Zach Collaros turns back clock as Winnipeg Blue Bombers cull Calgary (& 11 other thoughts)

Photo: Samantha Keen/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Calgary Stampeders by a score of 33-28 on Saturday evening in front of 32,343 fans at Princess Auto Stadium. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Zach is back

Though he recently indicated he wants to play in 2027, this may have been the final home game for Zach Collaros as a member of the Blue Bombers.

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It didn’t start well.

On the second offensive snap of the game, Collaros fired the ball to Ontaria Wilson but Jaydon Grant undercut the route. The defender got two hands on the pass to knock it down, though he should have made the interception. Had he done so, the play would have almost certainly resulted in a pick-six.

On the next possession, Collaros bounced back with what may have been his best throw of the season.

Dorian Singer ran a deep corner route, drawing coverage from rookie safety Ashton Miller-Melancon. Winnipeg ran play-action to perfection, giving Collaros plenty of time and chance to fully step into the throw. The result was a 52-yard completion that travelled 48 yards in the air.

COLLAROS LAUNCHES IT TO SINGER FOR 52 YARDS! 🤯

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Mobil Thanksgiving Weekend | #CFLGameDay https://t.co/hWxYq79pPg

— CFL (@CFL) October 10, 2026

On the next play, Collaros hit Ontaria Wilson for an 18-yard touchdown. It was a dangerous throw that fluttered high into the air, but Wilson made a great play to reel it in between two defenders. Defensive lineman Clarence Hicks was irate with the officials after the play, apparently arguing he’d been held by Jarell Broxton. Watching the replay, he probably was, though there was no penalty.

Collaros hit another dime on the following drive when he was flushed from the pocket by Charles Wiley. On this particular play, seven-man protection still wasn’t enough to give Collaros more than three seconds to throw against a four-man rush. Despite the breakdown, Collaros threw a perfect ball on the run to Tim White, who made the 41-yard catch.

This is when things momentarily took a turn for the worse.

Midway through the second quarter, Collaros had Nic Demski wide open over the middle of the field. The veteran quarterback had a ton of time to throw but missed high, giving Miller-Melancon an easy interception. It was a costly error, particularly as Winnipeg was already in field goal range.

On Winnipeg’s next possession, they got those points back.

Collaros hit Singer for a 45-yard completion to start the drive. Again, the team used play-action to perfection, as the Stampeders were clearly expecting Brady Oliveira to get the ball on first down. There was nothing special about Singer’s route — it was a simple go ball off the waggle — but he high-pointed the pass perfectly over Adrian Greene.

Two plays later, Collaros rolled out to his right and found Demski for a 25-yard touchdown pass. If you watch the play back, Stanley Bryant clearly moved before the snap of the ball, though the officials didn’t throw the flag.

Winnipeg entered this week with only 13 completions of 30-plus yards on the season. They now had three in one half, along with a 17-9 lead.

The Blue Bombers reverted to a more conservative approach in the second half, which made sense given they had the lead and Brady Oliveira was well-rested. The veteran ball-carrier only registered two carries in the first half, so it made sense to give him a heavy late workload.

However, on his second touch of the half, Oliveira fumbled near midfield. Damon Webb was credited with the fumble and the ensuing recovery, giving Calgary possession. The timing was disastrous, as Winnipeg’s defence had just been on the field for a seven-play, 72-yard drive that ended in a Stampeders touchdown.

From there, the offence went back to its bread and butter for most of the fourth quarter, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. The offensive line struggled at times with Calgary’s four-man rush, and the play-action that was so effective early in the game seemingly went away. In lieu of deep shots, the offence mostly targeted the intermediate area of the field and shallow routes along the sidelines.

Oliveira finished the game with only eight carries for 40 yards, which was surprising as the Stampeders have the CFL’s worst rush defence. With that said, it’s clear that Calgary planned to take Oliveira away by stuffing the box, and Winnipeg’s offence should be commended for making them pay deep down the field.

The dagger came just after the three-minute warning, when Singer caught a 39-yard pass from Collaros to convert on second-and-ten. Demski ran the coverage off the top, and Singer found a nice hole in the zone. The play led to a field goal from Sergio Castillo, which made it a two-score game with only two minutes left to play.

Collaros finished the game 19-of-27 for 349 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He also had a clutch 14-yard run near just before the three-minute warning to convert a key second down. Collaros doesn’t run as well as he used to, but he runs pretty darn well for 38.

It was a strong performance from the veteran quarterback. If this was his last game in Winnipeg as a member of the Blue Bombers, local fans will remember it fondly.

Defence does enough

Winnipeg’s defence was far from brilliant on Saturday, though the unit played well enough to win the game.

The first half was marked by a lack of finish. The defence repeatedly disrupted Vernon Adams Jr. and flushed him from the pocket, though they were unable to bring him down. Michael Fletcher recorded the team’s lone sack, though it came after the veteran quarterback lost his footing, fell down, and merely needed to be touched to end the play.

Trey Vaval came close to intercepting a pass moments before halftime, which may have allowed Winnipeg a chance to add points before the break. Kyrie Wilson also dropped a would-be interception late in the fourth quarter, which would have sealed the game.

In the end, the unit forced zero takeaways. It’s not often that a team wins after losing the turnover battle 2-0, but fans in Winnipeg won’t complain.

There was a ton of miscommunication near the midway point of the third quarter when Calgary was first-and-goal from the six-yard line. Head coach Mike O’Shea, defensive coordinator Jordan Younger, and defensive line coach Jake Thomas were all waving their arms frantically, as it appeared the team had too many players on the field.

Two players ran off, and Michael Fletcher looked visibly confused about whether or not he should be on the field. Instead of running a play with what appeared to be 11 players on the field, O’Shea called a time out. He was then visibly frustrated, taking off his headset and exasperatedly speaking with his assistants.

