Let’s push away from the microscope for a moment and take a break from the ongoing and intense examination of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offence and focus our attention on the other side of the ball — the defence — and embark in a session about a unit which has emerged as this team’s backbone.

Yes, while the offence is the talk of Bomberland over the last few weeks and under the microscope for all the wrong reasons, it should be said the guys on defence are in the spotlight as a still-emerging force in the Canadian Football League. And as the playoffs approach after Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Montreal Alouettes, there’s the hope the offence can find some traction while the defence continues to do its brick-wall act.

Both units — heck, this entire team — has enormous expectations after five straight Grey Cup appearances and the two championships followed by three losses. And so, while there were curse words being spit out by the offensive group following last Friday’s 17-16 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the praise was almost universal for the defence’s handiwork.

It’s true, the Riders rested a ton of regulars on offence last Friday, but there’s no disputing what Winnipeg’s defence did in limiting Saskatchewan’s attack to 169 yards net offence. Even with that, some Blue Bomber defensive regulars were lamenting their whiffs on defence, including getting caught on a first-play flea-flicker that led to a pass interference call in the end zone, to dropped potential interceptions to one 30-yard explosion play against.

“That’s the gift and the curse of having such a high standard,” said defensive coordinator Jordan Younger of the mixed reaction of his troops after the game. “You’re talking about what amounts to being .500 or just above .500. I’ve been in locker room where we would have loved to have been .500. But the standard here is so high, that’s just not enough. We accept that.

“We try to embrace that and it’s a challenge to find that balance between giving yourself some grace and keeping your foot on the gas pedal and heading toward your ultimate goal.”

Winnipeg’s defence heads into the final week of the CFL regular season ranked first in fewest offensive points allowed (22.1), second in fewest passing yards against (266.1), third against the run (95.9 yards per game), first in lowest completion percentage against (63.0), fifth in average yards per play (6.65) but also last in forced interceptions (12).

All that with a ton of changes in the secondary, including three different cornerbacks on both sides of the field, three different safeties and three different dime backs. Consider that in the first half of the season Winnipeg’s defence was surrendering 292.2 yards passing per game, but over the last eight that number has dropped significantly to 236.6.

“I’ve been a part of some statistically gaudy defences and those are fun to be a part of,” Younger said. “Ultimately, the goal is to give up the least amount of points possible and that puts you in the conversation as one of the better defences in the league.

“We’ve been chipping away at that — not giving up the explosive plays and getting even just a little bit better at stopping the run. As a defence, we want that challenge, we accept that challenge of trying to push the team through if we have to.”

And now back to the offence — a unit which cranked out 514 net yards of offence against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats less than a month ago, but in the last two games has 604 net yards combined.

“I thought we did some good things — a couple good, long drives — and then we just had some inconsistencies at bad times,” said offensive coordinator Jason Hogan of the win over the Roughriders. “We had a couple of mistakes here and there by different people — those are the inconsistencies we’ve got to fight through and be better at.

“Everybody wants to peak at this time of year, but every team has its share of mistakes. We’ve just got to stop making them when they count, or middle of the game when we don’t need them and just keep building off the first half which was a good start.”

Asked to weigh in on the level of frustration with everyone on offence after the last couple of games, he added:

“We put a lot of time in. The coaches put a lot of time in, and the players put as much time in as we do. That’s not to count the time that once they leave the building or are going home the first thing when they’re the first ones on a flight looking at it on an I-pad or on the phone — it’s a little disappointing when you put all that time in and it doesn’t go your way.”

One more from Hogan, when asked why people believe this offence can turn things around:

“Why? We have some pretty explosive players. We’ve shown numerous times to ourselves that we can do it, we’ve just got to do it consistently for 60 minutes.”

OUCH REPORT: Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea essentially ruled out SB Nic Demski for Saturday after practice today but is hopeful he’ll be available for the first round of the playoffs. Also of note from Tuesday’s practice — the workload of the starters altered, leading to some speculation the club could approach Saturday’s game against the Alouettes differently, knowing that whether it’s third in the West or fourth and the crossover team through the East, the result doesn’t really impact the playoffs.

“We’re not set on what we’re doing just yet. We’ll figure it out,” said O’Shea. “Zach (Collaros) is taking reps and at a certain point of the year, he doesn’t need to hand the ball off at practice, he really doesn’t.”

Injury Report: October 21, 2025#ForTheW | @DoctorsManitoba pic.twitter.com/p1xSemD1sz

— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) October 21, 2025

Of note, after being limited on Monday, RB Brady Oliveira was back in full gear a day later.

ICYMI: We had another excellent sit-down with future hall of famer Willie Jefferson in the latest episode of The Huddle where spoke about a ton of topics, including the transformation of the defence this year, his shout-out to the fans as the club attempts to sell out every game this year, being Road Warriors for the playoffs, his bucket list vacation spot, the story behind ‘White Boy Wednesday’ in the Blue Bombers locker room and the musical choices that come with it — among other things.

In case you missed it, check it out here:

FYI: The CFL announced some of the details for CFL Awards night, to be held during Grey Cup week here in Winnipeg at Club Regent Casino. For more information, check out the press release below:

From the Field to the Spotlight: CFL Awards heading to Winnipeg