There are no clear signals or signposts but there’s a vibe developing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after three straight losses. Simply put, it feels like the five-time Canadian Football League West Division title holders — and champions in 2019 and 2021 — have reached a tipping point.
To be a bit more succinct — and graphic — it’s time for this team to poop or get off the pot here, what with their grip on a playoff spot slipping with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders having pulled too far ahead and the B.C. Lions having successfully closed the gap on the blue and gold and the Edmonton Elks still lurking.
Indeed, while the Blue Bombers fell 32-21 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Friday night, the Lions knocked off the Ottawa Redblacks 38-27 later that night with the Toronto Argonauts then providing some help with last-play 31-30 over the Elks Saturday afternoon.
That leaves Winnipeg and B.C. both at 6-7 — and with the Blue Bombers having won the season series — and the Elks now 5-8.
Still, worth noting here: Winnipeg has not just dropped three straight but has gone an abysmal 3-7 in its last 10.
“I don’t know what to tell you. I’m going to give you the same speech I always give after a loss: we’ve just got to play tougher, be better. It’s the same s–t,” said dime back Redha Kramdi inside a morose Blue Bombers locker room late Friday night. “We’ve just got to be better. It’s small stuff. It’s a couple missed tackles on defence. And if we hold them to threes instead of touchdowns (after first half turnovers) maybe we have a chance at the end.
“No one is losing hope or anything, we’ve just got to start playing better football. If we don’t start winning the week we can’t expect to come out and win the game with the way we’re playing. And if we keep saying. ‘the next game, the next game, the next game ‘ we’re going to end up home in early November. We can’t be looking too far ahead, but we have to start winning.”
We outlined the current tiebreaker scenario briefly above, but it’s worth checking in on the remaining schedule, knowing two of the the three West teams could still make the playoffs — the fourth as a possible crossover team in the East Division.
REMAINING GAMES:
Blue Bombers (6-7)
Road (2): Ottawa, Sept. 20th; Edmonton, Oct. 11th
Home (3): Hamilton, Sept. 27th; Saskatchewan, Oct. 17th; Montreal, Oct. 25th
Lions (6-7)
Road (2): Calgary, Sept. 19th; Saskatchewan, Oct. 25th
Home (3): Toronto, Sept. 26th; Calgary, Oct. 4th; Edmonton, Oct. 17th
Elks (5-8)
Road (2): Hamilton, Sept. 20th; B.C., Oct. 17th
Home (3): Saskatchewan, Sept. 27th; Winnipeg, Oct. 11th; Calgary, Oct. 24th
Friday’s game was another snapshot of the ills which have plagued this team this season: too many turnovers, an inconsistent offence that leads to a worn-out defence which then can’t find a stop in critical moments.
And it’s slowly eating away at this bunch.
“It’s disappointing. We put a ton of work in during the week, and I feel like we prepare really well,” said veteran guard Pat Neufeld. “There’s obviously plays we want to get back and I know it sounds like a broken record but it’s these mistakes we’re making, these lulls in situations where we’ve got to be firing on all cylinders and we’re not.
“It’s starting to get gut-check time, and we don’t have a lot of time. We’re going to have to start figuring things out ourselves, dig in and get this thing rolling.
“It takes intent,” Neufeld added. “You’ve got to be like a racehorse and put the blinders on and have a real solid focus on the task at hand and that comes in the meeting room, at practice, at walk-throughs, the games… everything. We’re not separating, and we’ve got to find those moments where we’re going to be great and overcome the errors.”
ICYMI, here is our Game Recap from Friday night:
And what follows is the rest of this week’s Upon Further Review…
THREE NUMBERS WHICH STOOD OUT… after a second glance at the stats package, which can be found here:
1 The offensive inconsistency continues to be a frustrating talking point and there are a couple of numbers which scream out to that point.
First, Brady Oliveira and the offensive line were dominating up front in the first half, as Winnipeg’s workhorse had 13 carries for 110 yards and two receptions for 24 yards in the first two quarters. After that he had just two rushes for six yards and two catches for 11 yards in the final 30 minutes. Three of his four second-half touches came on the club’s first possession in the third quarter — two rushes and a catch — and then he went 23 minutes and 24 seconds before he had the ball in his mitts again on a reception with 2:15 left in the game and Winnipeg trailing 32-13.
And second, Chris Streveler’s numbers got a considerable boost late in the game with the Ticats attempting to milk the clock and pumping the brakes on being overly aggressive offensively and defensively. Streveler started out going 11-of-19 for 132 yards with the TD to Keric Wheatfall and the two costly interceptions that led to 14 Ticat points. And in the last two drives — both inside the final 2:42 — he was 7-of-10 for 109 yards.
All that said, Winnipeg had more first downs (22-21), more rushing yards (198-163), more passing yards (241-230) and more yards net offence (420-393) than the Ticats. Countering that, Hamilton had the ball for almost 10 minutes more than Winnipeg.
2 The Blue Bombers were again crushed by their mistakes, with the two interceptions thrown by Chris Streveler leading to two touchdowns by the Ticats. That came on a night when the defence again did a solid job of limiting the passing totals for another Most Outstanding Player candidate in Bo Levi Mitchell, who finished with 230 yards passing.
Winnipeg’s turnover differential on the season is -12, now worst in the CFL.
3 On top of everything listed above, consider this: Streveler and Zach Collaros have now combined to throw 23 interceptions — that’s already seven more than all of last season and the most since 2013, when Max Hall (10), Justin Golts (seven), Buck Pierce (six), Jason Boltus (three) and punter Mike Renaud (one) combined to throw 27.
AND FINALLY… thanks for reading this far and for those who have made it to the bottom and want to see the video evidence of the loss to the Tabbies, we have it here with the condensed game: