REGINA – They don’t paint masterpieces and don’t sculpt works of art. That’s simply not been the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ style through two thirds of the 2024 Canadian Football League season.
Instead, this bunch rolls up its collective sleeves, spits in both hands and methodically swings the sledgehammer over and over again.
And now – after Sunday’s absolutely bonkers 35-33 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in front of a Mosaic Stadium record crowd of 33,861 in the Labour Day Classic – that sweat equity has seen the Blue Bombers climb out of their 0-4 start to a 6-6 record and top spot in the West Division.
For the record, the Blue Bombers and Lions are now tied at 6-6 with the Riders at 5-6-1, but Winnipeg owns the potential tiebreaker on B.C. after winning two of three head-to-head meetings this year.
Amazingly, and this probably speaks volumes of this crew, that first-place narrative wasn’t even a topic of conversation in the locker room post-game.
“We could care less about that right now, to be honest,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson. “Tough game, glad we won, but we’ve got some stuff to fix. Like Coach O’Shea said in the middle of the week – this is not the time to be worried about standings and stuff like that. We’ll let the chips fall where they fall at the end, but we’ve got to get through the mud right now.
“We’re just playing football right now, man. It’s that time of the year where we can’t worry about standings, we can’t worry about stats, we can’t worry about the media. Like I said, we’re in the mud right now and we’re fighting to get where we want to get to. It’s going to be a hard grind and we’re ready to work.”
More on the club’s dramatic win from our view in the press box here in the Saskatchewan capital…
Pull back for this big-picture view of the club’s sixth win of the season: the Blue Bombers got it done with Zach Collaros missing the second half after a shot to the chin/late hit, Adam Bighill injured in the second half and with a revamped offensive line missing Stanley Bryant.
That’s not insignificant, as all three men will one day be in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
“We’re certainly playing better. We’re showing up more focused on a daily basis,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “The young guys have come along very nicely. Our vets have cleaned up the stuff they needed to clean up too, and it’s starting to become a team and starting to understand three-phase football.
“So, it is looking better. Still, to a man in there they show up and they’re happy, but they’re all committed to coming in tomorrow and being better.”
COLLAROS STATUS:The veteran gunslinger had put together arguably his best half of the season, having completed 12 of 18 passes for 218 yards and a 44-yard TD strike to Nic Demski, when with 1:25 left in the second quarter he evaded pressure, rolled out and lofted a bomb into the end zone for Kenny Lawler. Lawler was interfered with, placing the ball on the one-yard line and setting up Chris Streveler’s second QB-sneak TD.
But on the play Collaros took a late shot to the chin by the shoulder/helmet of Riders defensive lineman Myles Brown. He finished the game on the sidelines in the second half, but did not return.
“The guy shouldered him in the jaw late,” said O’Shea. “Zach is… we consider him the best quarterback in the league, especially in clutch situations. He’s dynamite. So, to lose him is tough. But in terms of penalties and how things are managed from the league, I cannot comment, I will not comment on it.”
Steveler played the second half, going 4-of-6 for 46 yards and finished the day with seven rushes for 12 yards and two scores.
“It’s always tough (to see Collaros go down),” said Streveler. “I’ve got so much love for that guy and he’s such a great teammate. He just does so much for that team and for me in that room and the leadership he shows for us is so big and so even to have him on the sideline in the second half… it means a lot to me and to the guys in that locker room but they best way to honour him is to play hard and get a win, and that’s what we did.
“… I didn’t get a great look at the play. I saw him go down. I saw it was a high hit. You’d love to be able to eliminate those from the game as much as possible. It’s just unfortunate, man, and I hope we can start to eliminate some of those high hits on quarterbacks, head-to-head hits, from the game because there’s just no place for it in football.”
HOG REPORT:The Blue Bombers offensive line was a storyline all week leading into the Labour Day Classic with the uncertainty as to whether Bryant would be available to suit up at his left tackle spot.
A stat needing repeating here: Bryant has appeared in 214 regular season games, all starts, in his storied career. Neufeld has 123 starts himself, giving the veteran pair of all-stars 337 starts combined. And the starting five for the Blue Bombers in the LDC? Try 98 combined — Kolankowski (45), Lofton (29), Dobson (14), Eli (six) and Randolph (four).
“Buck (Pierce, offensive coordinator) puts together a real nice plan, Marty (Costello, offensive line coach) has the guys tuned up,” said O’Shea. “And if they’re in our building, they can play for us – they’ve just got to get opportunities and right now a bunch of guys are getting opportunities. I thought they did well. From the sideline I’m not the guy to talk about the O-line, but it seemed like a pretty decent game.”
The Blue Bombers got a first-half score from their kick cover units for the second straight week when Nick Hallett jumped on a Mario Alford gaffe after he touched the ball on a punt return before it wobbled into the end zone.
A week ago, in the win over Hamilton, it was Michael Ayers returning a fumble after Tony Jones walloped the returner.
“It’s really lucky. I’m blessed,” said Hallett. “It’s not really anything I did. You could be interviewing our whole punt team. Our cover teams have been hustling all year. Jammer (Jamieson Sheahan) put a great punt down there. I did beat my guy and when I saw the ball hit his hands and bounce towards me, I just jumped on it.
“That’s a great feeling to help out because I felt I let the team down in other aspects.”
The Blue Bombers did make it uncomfortable at the end, with the Riders recovering a short-kick after scoring a TD, missing on the two-point convert and needing one last shot at glory. A 60-yard Brett Lauther field-goal attempt on the last play fell short.
DON’T GO THERE:The win was the 102nd for O’Shea as head coach, tying him with Bud Grant for first in franchise history.
“My name should never be mentioned with Bud Grant,” O’Shea said afterward. “He’s one of the best ever. I’d be happy if we didn’t talk about it again.”
KEY MOMENTSo many possibilities in a game that ended with a long Rider drive and a failed two-point convert, but we’ll rewind to a couple plays on the Blue Bombers last possession.
Leading 32-27 with 2:43 left – and after a critical 31-yard punt return by Lucky Whitehead – Streveler hit Nic Demski for a 10-yard pass to push the Blue Bombers into Rider territory.
Two plays later Sergio Castillo – CASH-tillo – stepped out and cranked a 56-yard field goal to put the club up by eight.
KEY STAT: 6-2Let’s not complicate things here: the Blue Bombers are 6-2 after an 0-4 start that had so many penning their obituary and readying to notify their next of kin. And now… back to .500 and still grinding.
NEXT:
Here we go next with the annual sequel to the Labour Day Classic, the Banjo Bowl, back home in Winnipeg on Saturday, September 7th with a 2 p.m. start.
