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News June 22, 2025

Upon Further Review | Wpg 27 BC 14

@EdTaitWFC

It was early Saturday night in Vancouver and every sight and sound coming from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers locker room at B.C. Place provided the perfect backdrop to a mission accomplished.

The music blared. The conversations were all at shout level and there wasn’t a single dude with his jaw on his chest in disappointment.

Little wonder, for while there were some hiccups, the Blue Bombers exited the west coast with their first road win of the season in a 27-14 triumph that improved their record to 2-0.

And look at the Canadian Football League standings this morning and there is this early development: a third of the league unbeaten, another third is winless and the final third is wedged somewhere in between.

So, yeah, there was joy in Bomberland in that moment Saturday.

There was also this, which caused yours truly’s old ears to perk up: one by one and without prompting they all delivered the same message as if they were singing the same chorus from from the same songbook.

And that message? The 2-0 start is lovely and all, but there is soooo much room for improvement.

“There’s always room to grow,” said veteran defensive back Deatrick Nichols. “The first game of the season, you’re just so ready to be out there and you’re excited so a lot of it seems like it’s adrenaline. The second game is when things settle down and you start to see where you’re really at as a team.

“The guys in this locker room, a lot of us have been playing together for a while so we know exactly what our limits are. We just always want more from each other and are pushing each other for more because we know it’s out there.

“We’re not asking for anything we don’t see as possible. Everything we want is possible.”

That last line from Nichols resonates, because it’s based in realism but carries an optimistic tone — “We’re not asking for anything we don’t see as possible. Everything we want is possible.”

“I said something similar to (Nic) Demski just now after the game,” said receiver Dalton Schoen. “It’s kind of weird — we didn’t play that well, we think, and yet we’re sitting here 2-0 and we won by 14 last week and 13 this week.

“It’s not necessarily that we’re playing bad, it’s just that everybody in here feels like we’ve got a lot more in the tank and a lot more we can give. So, it’s a blessing if you can get better and keep winning like that. But as a competitor you always want to be your best. You’re never going to be perfect but that doesn’t mean you don’t strive for it.”

The Blue Bombers 2-0 start is also in stark contrast to what we saw a year ago when this team stumbled out of the blocks with four straight losses before going 11-3 the rest of the way to fight and claw to get back to first place in the West Division.

There are scars from that start to those who lived it, and they entered this year with a vow to make sure that history did not repeat itself. That’s been true across the roster, but especially so on defence where there are two new starters in the secondary in cornerback Marquise Bridges and safety Jamal Parker, Jr. and a new defensive end in James Vaughters.

“When new guys come in or are in a new spot, they read the room and see the energy all us older guys have. They’re buying in,” said Nichols. “We’re teaching them and bringing them with us. It’s like a chain reaction.

“People do what they see, so as long as we keep leading, playing hard and doing what we’re supposed to do during the week then we’re going to be all right.”

ICYMI, here’s our Game Recap story from the first road win of 2025:

Game Recap | Wpg 27 BC 14

And what follows is the rest of this week’s UPON FURTHER REVIEW…

BIG BREAK OUT GAME FOR JAMAL PARKER, JR… Saturday in Vancouver as the amiable Kent State product finished with six tackles, a pass knockdown near the goal line, an interception and a 57-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

All that came in just his 23rd game as a Blue Bomber and his second at safety as Brandon Alexander’s replacement after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

“It’s been a blessing,”Parker, Jr. said. “I’ve had a lot of roller-coaster rides since I’ve been here with injury and being in and out of the lineup and whatever occurred for me with adversity. So, it feels great.”

“It’s a great heads-up play by Park,” said head coach Mike O’Shea of the fumble return TD that was a lateral to Lions running back James Butler that Parker, Jr. wisely scooped and scored. “He was all over the field tonight and made some nice plays beside that one. They’re down on the doorstep and he makes a play to recover with a guy open on the doorstep, which is a huge play, too — saved a touchdown — and then he scores one.

“He was all over the place tonight.”

