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News October 11, 2025

Game Recap | Wpg 20 Edm 25

Zach Collaros and the Blue Bombers fell 25-20 in Edmonton Saturday night; photos by Cameron Bartlett

@EdTaitWFC

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Elks have issued a clear and concise warning to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and delivered it with all the subtlety of a roundhouse punch to the midsection. And that message?

‘The object in your rear-view mirror is closer than it appears.’

Needing a win to keep their Canadian Football League playoff hopes alive — a Blue Bombers victory, in turn, would have earned them a spot in the Grey Cup derby — the Elks out-punched their guests 25-20 in what was an ugly slugfest front of just 15,013 fans on a chilly Saturday night in the Alberta capital.

And with that, the race for playoff spots in the CFL’s West Division just got that much more interesting — the term would be ‘uncomfortable’ in Bomberland — as the Elks improve to 7-9 and are now just two points back of the Blue Bombers, who fall to 8-8. That said, Winnipeg now does hold the potential tiebreaker, as their 36-23 win back in June gave them a 13-point cushion heading into the weekend.

Still, that’s of little consolation to a Blue Bombers side that seemed to have so much momentum following their 40-3 spanking of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before their bye week, the team’s second straight after three consecutive losses. That surge has now come screeching to an abrupt stop.

“I’m frustrated. Again, we put too much into this throughout the week to come out here and lose games — especially at this time of year when you want to be playing your best football,” said running back Brady Oliveira. “You need to understand that every team is going to continue to get better and the ones that are aiming for a championship are playing good football.

“Everything is right in front of us still. We control our own destiny. But if we want to get to where we want to go, we need to look ourselves in the mirror, get back to work and figure out how you can be better for the guy next to you. I always say, ‘Demand more from yourself. Be better. Be the best version of yourself and don’t let down your teammates.’

“We do this to honour each other. We do this for each other, for your brother next to you. So, how can you put more into this thing? Understand that we don’t have much more time with each other, so do more, expect more from yourself and give more to your teammates.”

More on the Blue Bombers eighth loss of the season from our view in the Commonwealth Stadium press box…

WHAT IT MEANS…

First and foremost, the loss is the missed opportunity to lock up a playoff spot. On top of that, what’s worse is where it now leaves the Blue Bombers given what happened this weekend. The loss dropped Winnipeg into fourth place in the division and means the team whiffed on a chance to keep place with the B.C. Lions, who were on a bye, and with the Calgary Stampeders who knocked off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-20 earlier on Saturday.

All that means Winnipeg, at 8-8, is staring up at the Saskatchewan Roughriders — who locked up first place in the West with a 27-19 victory over the Toronto Argonauts Friday night — and at the Lions and Stamps, both now at 9-7. And, as mentioned above, the Elks are now lurking at 7-9 — although Winnipeg does have the tiebreaker after the two squads split the season series.

There will be a crossover playoff spot through the East Division next month, but the chase for that final playoff spot is on big time.

One more on this: after hosting the last four West Finals the chances of a home playoff game are on life support with the Lions and Stamps a win ahead with just two games left, beginning this Friday at home against the Riders.

“It’s simple: we’ve got work to do,” said head coach Mike O’Shea afterward. “We’ve got a short week against a good football team. We’ve got work left to do, so let’s get back to work. It’s pretty simple.”

BACK-BREAKERS

It’s long been a saying in football that a handful of plays are the difference makers in any close contest and, as sloppy as the Blue Bombers were here, two plays in particular were absolute killers.

1 Trailing 11-10 at halftime the Blue Bombers had forced the Elks into a third-and-two from the Edmonton 46-yard line on their first possession of the the second half. Alas, Edmonton running back was able to bust outside and then race 64 yards for a touchdown that pushed the Elks lead to 18-10.

2 Later in the third the Blue Bombers punted from their own 15-yard line, with the punt cover team led by Nick Hallett then punching the ball loose from returner Javon Leake. A couple players had the chance to pounce on the loose ball, but instead it was scooped up by Kordell Jackson and returned 47 yards for a TD in one of the goofiest plays in the CFL this year.

“Not good enough to overcome a little bit of bad luck,” said O’Shea. “We caused that fumble on that punt cover after kicking it out from our own end and they ended up returning it for a touchdown. It turns out to be the difference. That’s only one play, but we didn’t play well enough throughout the rest of the game to overcome a little bit of adversity that’s going to happen in every game.”

1K-1K CLUB… AND AN ASTERISK

One of the subplots to this matchup was the pursuit of 1,000-yard seasons by Brady Oliveira and Nic Demski, the two Winnipeggers who are so proud to wear Blue Bombers colours. They were the first two Canadians on the same team in CFL history to finish with 1K rushing and receiving in one season back in 2023 and have now done in three straight years with what they got done in the first half Saturday night in Edmonton.

Oliveira needed 29 yards to reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark for a fourth straight year and finished with 117 yards on 12 carries. Only hall of famer Charles Roberts has posted more consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons in Blue Bombers history, with six straight from 2002-07. As well, Oliveira becomes just the second Canadian in league history to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons after Normie Kwong did it from 1955-58.

Demski needed just four yards to hit 1K for the third straight year and accomplished the feat on a five-yard reception in the first quarter, but here’s where the asterisk comes into play. Late in the first half Demski was attempting to chase down a deep shot from Collaros but grabbed the back of his right leg on the route and did not return to the game. Demski did spend the second half on the Blue Bombers sideline, so there is that, but his absence from the offence is potentially massive.

Joey Corcoran, FYI, stepped in for Demski in the second half and afterward O’Shea had no update on Demski’s status.

PLAY OF THE YEAR?

You’ll see this one over and over again on highlight packages, but Pokey Wilson’s 35-yard TD reception on a pass from Zach Collaros with six minutes remaining not only gave the Blue Bombers life — it brought them to within five at 25-20 — but is an instant CFL Play of the Year candidate.

NOTABLE

  • The Blue Bombers are just 3-6 versus their West Division rivals in 2025. That compares to a 35-7 (.833 mark) across the 2021 to 2024 seasons. Winnipeg has this one and next week’s game against Saskatchewan left against the West before hosting Montreal in the regular-season finale.
  • Winnipeg had won 13 straight against Edmonton — the longest win streak against any rival in franchise history — before that was snapped.
  • Oliveira now has 1,088 rushing yards, ranking him fourth behind Calgary’s Dedrick Mills (1,225), A.J. Ouellette of the Riders (1,179) and B.C.’s James Butler (1,103).
  • Chris Streveler’s rushing TD gives him 41 in his career and ties him with Perry Tuttle 12th all-time in franchise history.

KEY MOMENT:

This is just nuts, frankly, and it a one-score game was critical.

KEY STAT: -3

Winnipeg finished with three turnovers — two Collaros interceptions and a turnover on downs — while the Elks made no mistakes. That’s been an Achilles heel for the Blue Bombers: in their eight losses this season they are a combined -22 in the turnover differential.

NEXT:

The Blue Bombers are now back home at Princess Auto Stadium for their final two regular season games, beginning this Friday, Oct. 17th, against the Saskatchewan Roughriders with a 7 p.m. start time.