
Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira (20) stiff arms Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker C.J. Avery (35) during the second half of CFL football action in Regina, on Friday, July 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu
We’ve all essentially watched the same movie play out on repeat for most of the last four years for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers:
They’d bulldoze through roadblocks and soar over hurdles en route to advancing to four consecutive Grey Cups and capturing two championships.
And so it’s what’s happened through the first seven weeks of the Canadian Football League season with the team now 2-5 after Friday’s 19-9 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders which seems so shockingly out of character.
Yes, the momentum gained after two straight victories following the 0-4 start was flushed at Mosaic Stadium and in the process more difficult questions were exposed in a game in which there were too many turnovers, too many penalties and too many poor decisions.
And that’s this club’s reality right now, plain and simple, until they change it.
This is their road in 2024. This is their test.
“This is a new season and this is a new team,” said safety Brandon Alexander inside a locker room filled with frustration after the game. “Each year brings it’s own trials and it’s own things you’ve got to work through. We’ve got another game next week and another opportunity to put it on the line for our teammates. We’ve got to decide as a group whether we’re ready to put it on the line for our teammates or not. So far we’ve been doing that. It’s not a lack of effort, it just at certain points we need more focus.
“But this is our test.”
And it doesn’t get any easier with a trip to Toronto next Saturday to face the Argonauts followed by consecutive games against the B.C. Lions, with a bye week in between.
There are no gimmees, after all, for a 2-5 team.
“We haven’t felt this for a long time, being tested like this. The vets are being tested. The young guys are being tested,” said receiver Drew Wolitarsky. “We just need to reset. We need a couple nights to regroup, get our energy back, get our minds back… it really feels like we’re just losing focus at the wrong time.
“We need to come back rejuvenated and refocussed.”
Even with all the glaring errors on Friday — most notably finishing the night with a minus-3 turnover margin and some ill-timed penalties — the Blue Bombers did have a chance inside the final three minutes. Three of the previous losses were by a combined nine points and while this loss featured a 10-point margin, there was still opportunity.
Yet where this team often got it done in those moments in years past — a 51-17 record over the last four seasons attests to that — this one is not… so far.
“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson. “I’m not sure what people outside of here are saying about us, but we believe we’re a good team. But we’ve got to go out there and play our ‘A’ game again, play smart, play physical, play fast. When we do that, we’re a good team. When we don’t, when we make mistakes and take penalties that put us behind the sticks, we really make it hard for ourselves.
“We’ve got good leaders, good rookies. We’ve got to learn from this and go to Toronto and handle our business.”
ICYMI, our Game Recap is here:
And what follows is a deeper dive into the Blue Bombers fifth loss of the season in this week’s edition of UPON FURTHER REVIEW:
THREE NUMBERS THAT STOOD OUT… after another look at the game’s statistical package, which can be found here:
1 The Blue Bombers completed just 29 percent of their second-down conversions (six of 18) and were just two of 12 (17 percent) on second and seven or longer. That lack of production played perfectly for Saskatchewan’s defence, which takes the ball away like no other squad in the CFL.
The Riders now have 19 takeaways and a turnover margin of +11. Winnipeg, by comparison, has 10 takeaways and a margin of -4.
2 Zach Collaros finished the night 20-of-31 passing for 266 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. He has thrown for 610 yards in the last two games — and in the process became just the 20th player in CFL history to throw for over 20,000 yards in his career.
That said, his TD-to-interception differential this year is 2:7. A year ago he threw 33 touchdowns and 15 interceptions — albeit with three receivers who are now not available in Dalton Schoen and Kenny Lawler, both injured, and Rasheed Bailey, who left in free agency to the Argos.
“We’ve just got to keep pushing,” he said Collaros. “I’ve always had confidence in myself and the guys I go to work with every single day. I’ve seen how much we work and how much we care. It’s never a question with our team; with our unit.
“We’ve got to figure something out, obviously. Like I say every week it’s about execution — we’ve got to figure out a way to execute the play that’s called and stay ahead of the chains, all those things, and not make critical mistakes in big moments.”
“But I’ll never lose faith in our guys and in myself.”
Added head coach Mike O’Shea: “We’ll ride with Zach any day. He doesn’t have to prove himself.”
3 Brady Oliveira was the club’s leading rusher and leading receiver with nine carries for 49 yards and nine receptions for 80 yards. Collaros and Pokey Wilson couldn’t replicate the chemistry they had the week before with the young receiver having two catches for 48 yards on seven targets, while Nic Demski had three catches and Wolitarsky, Josh Johnson and Kevens Clercius all had two each.
Perhaps fittingly the biggest offensive play of the night — a 50-yard reception to Demski just after the three-minute warning — also ended with a turnover.
“We’ve got to finish, that’s the biggest thing,” said Oliveira. “We’ve got to execute. Everyone has got to execute. Of course you have to respect your opponent and we did coming into the game. That’s one helluva team. I don’t know… it’s frustrating, man. Losing just sucks. We fought, we battled. It’s just too many mistakes.”
THE GAME ENDED… on a clock-killing play by the Riders that concluded with a kerfuffle after the final whistle. With five seconds left Riders QB Shea Patterson dropped back to pass and launch a pass to kill out the remaining time. But he hung onto the ball for too long and Blue Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill came in for a shot.
“They’re running a five-second pass — they’ve got five seconds left on the clock,” said O’Shea. “They’re going to snap the ball, the quarterback’s going to drop back and then just launch a ball. Instead, he leaves the pocket, Biggie’s giving chase… he’s supposed to throw that ball out of bounds. If he throws a long one, everybody has that in their playbook — five seconds is easy off the clock — but he hung onto it and he throws it late.
“Biggie’s just finishing the play. There’s nothing wrong with it, there’s no penalty. They took exception to it but if they understand the play, they know the quarterback is supposed to get rid of it. Far be it from me to say it, I guess.”
The Riders were upset, but afterwards Shea Patterson told reporters he needed to throw the ball sooner, adding, “Thats a veteran linebacker sending me a message. Respect to him.”