They’ve been massacred by injuries, have way too often been their own worst enemies, and were quickly written off by so many through the first half of the Canadian Football League season.
And so what the Winnipeg Blue Bombers served up Thursday night in an absolutely dominant 25-0 pasting of the B.C. Lions in front of 31,589 on a sweaty, steamy absolutely perfect evening at Princess Auto Stadium was telling in the message it delivered.
That message, essentially, is this: back the blank off writing the obituary on the 2024 Blue Bombers season.
“That was good old school Winnipeg Blue Bombers-style right there,” said running back Brady Oliveira, who rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries and pulled in four passes for 42 yards. “That was getting back to our identity by wearing out the other team.
“That was a total team effort and that’s why this tastes so sweet. The adversity we’ve faced this entire season, especially of late… I mean, for us to come out and have a performance like that against a very good football team, man, that feels so good.”
“We’re a resilient group that comes to work every single day and works. We care. We truly care about this team, about one another and honouring our teammates. Seeing everyone battle for each other on every single play was special.”
Coming off a short week and facing a Lions team coming off a bye, the Blue Bombers will now enter their first bye week of the season with a 3-6 record after snapping a two-game losing skid. The Lions, meanwhile, fall to 5-3.
“I’m just really happy for the guys and impressed with the young guys – I guess they’ve got more energy than the older guys,” said quarterback Zach Collaros, who was superb in completing 27 of 33 for 295 yards, with a grin. “To come in after a flight from Toronto basically four days later and play a game… just hats off to everybody for taking care of their bodies and the coaching staff for putting together a plan for us to execute.”
More on the Blue Bombers third win of the season from our view in the press box…
‘D’ IS FOR DOMINANT:The Lions entered Thursday night revving the CFL’s most dangerous, high-octane offence, ranking first in points (29.4), net offence (406.6), passing yards (342.1) and second-down conversions (58.4%).
And those numbers on Thursday? Try zero points points, 102 yards in net offence, 86 passing yards and six percent (two of 15) on second-down conversions.
Get this, too: the Lions had two first downs after three quarters and just four all night as the Blue Bombers pitched their first shutout since a 45-0 win over the Lions on October 23, 2021.
B.C. QB Vernon Adams, Jr., a leading Most Outstanding Player candidate, finished 8-of-17 for 74 yards with one interception by Tyrell Ford. To make matters worse, he exited the game with 12:31 left in the fourth quarter after being sacked by TyJuan Garbutt and did not return after suffering a right knee injury.
“It’s a momentum boost, especially going into the bye week,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson, who registered a sack and two more pass knockdowns. “We wanted to go into the bye week on a high. We did that and now it’s just sticking to it.
“We’re telling guys right now, don’t sit around, don’t relax the whole bye week if you can and stay locked in – if you can work out, if you can run, if you can watch film, all those things, so when we get back we can get back in a rhythm and it’s not starting all over from the jump.
“This is a big momentum boost for us, the offence, defence and special teams. We played an all-round good game tonight in front of our fans, 31,000 people… we love that.”
Asked what the result says to anyone who might be writing off this squad, Jefferson added:
“The season’s not over yet. We’re just here to play Winnipeg Blue Bombers football. And when you come here you’ve got to play your ‘A’ game.”
GET LUCKY:He was a fan favourite five years ago during the Blue Bombers’ 2019 championship run and the club’s faithful has fallen in love all over again with Lucky Whitehead. The veteran receiver, activated this week for his first game in Blue Bombers colours since 2019 after spending the last few seasons with the Lions, was electric in his ’24 debut.
Whitehead finished the game with six receptions for 56 yards and a 10-yard TD in the first half and his experience – plus, his still blazing speed – seemed to earn him some respect from the Lions’ D. Worth noting: one of Whitehead’s catches was also a second-down conversion and 44 of his 56 yards came after the catch.
“Everything was amazing,” said Whitehead. “Just coming out of that tunnel at the start, it all felt perfect and right, like I belonged.
“It was amazing. I’m glad I got the opportunity. Coaches put me in a great spot to be able to make that play (on the touchdown). Zach has been talking about it and I’ve been studying extra, extra hard. The gameplan was simple for myself. I only had one day of practice (with the starters), so I felt like I had to study extra.
“… Don’t forget I’m an all-star in this league. I know how to play the game. I’ve been working, I haven’t been sitting on my tail. I was just waiting for my chance to get out there.”
SERGIO-OOOOOO:Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo shook off a so-so effort in last week’s overtime loss to Toronto to deliver another epic effort. The veteran hoofer finished the night six-for-six, connecting from 37, 60, 32, 51, 36 and 11 yards. He also became the first kicker in CFL history to connect on two 60-yard field goals in a season.
KEY MOMENTThe Blue Bombers were in complete control of this one not long after the final notes faded from the national anthem. Still, even with all their early dominance they were up just 6-0 as the game inched closer to the intermission.
That’s when Collaros – who at one point completed 14 consecutive passes – pieced together an eight-play, 84-yard drive that was capped by the TD pass to Whitehead. And with the defence swarming, that score was massive.
KEY STAT: 0/4/86/102Pick any of the above – and there were many more to choose from, to be honest. The Blue Bombers shut out the Lions, limiting them to four first downs, 86 passing yards and 102 yards net offence.
In this wide-open league where the scoreboards often light up, those are simply jaw-dropping numbers.
NEXT: The Blue Bombers now enjoy their first bye week of the season and are back on the field – and on the road – on Sunday, August 18th in Vancouver against the Lions with a 6 p.m. CDT start.