After the timeout, the defence got an initial stop when Jalen Philpot couldn’t handle a pass from Vernon Adams Jr., though Deonta McMahon ran-in a six-yard touchdown one play later.

McMahon scored again in the dying moments of the third quarter, when he caught an outlet pass from Adams Jr. and blew through a would-be tackle from Deatrick Nichols.

The defence tightened up from there, pitching a shutout in the fourth quarter until there were only 17 seconds left in the game. The unit also slammed the door on two Calgary two-point convert attempts, both of which were rushing plays.

In the end, the Stampeders managed only 6.1 yards per play and Adams Jr. didn’t complete a pass beyond 19 yards. Against a top-ranked offence, most defences would be pretty pleased with that performance.

Viva la Vaval

Trey Vaval has been excellent all season long, but he saved arguably his best performance for the biggest game of the year.

The CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Rookie returned the second half’s opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown, going untouched in the process.

INSTANT OFFENCE, 88 YARDS TO THE 🏠

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Dante Daniels and Tanner Schmekel made the initial blocks that provided Vaval with a seam, and then Ethan Stuart boxed out Marquel Lee, who had the last chance at the speedy returner. The only player who had a good shot at bringing Vaval down was kicker Rene Paredes, who fell over when the second-year return man dodged him with ease.

Vaval had another excellent play in the fourth quarter, when he picked up 34 yards on a punt return that initially looked dead in the water. He ran through an arm tackle from Jesulayomi Ojutalayo, then embarrassed Godfrey Onyeka with a spin move to find room up the sideline where there had previously been none. It was pretty sensational.

Sergio Castillo also had a great game, going four-for-four on field goals with a long of 48 yards.

The last time Winnipeg was at home, they had a rare off-day on special teams and it arguably cost them the game. This week, they were back to their usual form.

Hit of the year

Jaylen Smith’s hit on Deonta McMahon late in the second quarter was arguably the most bone-crushing of the CFL season to date.

Vernon Adams Jr. scrambled as the pocket collapsed, and found McMahon on a crossing route. The veteran running back had a step on Redha Kramdi, and turned his eyes upfield, seemingly unaware that Smith was pursuing him from the sideline.

WOAH! HUGE HIT 🤯

Jaylen Smith with one of the biggest hits of the year on Deonta McMahon! #CFL https://t.co/rIYGbSsdxO

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 11, 2026

BOOM!

Smith put his shoulder into McMahon and the ball-carrier went flying. The hit momentarily sucked all the air out of the stadium as tens of thousands of people simultaneously gasped.

The second-year defender has a bit of a unique frame for a CFL defensive back at 228 pounds. Smith used each and every one of them to level McMahon.

Despite its brutality, the hit was clean — and fortunately, McMahon wasn’t injured.

Attendance record

The Blue Bombers recorded their seventh sell-out of the season, and will officially lead the CFL in attendance for the fifth-straight year with an average of 32,136 fans per game.

Though the team was unable to sell-out the entire regular-season as it did in 2025, it’ll finish this year at 99.4 percent capacity, which is still pretty exceptional.

Winnipeg also hosted 10 regular-season games instead of nine due to the World Cup displacement of the Toronto Argonauts. With total regular-season attendance of 321,356 for the year, that’s a record that will likely never be broken.

Going down

Jaylen Smith suffered an injury near the start of the second half. The native of Hamilton, Ont. was able to leave the field under his own power, though he appeared to be favouring his left leg. He did not return.

If he misses time, Smith would be a big loss. He’s a ratio-breaking starter and one of the team’s better defensive players.

Willie Jefferson also left the game very late, though he appeared no worse for wear on the sideline.

End of an era

The Blue Bombers still technically have a chance to host a playoff game, though the odds of that happening are extraordinarily low.

With this almost certainly being Winnipeg’s last home game of the season, Saturday likely marked the last one for at least a couple of the team’s long-serving veterans.

I’m not going to list them here — we all know the names, and I’ll let them address their respective futures when the time is right — but there are a slew of veterans who may never play again in Winnipeg as a member of the team. Talk about the end of an era.

Mother Nature

It’s pretty common for late-season games in Winnipeg to have miserable weather, but this year was incredible. It felt like 25 degrees at kickoff with a mix of sun and cloud and virtually no wind. You’d never know it wasn’t June, save for the yellow leaves on the trees.

I’m sure the Blue Bombers would much rather be hosting games into November, but there’s something to be said for finishing things up by the second week of October. I suppose that’s why the CFL is moving the season up.

Stupid decision

While moving the season earlier has its merits, expanding the playoffs to eight teams is perhaps the stupidest decision the CFL has ever made.

Saturday’s matchup was electric because it was must-win game for both teams. It was essentially a playoff game, and to get a playoff atmosphere, you need playoff stakes.

Starting next year, it’ll be almost impossible for this to happen. Late-season games like this will be exceedingly rare — and when they occur, it’ll be between the two worst teams in the league. At that point, who really cares?

Mr. 300

Congratulations to Bob McGregor on reaching his 300th game as Winnipeg’s public-address announcer. He’s the best in the business, and synonymous with the sound of Blue Bombers football.

The Winnipeg Free Press wrote a great article on McGregor reaching the milestone. You can check it out here.

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-8) will visit the Edmonton Elks (12-4) at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday, October 16. The Elks have already clinched a home playoff game but have yet to secure first place in the West Division, so they presumably won’t rest anyone.

Edmonton swept the first two meetings between the teams this season, winning 23-18 at Princess Auto Stadium in Week 4 and 22-19 at Commonwealth Stadium in Week 12. The first loss came after Winnipeg fumbled four times in the first half, while the second loss came despite a 118-yard performance from Brady Oliveira.

John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster.