Winnipeg needed a win, and it got one — even if it came with a scare that had everybody in the building holding their breath. Zach Collaros took a season-high four sacks, including a blindside shot that knocked the wind out of him, and still walked back onto the field to finish the job. Brady Oliveira, playing through whatever it took to suit up, turned into the offense’s best weapon out of the backfield. And head coach Mike O’Shea walked away calling it exactly what it was: an imperfect win that still counts as a win.
Collaros Takes the Blame, Takes the Hits, Keeps Playing
Collaros was blunt about the beating he took in his first game back in a month. Four sacks, one blindside hit that stood out above the rest.
“That blindside one, geez, it looked bad… It hurt. It hurt. Yeah, it hurt,” Collaros said.
He didn’t point fingers at his offensive line, either. Collaros framed it as a group problem with his name attached.
“A lot of that, it’s all encompassing, it’s 12 guys and a lot of it has to do with the quarterback. So, you know, I’ll take the blame for that,” Collaros said.
Asked whether cutting down on hits needs to become a priority in the second half of the season, Collaros made it clear that’s not really up for negotiation.
“Yeah, I’d love to do that, but that’s just not really my style,” Collaros said.
O’Shea saw the hit from the sideline and didn’t sugarcoat how it looked, especially given Collaros missed a month after a similar blindside shot.
“You see it coming… I have my finger — I can’t find the buttons half the time anyway,” O’Shea said. “Obviously we’d like those not to happen, but I’m not going to stand up here and point fingers and blame.”
Oliveira’s Return: 8 Catches After Just 20 All Season
Brady Oliveira’s availability was in question right up until warmups. He credited the training staff for getting him on the field at all.
“I owe a lot, all this really to Al and his staff. I mean, that guy spent so much time with me this last few days, like literally doing anything and everything to give me a chance to play,” Oliveira said.
Once he got out there, he turned into Collaros’s outlet all night. Oliveira had 20 catches through the first eight games of the season — he matched almost half that total in one game, hauling in 8 receptions.
“It’s great. It was great. I appreciate Zach trusting me out there, you know, me being an outlet for him and allowing me to break tackles for this team and put us in positive field position,” Oliveira said. “They asked a lot of me today and you gotta respond.”
Collaros explained the game plan behind leaning on Oliveira so heavily, especially with Ottawa dropping eight into coverage most of the night.
“They played a lot of 4-man rush and drop 8 and with lots of depth… Brady does a great job of understanding that, catching the football,” Collaros said.
O’Shea backed that up from his vantage point, saying Oliveira’s value as a receiver out of the backfield went beyond just the box score.
“Besides Brady, everybody, but Brady especially with the ball in his hands is, you know, after a catch is he’s tough. He’s tough to bring down,” O’Shea said. “The ability to find him and make sure we get the ball in his hands is important, right? He’s good, really good with it.”
A Win That Wasn’t Perfect, But Counted
O’Shea’s mood said it all walking into the media session — this was a much-needed result after a rough stretch at home.
“Of course winning feels better. Doesn’t mean we don’t need to play better, but we’ll take it,” O’Shea said.
He pointed to the run defense as one of the clear positives, along with the return game getting Winnipeg started on the right foot early.
“I thought Trey in the return game was right on time… I think we did a lot of the things we were supposed to do,” O’Shea said.
Nick Demski also made his mark with a contested grab late that O’Shea couldn’t stop raving about.
“That was an amazing catch at the end. Unbelievable… it’s going to be P.I. and he still makes the catch. Not satisfied with just a P.I., obviously he’s going to fight for the ball,” O’Shea said.
Collaros echoed the trust factor with Demski, calling their connection close to automatic.
“I’ve played with Nick Fowl for a long time, so it’s kind of like just playing with your brother, man… he’s always well prepared, he’s tough as nails, and he’s gonna go get the football,” Collaros said.
Still, there were mental hiccups O’Shea flagged — a time count violation on a convert and a too-many-men penalty on defense, both uncharacteristic for this group.
“We absolutely could have — you could run a guy on that late and fix it, no problem. We just have to coach them on how we want it done,” O’Shea said.
Looking Ahead to Tougher Competition
Nobody in the room was ready to pretend beating Ottawa answers the bigger questions facing this team as it heads toward Edmonton, Montreal and Saskatchewan. Collaros was measured about it.
“You want to play better and better as the season goes on and just in every single game, obviously… Montreal’s obviously explosive, and we have Edmonton next week and they’ve done a great job this season. They have a great defense,” Collaros said.
Oliveira pushed back a little on the framing but agreed the standard has to rise.
“I don’t really care about that. I feel like we won… do we have to be better? Absolutely. I think, you know, never get complacent,” Oliveira said.
Winnipeg gets a week to clean up the penalties, figure out pass protection, and get healthy before the schedule gets a lot less forgiving. For now, the Blue Bombers will take the win, warts and all, and build from there.
Watch the Full Videos
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Zach Collaros | August 14
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Brady Oliveira | August 14
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Coach O’Shea | August 14