Photo: Shaun McLeod/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost to the Toronto Argonauts by a score of 31-17 on Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 13,266 fans at BMO Field. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Repeating mistakes

Saturday’s game was rightfully marketed as a Grey Cup rematch, though it quickly turned into a Grey Cup repeat.

Zach Collaros posted another miserable stat line before leaving the game due to injury, just as he did in last year’s championship matchup. The difference was that he didn’t return this time around as Chris Streveler was at the controls for the second half.

Midway through the first quarter, Collaros threw a short out route intended for Jerreth Sterns that was well-covered by weak-side linebacker Cameron Judge. The defender made an easy interception, which led to a field goal from Lirim Hajrullahu.

Collaros threw another pick on Winnipeg’s next drive, though he bore no blame. Sterns took a big hit from middle linebacker Wynton McManis, which caused the ball to pop into the air. It bounced off McManis twice — once off his shoulder and once off his helmet — before landing in the waiting arms of cornerback Benjie Franklin.

Collaros struggled in three outings against the Argonauts in 2024, completing 68.5 percent of his passes for 768 yards, one touchdown, and six interceptions. The offence struggled to score points accordingly, generating only 16.3 points per game.

On Saturday, Collaros completed 50.0 percent of his passes for 79 yards and two interceptions. The offence scored a measly 10 points — three with Collaros at the controls and seven under Streveler.

Head coach Mike O’Shea offered no update on Collaros postgame, declining even to confirm if the injury was upper body or lower body. The veteran passer watched the second half from the sidelines, wearing a jacket and his game pants.

Play-calling was also an issue for the Blue Bombers, as it was in last year’s Grey Cup. Brady Oliveira rushed for 41 yards on his first six carries as the rain fell steadily. He then went over a quarter — from the midway point of the first quarter until late in the second quarter — without recording a carry.

Winnipeg ran seven passing plays over that time, only three of which were complete. One can’t help but wonder if the script would have been different had the Blue Bombers stuck with their bread and butter and run the ball.

“There’s gonna be highs and lows in every football game. You try not to think about it, just try and go out there and execute your job, whatever’s being called,” said Oliveira postgame, who seemed genuinely unperturbed by the play-calling.

“We all know that this unit is very capable of leaning on the run game and wearing teams out and getting it done on the ground, but it’s going to look different every single week. I’ve been a part of games here in this organization where we can’t run the ball much and we have a great win.”

The league’s reigning Most Outstanding Player finished the game with 13 carries for 82 yards and two catches for 38 yards.

The mistakes weren’t all on Collaros as the veteran quarterback threw an early deep ball to Keric Wheatfall in the end zone, which would have gone for a touchdown had the receiver survived contact with the ground. This was another repeat from last year’s Grey Cup when Wheatfall let a would-be touchdown slip through his hands.

Collaros also threw a great ball to Nic Demski in the second quarter, which the veteran secured for 46 yards to extend his consecutive catch streak to 77 games.

WHAT A SNAG DEMSKI pic.twitter.com/lqRkfSfvta

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) July 27, 2025

With that said, Winnipeg’s offensive performance wasn’t good enough. Were it not for some late-game underneath completions, the unit wouldn’t have even reached 300 net yards.

Toronto’s defence has changed a lot since last year — the entire defensive line is new, as is half the secondary and part of the coaching staff. Regardless, the results were the same as the Blue Bombers have yet to solve them.

Tackling trouble

Winnipeg’s defensive front generated a whopping five sacks — more on those in a moment — but the performance of the overall unit was miserable.

Nick Arbuckle picked apart the Blue Bombers with ease, repeatedly finding open receivers and converting consistently on second-and-long. The journeyman passer finished the game 22-of-31 for 316 yards and two touchdowns. Had the Argonauts kept pushing the ball deep downfield into the fourth quarter, it seems reasonable to think Arbuckle may have eclipsed the 400-yard mark.

After blaming miscommunication for last week’s poor defensive performance, strong-side linebacker Redha Kramdi pointed to Winnipeg’s defensive backs losing one-on-one battles.

“We’re just not winning,” he said. “The coach can call whatever he wants, whatever call he wants, whatever defence he wants — the players have gotta execute because it’s a 12-on-12 game, but for the most part it comes down to one-on-one and sometimes we lost when we had two-on-ones. We’ve really gotta look at ourselves in the mirror.”

Winnipeg’s tackling was particularly bad. For long stretches of the game, Toronto receivers seemed to make the first defender miss on virtually every play as they went 14-of-26 on second down and gobbled up 438 yards of net offence. Head coach Mike O’Shea admitted the team’s tackling was lacking, though he classified some of the late-game misses as smart situational football.

“I don’t think we tackled well enough,” he said. “A few times there, it depends on the score. You’ll see our guys really just trying to rip for the ball and not necessarily securing a tackle, so there’s going to be a small handful of tackles where you like the effort and the IQ that says, ‘Hey, we need the ball,’ especially if they’re already in a field goal or in a scoring position.”

Footing is always essential in rain games and home teams typically have an advantage in that area, given that they typically practice on their playing surface.

This isn’t the case in Toronto, however, as the Argonauts practice at nearby Lamport Stadium, a rugby venue with artificial turf. This is presumably done because BMO Field is a shared venue with natural grass. Not only would practicing at the facility create scheduling conflicts with Toronto FC, but the surface would get chewed up due to overuse.

The Strevolution

Social media was abuzz when Chris Streveler took over from Zach Collaros to start the second half. The dual-threat passer struggled in a relief effort last week and skeptics seemed to expect more of the same this week.

Though his accuracy waned at times and Tarvarus McFadden dropped what could have been an interception, Streveler was certainly Winnipeg’s best quarterback of the day. The 30-year-old completed 11-of-18 pass attempts for 148 yards and one touchdown and rushed four times for 16 yards.

If Collaros is unable to play next week, it will be interesting to see how Streveler fares assuming he gets the start. He played well in his lone start of the season thus far, leading the Blue Bombers to a 34-20 win over the B.C. Lions in Week 2.

Under pressure

The Blue Bombers entered this week averaging only 1.2 sacks per game, ranking eighth in the CFL. Sacks aren’t a perfect way to measure pass-rushing success — it’s possible to disrupt the quarterback without bringing him down — but Winnipeg hasn’t generated enough pressure as of late.

The team’s inability to get after the passer was evident on Nick Arbuckle’s first-quarter touchdown pass to Damonte Coxie. The Argonauts ran play-action, then Arbuckle pump-faked to get cornerback Terrell Bonds to bite on Coxie’s route before delivering a 33-yard strike for the score.

Arbuckle, Are You Kidding!? 🤯

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— CFL (@CFL) July 26, 2025

It’s rare that you see play-action and a pump-fake on the same play because it takes so long. James Vaughters and Cameron Lawson eventually broke through the line but not quickly enough to disrupt Arbuckle, who cleanly delivered the long ball.

That’s when lightning struck a half-dozen times in pretty rapid succession.

Tony Jones got home for a sack late in the first quarter on a twist, which was impressive considering he had to re-find his footing after slipping on the rain-soaked grass. He notched his second sack on the final play of the first quarter, again showing impressive balance.

VAUGHTERS SCOOP AND SCORE!!!!!#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/bpWp8FvTdd

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) July 26, 2025

James Vaughters returned a Khalan Laborn fumble for a touchdown, which was Winnipeg’s first major score, then recorded his first sack as a member of the Blue Bombers moments later after beating right guard Anthony Vandal with a nice inside move.

The veteran defender generated another pressure before the first quarter elapsed, which resulted in a sack for rookie defensive end Jay Person. The play was negated, however, as Person was charged with roughing the passer. The call was reasonable but it wasn’t a dirty play — Arbuckle tucked his chin to his chest at the last second and Person’s hand caught the base of the helmet.

The Argonauts entered Saturday’s game banged up along the offensive line with Ryan Hunter, Dylan Giffen, and Anim Dankwah all out due to injury. John Bosse, a third-round pick in last year’s draft out of the University of Calgary, made his second career start, while Shane Richards started at left guard only five days after signing as a free agent.

Devin Adams with a big sack on Nick Arbuckle!

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— CFL (@CFL) July 27, 2025

Winnipeg’s sack attack quieted for most of the second half, though Vaughters and Devin Adams crushed Arbuckle midway through the third quarter. The Blue Bombers rushed six defenders against five blockers and Arbuckle was unable to find his hot route, turtling under the weight of 550 pounds of defensive bodies.

With all the changes up front for Toronto, the Blue Bombers took advantage to generate pressure on Arbuckle — at times, at least.

Janarion the QB

The Argonauts reached into their bag of tricks on their first offensive play as Janarion Grant caught a bubble screen from Nick Arbuckle and launched the ball deep downfield.

HELLO LITTLE TRICK PLAY COURTESY OF JANARION GRANT 🪄

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— CFL (@CFL) July 26, 2025

Damonte Coxie and DaVaris Daniels were far behind Winnipeg’s secondary and the former would have scored an easy touchdown had Grant thrown the ball further. Instead, the veteran returner managed a 41-yard toss that was almost picked off by Evan Holm.

The veteran defender recovered well on the play and stretched out his arms at the perfect time. Unfortunately for him, the ball fell neatly between his waiting arms and was caught by Coxie. In hindsight, this was almost an omen of what was to come for Toronto’s passing game. Just about everything they tried worked.

