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

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Montreal Alouettes by a score of 44-28 in front of 32,242 fans at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday night. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Finishing strong

The Blue Bombers dominated the first half of last week’s game against the Edmonton Elks, then laid an egg during the final two quarters to cough up what should have been a critical West Division win.

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This week, the team had another strong first half until disaster struck.

With less than a minute left before halftime, Tommy Nield took a hellacious shot from Nate Beauchemin just short of the goal line. He fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Alouettes to keep the score at 24-21 at the break.

The error begged the question: would the Blue Bombers fold against the Alouettes the same way they did in Edmonton last week?

Tanner Cadwallader answered that question quickly and emphatically.

On the fourth play of the third quarter, the veteran special teamer broke through Montreal’s line to block Joseph Zema’s punt. David Reese recovered the loose ball at the one-yard line, and Bryce Perkins punched the ball in for a touchdown two plays later.

In a way, it was like the team retroactively got the touchdown it squandered moments before halftime.

The game never got close again, as Winnipeg scored another 13 unanswered points. Zach Collaros hit Ontaria Wilson for an 11-yard touchdown with five minutes left in the fourth quarter to make it 44-21, and the game was essentially over.

Part of the problem last week was a lack of touches for Brady Oliveira, who got the ball twice over the final 30 minutes. This week, he got nine touches in the second half for 56 yards to help the clock keep moving.

It’s possible that some pundit somewhere picked Winnipeg to win this week (though none of us at 3DownNation did), but I highly doubt anyone picked them to win by 16 points. Heading into this game, that was unthinkable, yet that’s exactly what happened.

This is why the CFL is such a great league. At the end of the day, you just never know what’s going to happen.

Major stops

Deatrick Nichols was officially a game-time decision for Friday’s game due to an ankle problem, though he ended up being moved to the six-game injured list. Major Williams moved to boundary halfback to replace Nichols, and Trey Vaval started at boundary cornerback for Williams.

In all, the defence played pretty darn well. The Alouettes still recorded 28 points and 284 yards of net offence, but it’s important to remember that the unit is not only the best in the league but on pace to challenge some decades-old records. Against an elite unit, this was a good performance.

Well, it wasn’t all good. There appeared to be a bust in coverage on Montreal’s touchdown near the start of the second quarter, when Davis Alexander hit Tyler Snead in the flat for a 10-yard score. Williams and Tony Jones were in the neighbourhood, but Snead was essentially uncovered, leading to an easy touchdown.

Montreal also picked on safety Jake Kelly a few times, who had the tough task of going one-on-one with Snead in the open field on more than one occasion. Snead ended up scoring a second touchdown late in the second quarter, and it was one of the best plays of the year as he broke three tackles to make it happen.

At the same time, there were a lot of positives for the defence.

The tackling improved from last week, and Travis Theis was held at bay along the ground. Michael Fletcher continues to be super disruptive up front (more on him in a moment), Willie Jefferson got yet another pass knockdown, and Ridge Texada, who dressed for his first career CFL game in a depth role, was in perfect position on a late deep shot to Tyson Philpot that fell harmlessly incomplete.

Though they lost contain on Alexander a couple of times, Winnipeg’s pass rush was strong. Fletcher was credited with the only sack of the game, but Alexander was frequently disrupted in the pocket and forced to throw the ball away multiple times.

The 27-year-old passer finished the night 20-of-31 for 257 yards and four touchdowns. An impressive stat line? Sure, but a lot of those yards and one of those touchdowns came late in the fourth quarter with the game essentially over.

Pushing deep

The Alouettes have the best deep passing game in the CFL, so it stood to reason that Winnipeg would have to hit some deep shots to win on Friday night.

This ended up not being the case.

Zach Collaros mostly worked the short area of the passing attack, and it was effective. He finished the game 26-of-32 for 324 yards and two touchdowns. The 38-year-old also had two short outlet passes dropped — one by Ontaria Wilson and another by Brady Oliveira.

Winnipeg entered this week with a league-low 10 completions of 30-plus yards, and didn’t add any to that total in this game.

The team tried to hit a deep shot on the first play from scrimmage on a 35-yard bomb to Nic Demski, but the ball was knocked down by Robert Kennedy III. Fortunately for Winnipeg, head coach Mike O’Shea successfully challenged for pass interference.

This past week, offensive coordinator Tommy Condell challenged the media to look up how many completions of 15-plus yards Winnipeg had on the season. Historically, his offences have had strong intermediate passing attacks, and he said the unit ranked in the top third of the league early in the year.

Heading into this week, the Blue Bombers ranked sixth league-wide with 69 completions of 15-plus yards heading into this week, according to Pro Football Focus.

I kept track of how many completions of 15-plus yards Winnipeg had in this game, and the answer was six. Of these six, three travelled more than 15 yards through the air. The other three came as a result of yards after the catch.

Winnipeg has a great running game, which should open up opportunities to run play-action and take shots deep down the field. We almost never see the offence do this, and it’s a little baffling.

In the long run, the Blue Bombers need to find a way to push the ball deep down the field. However, in this game, the short and intermediate passing attack worked great.