EVERYBODY LOVES IT WHEN A BIG MAN SCORES A TOUCHDOWN… and so there was a ton of elation when Tui Eli pulled in a five-yard pass from Zach Collaros on a designed play. And it was a helluva catch, too, as he wrapped his mitts around the pass just inside the goal line and near the sideline.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it,” said a beaming Eli afterward. “Big shout out to the coaching staff for trusting me, to the O-line for holding things up and to Zach for throwing me the ball. It takes 12 and I just did my 1/12th. It’s such a good feeling right now.”

After celebrating the moment, Eli then handed the ball to left tackle Stanley Bryant.

“I have the ball. It’s already in a safe place,” he said through a wide grin. “The O-line is going to sign it and we’re going to keep it in the O-line room.”

Eli’s TD was the first ‘big-man’ score by the Blue Bombers since defensive lineman Jason Vega scored on a four-yard pass in 2012 and the first for Zach Collaros since 2016 when he was with Hamilton and connected with Ryan Bomben.

“I was rolling right, we leaked him out the backside and he made an unbelievable catch, too,” said Collaros of Bomben’s catch nine years ago. “Tui’s was great hands — the toe-tap and everything — but Ryan Bomben caught it over-the-shoulder, it was pretty good.”

THREE NUMBERS WHICH STOOD OUT… after a second glance at the stats package, which can be found here:

1 Collaros finished the game 18 of 25 for 179 yards with two interceptions and two TD strikes — the one to Eli and the 200th of his career to Dalton Schoen on the game’s first drive — and in the process now has 16,177 passing yards as a Blue Bomber. That leaves him just 180 yards shy of passing the legendary Ken Ploen for fourth spot on the franchise’s all-time yardage list.

Collaros is at 16,177, Ploen is at 16,356 with the top three Dieter Brock at 29,623, Khari Jones at 20,175 and Kevin Glenn at 18,116.

“It’s huge having Zach back,” said Schoen. “He’s the leader of our offence and one of the best leaders of our team so it’s obviously important to have him around and running the show for us.”

2 Winnipeg forced five turnovers on the night — interceptions by Evan Holm and Parker, Jr., the fumble recovery by Parker, Jr, a turnover on downs and a Jaylen Smith recovery of a botched punt return. Those five gaffes led to 17 points, including the Parker, Jr. score.

Through the two games with the Lions Winnipeg had eight turnovers.

3 The Blue Bombers had five penalties for 43 yards, including two objectionable conduct infractions by Willie Jefferson — the second coming late in the game and leading to his ejection.

Jefferson didn’t do interviews post-game but Lions O-lineman Kory Woodruff — who was also part of the late fracas, picked up a 20-yard penalty for abuse of an official. Afterward, he accused Jefferson of a dirty hit in an interview with J.C. Abbott of 3Down Nation.

“Willie Jefferson, he did something dirty to one of my teammates, and I’m not just gonna let that slide, so we got into a little bit of an altercation,” Woodruff told Abbott. “They claim I hit the ref, I didn’t hit the ref. It’ll be sent to the Review Centre, and we’ll go from there.

“Dirty, dirty. Did something dirty to my teammate, so it was retaliation. Still, I’ve got to be better than that. I’ve got to understand the moment. I’ll be better next time.”

Abbott’s full piece, FYI, is here.

YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS WITH… Evan Holm’s diving interception in the second half saved a touchdown and was his first pick in over a year — a fact he had heard about in a teasing manner beforehand by his teammates.

“It’s good to get one after none last year and it was just nice to get it in the red zone and then give the ball back to our offence and they go down and score,” said Holm.

Asked what he likes about his defence through eight quarters of 2025 he added:

“We’re resilient. We’re always around the ball — even if they catch it we’re always around it and it’s catch-tackle for the most part. Like I said last week it’s about winning the 50-50 balls and making some plays and creating turnovers.

“I never want to have a bad play — ever. That’s the standard. Obviously you’re never going to be perfect every play but that’s the standard here and that’s why I like being with this coaching staff because it aligns with my values. I mean, I get made if they catch a five-yard pass on me. You can always can be better because you’ve never arrived.”

BIG NEWS OUT OF CALGARY SUNDAY… with the Stampeders adding veteran linebacker Adam Bighill — a future hall of famer — to their practice roster. Good for Biggie, who was such a force during his days here in Winnipeg.

AND FINALLY… thanks for reading this far and for those who have made it to the bottom and want more, we end with the video evidence of Saturday’s big ‘W’: