJURY BUG… heading into the win over the Stamps, having seen both receiver Greg Ellingson and ace return man/receiver Janarion Grant go down during the practice week.
And then in the first half the club lost starting cornerback Demerio Houston, reserve defensive back Patrice Rene and running back Brady Oliveira to injury. The prognosis for Houston and Rene is potentially serious, while there is no update yet on Oliveira.
Consider, then, who was on the field for the Blue Bombers defence, in particular, as the club rallied with a dominant fourth quarter to knock off the Stamps.
- The club has started Nick Hallett for four straight games at safety for all-star Brandon Alexander, who could return next month sometime, and with his immediate replacement – Malcolm Thompson – also on the six-game injured list.
- Malik Clements, cast adrift by Edmonton this offseason, made his ninth start for linebacker Kyrie Wilson.
- Jamal Parker replaced Houston at corner and was solid in racking up three tackles, while also handling four kickoff returns in the absence of Grant.
- On top of that, the club got a 10-tackle performance from dime back Donald Rutledge, Jr. whose work in his first CFL season has been overshadowed by rookie-of-the-year candidate Dalton Schoen.
Yes, for all the continuity on this roster, a shout-out to the scouting and personnel staff for unearthing the likes of Schoen, Rutledge, Jr., Parker, receiver Greg McCrae and others who had a hand in win #10.
One more on that to hammer the point home: Thursday’s roster featured 13 new players in those listed above along with quarterback Dakota Prukop, guard Liam Dobson, fullback Konner Burtenshaw, receiver Tavaris Harrison, defensive tackle Cam Lawson and linebacker Brian Cole.
TIP OF THE HAT TO McCRAE… who dressed for his eighth CFL game and was officially making his first start. McCrae finished with 107 yards from scrimmage – 95 yards on five receptions, 12 more on two runs – and scored his first career TD on a sensational 41-yard grab from Zach Collaros with Brad Muhammad draped all over him.
“The coaches dialled up the perfect play,” said McCrae. “I just went out there and ran the route, Zach gave me a good ball and I just made it happen. That’s as simple as it is – just doing a little pitch and catch.”
The Blue Bombers receiving corps has been hammered by injury this year, seeing Ellingson twice moved to the injured list, with Nic Demski missing four games, with Carlton Agodusi shining in his debut and now on the six-game along with Brendan O’Leary-Orange.
To that end, the club needed someone like McCrae to step up and contribute alongside Schoen, Demski, Drew Wolitarsky and Rasheed Bailey.
“My mindset was just being myself – that’s all I need to do, just be myself,” McCrae said. “My coaches believed in me, the players believed in me. I just had to go out there and do what I do every day and that’s work hard and don’t try to be anybody else, just try to be me.”
McCrae also made one of three critical second-down conversion plays in the final moments of the win over the Stamps, as the offence stayed on the field to kill the final two minutes and 18 seconds.
“Having the coaches trust in me to put the ball in my hands in that situation, having the players, Zach, give it out to me and believe I can make that play… it’s good to know I have the trust of my teammates and my coaches at any time, and especially in big situations like that,” said McCrae.
LET’S ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORK OF STAMPS QB JAKE MAIER… who was outstanding in completing 23-of-28 passes for 294 yards and three TDs – all to Malik Henry – in the loss.
Maier also had a stretch in the first half where he completed 15 straight passes. Yet the Blue Bombers defence knuckled down when it mattered most, limiting Maier to just two completions in the final quarter and only 100 yards passing in the second half.
Asked what it meant to overcome Maier’s start and two interceptions thrown in the end zone by Collaros that took points off the board, head coach Mike O’Shea offered this:
“The same thing I’ve said about them for the last pile of years: they’ve got it figured out. I mean, you’d like to figure out a little sooner (chuckles). I mean, Calgary played a fantastic game. You saw the percentages Jake was throwing at – he was spot on. He got us with that one deep ball when Demerio got hurt, other than that we didn’t give up a ton of explosions through the air in terms of the pass distance, but we didn’t tackle real well and I think that, once again, comes back to the fundamentals we’ve been missing out on… we need to get better.
“But we’ll take the win. That was a helluva game and we’re very excited and happy we won, obviously.”
AMONG THE MANY PLAYS MADE IN THE FOURTH QUARTER BY THE BOMBERS… from the work of the defence, to Dakota Prukop running for a TD – after throwing to Bailey for a TD earlier – was the club’s lone sack in the game, by none other than Shayne Gauthier. It was the sixth-year veteran’s first career sack.
“He stuck with it,” said O’Shea. “He came around the edge, got cut, popped back up, the quarterback’s working towards him, he dives, he goes for the ball – which is important – and then wraps him up. It’s fantastic. He got to play a bunch last year, he probably should have played a bunch in the years prior, too. He’s a very good football player. Highly intelligent, really good football IQ and he’s tough, so it’s nice to see him make a play like that. I’m sure he feels good, but he’s happy to get the win.”
The work of Gauthier – and all those other foot soldiers who effectively do their thing every week – highlighted the club’s ‘next-man up’ philosophy. That’s not unique to the Blue Bombers, of course, but given their injuries and their success, what’s happening this year in the 10-1 start speaks to the overall talent and depth.
“You need to rely on guys,” O’Shea said. “We had a lot of guys go down and a lot of guys stepped up, more guys playing double duty and taking a lot of reps. Nick Taylor returning punts… it’s what you expect the guys to do, it’s what they expect from themselves and they owe it to their teammates to play like that.
“We’ve talked a lot about this in the past. The coaching staff does a good job getting guys prepared, without a doubt. But I also think our vets do a great job of making sure the guys around them know what they’re doing. Once again, just because you’re out doesn’t mean you don’t want to win, so you’re going to give as much information as much as you can and help guys out as best you can so they go out and they can honour their teammates. Everybody’s involved. It’s a learning process. I think it’s very important. I think we do it well. I think we could still work harder at it, but I think we do a good job.
“And then if you bring in the right guys, they’re going to listen. If you bring in guys that get their opportunity and don’t listen to the guys around them it’s maybe not going to turn out so well. The young guys do a great job of knowing their role and making sure they’re learning every chance they get.”
AND, FINALLY, A NOD TO THE THREE GLOBAL PLAYERS WHO DRESSED FOR THE BLUE BOMBERS… in a CFL first: defensive end Thiadric Hansen, linebacker Les Maruo and offensive lineman Tomoya Machino, who dressed for his first game.
We made history last night! First CFL team to dress 3 Global players in one game!🙏🌎 #CFLGlobals pic.twitter.com/bb6AkMNDPx
— Les Maruo (@Lesmaruo44) August 26, 2022
Congratulations. Or Herzlichen Gluckwunsch and Omedeto.
