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News July 19, 2026

Game Recap | Wpg 36 Ott 34 (OT)

Dru Brown helped guide the Blue Bombers to a third straight win Sunday night in Ottawa; photos by Sam Calvert

@EdTaitWFC

OTTAWA, ON. — It took a while — and it certainly caused some heart-pounding, blood-pressure spiking moments along the way — but Dru Brown got his revenge and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers came up with another unorthodox win here in the nation’s capital.

And so while there may have been some warts and flaws and some frustrating and perplexing sequences, the Blue Bombers have now won three straight courtesy a nutty 36-34 overtime victory over the Ottawa Redblacks in front of 14,148 fans Sunday night at TD Place.

The win improves the Blue Bombers to 4-2 while the RedBlacks drop to 0-6 in crushing fashion.

Rallying from a 26-12 deficit in the fourth quarter, Brown connected with Nic Demski and Pokey Wilson for touchdowns, was at the controls as the teams traded field goals in the first two possessions in overtime and then hit Wilson and Gavin Cobb for two-point conversions in the new mini-game inside OT, while Redha Kramdi batted down a Jake Maier pass on the game’s final play to seal the deal.

Brown finished the day 27-of-43 for 317 yards and the two scores in the win, delivering an exclamation point in his first game against the team that traded him away less than a month ago.

“It feels good. It feels good to win,” said Brown. “I’m happy that our defence and special teams hung in there until we got in gear at the end.”

And while he had downplayed the revenge-retribution angle all week — and post-game, too — Brown did concede his heart was pounding late when the team got the ‘W’

“I tried not to let the feels affect me during the week and I don’t think it did, but I kind of allowed myself to feel that a little bit here,” said Brown, before adding he was ecstatic this storyline can now be put to bed for a few weeks.

“That’s the thing about Dru — he’s even-keeled and that’s how he is on the field, too,” added Demski. “You never thought we were down the way he was out there controlling the huddle. That’s a great characteristic for a quarterback.

“(The revenge angle) wasn’t something we talked about in the locker room, but obviously that was in the back of everybody’s head — the situation he was in. So, for him to step up, and come in here and play the way he did and the full team to rally behind that… it was awesome.”

More thoughts on a wild and wacky one from our view in the press box…

INSTANT TAKEAWAYS

-First off, hands up if you’re in favour of the CFL’s OT format — ours is up, big-time. Settling this with the two-point converts meant there was a winner and a loser and prevents the tie. You could argue the RedBlacks deserve better, but…

“It’s a win so we’ll just take it as that,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “We’ll stick to the process. Hopefully the players enjoy themselves tonight and we’ll get back to work tomorrow, show them the film, talk about the things we need to correct and then move very quickly to the next.

“… The real big point in all this is the first six games we’ve had a lot of different experiences — this being another of them — to learn from. They’re not all the same lessons so I think this will help us be better in the long run.”

Asked what the lessons learned would be from Sunday night, he added:

“There’s another piece of evidence that says the CFL is a great game. You’re never out of it. The amount of focus required, where the attention should be put, if you don’t play clean you’re going to put yourself in peril…. there’s so many.

“Some of them, we’re learning again. And then the whole way overtime works with the two-point converts and those things… it’s good to go through that.

-The Blue Bombers got two sacks — one from veteran Willie Jefferson, the other the first career QB takedown by Michael Fletcher — and after giving up some big chunks early, the defence rallied when it mattered most, forcing four consecutive Ottawa punts before OT.

They also got a goal-line stand — Kyrie Wilson stepping up to stuff Bryson Barnes on third and goal from the one — and Jake Kelly’s first career interception at the back of the end zone, both coming in the third quarter when Ottawa scores might have put the game to bed early.

“I wish I could put that one into words,” said linebacker Tony Jones, who finished with eight tackles. “That was one of those games that was a gritty win for us. It shows how tight of a team we have because there were times where not everything was clicking for us and we just found a way.

“When it was crunch time, we found a way.”

Step up and take a bow, Gavin Cobb. Ditto, Redha Kramdi.

The Blue Bombers and RedBlacks had each traded field goals through the first two rounds of overtime, then each scored two-point conversions as OT reached the third round.

Brown then found Cobb for a two-point conversion — his first catch of the game — before Kramdi broke up Maier’s attempt for Keelan White on the game’s final play.

“They left me open, the ball came my way and you’ve got to make the play,” said Cobb. “It is cool to have that moment.”

And with it coming after not being targeted all night before that, Cobb grinned.

“It was kind of like being a goalie in hockey with the puck in the other end all night long,” he said. “And then all of a sudden, boom, you’ve got to make the big save when the puck comes your way.”

19 — In forcing Ottawa to punt on four consecutive drives the Blue Bombers defence limited the RedBlacks offence to just 19 total yards in that stretch as Brown & Co. managed the late rally before OT.

The Blue Bombers are back home now for a long stretch. The Calgary Stampeders are the next opponent on Friday, July 24th with a 7:30 p.m. start, followed by a visit from the B.C. Lions on Thursday, July 30th.

Winnipeg will then have its second bye of the season before the RedBlacks are in town on Friday, August 14th.