Oh, snap

Veteran centre Chris Kolankowski cost the Blue Bombers a drive when he skittered a snap back to Chris Streveler along the grass late in the first quarter. It was second-and-two and Streveler made a nice play to cover the loose ball, preventing a turnover, though Winnipeg was forced to punt on third-and-fourteen.

The York University product indicated after the game that the ball was wet and he made a mistake by not informing the umpire, who would have provided him with a drier one.

“I should know that as a vet in this league,” said Kolankowski. “I’ve gotta be smarter. I’ve played this game a long time, in this league for a long time. I’ve gotta know that, so that’s on me.”

Be-Trey-d

Rookie returner Trey Vaval made a key mistake on Saturday when he coughed up the ball on a punt return. Derek Slywka was credited with forcing the fumble, though it appeared as though Vaval may have lost the handle all on his own.

I spoke to a CFL source this week who thinks Vaval’s a great young player — a fast, vertical returner who isn’t afraid of getting his nose dirty. With that said, he is now responsible for two turnovers in six games with no touchdowns to balance them out.

Vaval entered the game on defence in the second quarter where he took over from Marquise Bridges at field-side cornerback. It appears this decision was based purely on performance as Bridges didn’t appear to suffer an injury. Interestingly, head coach Mike O’Shea said defensive coordinator Jordan Younger has the autonomy to make mid-game personnel changes on his unit.

“I have a lot of faith in [Younger] and he’s going to make a decision,” said O’Shea. “He would have full control over that.”

Vaval left the game in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a lower leg injury but managed to return. It will be interesting to see if he starts over Bridges next week.

Just in Case

The Blue Bombers are still looking for a receiver to step up in place of the injured Dalton Schoen. Jerreth Sterns answered the call to at least some extent on Saturday night, recording four catches for 72 yards and one touchdown, though Keric Wheatfall and Nic Demski had relatively quiet nights.

Kody Case, who made a second straight start in Schoen’s boundary slotback spot, garnered zero targets until there were three minutes left in the game when he dropped a pass on third-and-five, resulting in a turnover on downs. Moments later, he was carted off with what appeared to be a serious leg injury.

With the offence clearly in need of a spark, Dillon Mitchell needs to start next week. Heck, he should have been in the lineup two weeks ago.

If Vaval is unable to play next week — or if he’s starting at cornerback, for that matter — the Blue Bombers may also need the veteran receiver to return.

The Big Smoke

The Argonauts clearly have Winnipeg’s number.

Two recent Grey Cup losses aside, the Blue Bombers haven’t fared well in their visits to BMO Field, winning only one matchup since 2019. The lone victory occurred in 2022 and came with extenuating circumstances as Boris Bede missed a last-minute convert that would have sent the game to overtime. Instead, Winnipeg won 23-22 in regulation.

The rest of the matchups have been one-game defeats for the Blue Bombers, including a one-point loss in 2019, a seven-point loss in 2021, and a two-point overtime loss in 2024. The teams didn’t meet in Toronto in 2023, which was the year the Argonauts finished with a remarkable 16-2 regular-season record to finish first place in the East Division.

As for this matchup, the weather was pretty shocking. After almost 72 hours of blistering heat in Toronto, it started to rain before pregame warmups and the temperature dropped rapidly. The crowd was relatively poor, which was due at least in part to the weather and severe delays with Go Transit, which is a key form of transportation on game days.

It was impressive to see how much support the Blue Bombers received when they first took the field, getting a good cheer from hundreds of fans donning blue and gold. Unfortunately for those same fans, there wasn’t a lot of cheer about once the game started.

Field flipping

One of few silver linings for Winnipeg was how effectively they limited Janarion Grant in the return game. The veteran speedster managed 9.3 yards per punt return and 16.0 yards per kickoff return, while Jamieson Sheahan averaged 44.5 net yards on four punts. He also took off to try to convert on third-and-five but came up a yard short, resulting in one of Winnipeg’s three turnovers on downs.

Jaylen Smith, Winnipeg’s second-round pick in this year’s draft, recorded a team-leading three special teams tackles. It wasn’t a great night for fellow linebacker Connor Shay, who was drafted one round ahead of Smith, as a holding penalty wiped out a 15-yard punt return midway through the fourth quarter.

Up next

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3-3) will host the Toronto Argonauts (2-5) for the second half of their home-and-home on Friday, August 1 at Princess Auto Stadium. It appears Nick Arbuckle will make a second straight start, as Chad Kelly was suddenly moved to the six-game injured list on Saturday.

The bottom line is this: the Blue Bombers aren’t a good football team right now. There are too many mistakes and the coaches and players clearly recognize that. In a tough West Division, there’s not a lot of room for error and this team isn’t playing anywhere near the level they need to attain if they hope to return to a sixth-straight Grey Cup in 2025.