Hold your breath

Michael Fletcher, who is quickly becoming a breakout star on Winnipeg’s defence, pressured Davis Alexander near the midway point of the third quarter, forcing him into a checkdown to Travis Theis.

From there, the play devolved into a circus.

Theis was unable to corral the ball, which bounced off at least three Winnipeg defenders. Eventually, Tony Jones was credited with a fumble recovery.

Once the crowd died down, it became apparent that Davis Alexander was down with what appeared to be a serious injury. 3DownNation‘s photographer snapped a shot of trainers working on his right ankle.

Before long, Alexander was surrounded by players from both teams who had taken a knee. It was a concerning sight — the type that often ends with an ambulance or a cart.

Fortunately, the star quarterback was able to leave the field under his own power. He received further assessment in Montreal’s medical tent, then returned to the game moments later without missing a snap.

The Alouettes need Alexander to stay healthy, and the CFL does, too. He’s the league’s best, most exciting player.

Hoggie heaven

This was arguably the best game of the season for Winnipeg’s offensive line.

The unit allowed one sack, though it came after Zach Collaros had considerable time to throw and ended up sliding in front of a defender. He took a few other hits, but as Collaros recently said, that’s his style.

The Blue Bombers ran the ball well, as Brady Oliveira rushed 16 times for 106 yards and one touchdown, and Bryce Perkins rushed for two scores in short yardage.

However, this is what we’ve come to expect from Winnipeg this season. The ground game has never been the problem — it’s been providing Collaros with a clean pocket.

It looked like the offence used motion more effectively than it had in recent weeks, which helped create misdirection up front. It also looked like there was a concerted effort to get Collaros rolling outside the pocket.

Either way, it worked.

Details

We’re now 13 weeks into the regular season, and the details still aren’t quite there for the Blue Bombers.

On the team’s opening drive, Winnipeg called a player back to the bench after he momentarily ran onto the field for second down from Montreal’s three-yard line. On the following play, a different player entered the game, and nobody subbed off.

Looking at the replay, the Blue Bombers only had 11 players on the field on second down. Bryce Perkins was still able to scamper around the edge for two yards, but he did it down a blocker.

Needless to say, a professional football team should always have the correct number of players on the field — and if that mistake happens, it should happen in game one, not game 11.

Selling out

The Blue Bombers sold out Friday’s game, hosting a capacity crowd of 32,343 at Princess Auto Stadium. It was the fourth sellout of the season and the first since July 24.

With the team’s next home game already sold out, Winnipeg’s average attendance will be 32,084 with two home games left on the schedule. Though it’ll take a few more weeks to become official, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the team will finish first in CFL attendance for a fifth consecutive year.

Marching on

The University of North Dakota marching band performed the halftime show at Princess Auto Stadium, and there were some questions about how the ensemble would be received given the current political climate.

It sounded like there was a mixture of cheers and boos when the band initially emerged from the tunnel, but it was all cheers when they took the field moments later. The crowd seemed to really enjoy the performance, and gave especially loud applause at the end.

Inviting an American group to perform the halftime show was a bit of an odd choice (though they at least had the sense to wear black, not green, which is the school’s primary colour).

At the same time, marching bands are awesome, and the musicians did an excellent job. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and it seemed like just about everybody in attendance did, too.

This is a time when the CFL should be wrapping itself in the Canadian flag. It did exactly that this week with the unveiling of a new line of t-shirts and hoodies co-branded between the CFL and The Tragically Hip.

As much as doubling down on Canadiana is smart, it doesn’t seem like there was any harm done with Friday’s performance. Who doesn’t love a marching band?

RIP Dolly

Geoffrey Cantin-Arku went down with an injury early in the second quarter, and “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton was played during the break over the speakers.

It probably didn’t last more than a minute, but the noise from the crowd steadily grew as fans started to sing along. It was a cool moment in honour of a cool lady. Rest in peace, Dolly.

Horns up

The Manitoba Bisons will open their football season at Princess Auto Stadium against the Saskatchewan Huskies on Saturday, Sept. 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. local time, and the early weather forecast is beautiful.

U Sports football is always a great product, but especially for people who have complained about the CFL’s rule changes in recent years. The hashmarks are still wide, converts are still short, and there’s no video replay.

If that sounds appealing to you, be sure to go out and buy a ticket. They’re super affordable — and students, alumni, and children all get in free.

Bisons offensive lineman Sean Rowe (No. 65) is one of the top offensive line prospects in the 2027 CFL Draft, and could realistically be a first-round pick. If there’s one player to watch closely, it’s him.

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-5) will visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-4) on Sunday, Sept. 6 for the annual Labour Day Classic. Saskatchewan still has a game between now and then, as they’ll host the Toronto Argonauts (5-5) on Saturday.

This will be the first of two meetings between the prairie rivals this season, the second of which will be the Banjo Bowl on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Last year, the Roughriders swept the annual home-and-home for the first time since 2018. Jeremy O’Day, the team’s general manager and vice-president of football operations, later identified the win in the Banjo Bowl as the start of its Grey Cup run.

The Green and White are a good team, but they’ve lost two straight games and are facing a rash of injuries. If the Blue Bombers are going to host a playoff game, sweeping Saskatchewan would go a long way to keeping that hope alive.

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.