BOMBERS 14 | STAMPEDERS 22

Five quick takes on Sunday afternoon’s West Final loss to the Calgary Stampeders from Ed Tait of bluebombers.com:

1. Calgary’s win sends them to the Grey Cup for the third consecutive season and offers them the chance to erase the nightmares of the last two championship games – losses to the Ottawa REDBLACKS in 2016 and the Toronto Argonauts in 2017. Ottawa, meanwhile, advanced to the 106th Grey Cup with a 46-27 smack down of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final earlier Sunday. Winnipeg’s Grey Cup drought, dating back to 1990, is now at 28 years.

2. Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell was steady in the first half, completing 12 of 18 for 156 yards and two TDs. He struggled at the start of the second half, but pieced together a scoring drive that resulted in a dagger TD with 3:27 left that put them up 21-11. He finished the day 17 of 31 for 214 yards with three TDs and zero interceptions. Eric Rogers caught all three of Mitchell’s passes and finished with six catches for 61 yards

3. The Bombers offence, meanwhile, couldn’t get on track at all. Winnipeg managed just 245 yards offence, including just 100 through the air as Matt Nichols completed 15 of 32 for 156 yards. Andrew Harris managed 71 yards rushing on 11 carries, but the Bombers longest play from scrimmage was just 27 yards – on a Nichols to Rashaun Simonise completion with less than a minute remaining.

4. The Bombers were nailed for 11 penalties for 98 yards, their highest total of the season.

5. Charles Nelson dressed for just his second game of the season in an effort to provide a boost to the return game. He finished with four kickoff returns for 64 yards and 77 yards on seven punt returns. Justin Medlock kicked four field goals, including a 57 yarder in the first quarter that was a CFL playoff record.