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<\/p>\nIt is a scene we\u2019ve witnessed far too often inside the Winnipeg Blue Bombers locker room over the last couple of weeks, and already six times through a dozen games this season:<\/p>\n
Players sitting in their lockers long after the final whistle, some still in their gear, staring straight ahead with a mad-enough-to-spit-rust look on their mugs that speaks of frustration, of disbelief and white-hot anger.<\/p>\n
In short, this is what a .500 football team looks like.<\/p>\n
The question now is, what do the Blue Bombers have left to give in the final third of the 2025 Canadian Football League regular season and, potentially, beyond?<\/p>\n
Winnipeg is in third place in the West Division at 6-6, but has dropped all five games against the two teams ahead of them in the standings, losing twice now to the 10-2 Saskatchewan Roughriders \u2014 they\u2019ll meet again on Friday, October 17th back here \u2014 and three times to the Calgary Stampeders, now 8-4 after their loss to the Edmonton Elks Saturday night.<\/p>\n
In many ways the Blue Bombers can now stop focussing on what\u2019s ahead of them in the standings and should now take a peek at what\u2019s happening behind them in the West with both the Elks and B.C. Lions at 5-7. Winnipeg has already captured the season series against B.C. and is up 1-0 on the Elks after a win in Week 4 \u2014 they meet again on Oct. 11th in the Albert capital \u2014 but Edmonton has also now won four of its last five.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any point in (looking at) it,\u201d said head coach Mike O\u2019Shea after the game Saturday when asked about the standings. \u201cWe\u2019re either going to improve and get to where we want to get to or we\u2019re not. I just bet on our guys that we\u2019re going to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when it was pointed out the Blue Bombers are now a combined 0-5 against the Roughriders and Stampeders\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce again, I\u2019ve got a lot of faith in our guys that they\u2019re going to come back to work tomorrow, then they\u2019re going to have a day off and come back to work the day after that and they\u2019re going to be excited to be on the field and looking forward to getting better and looking forward to getting to Hamilton and find a way to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few easy-picking areas the Blue Bombers need to clean up ASAP include:<\/p>\n
Scoring some damn points in the second half \u2014 the Roughriders blanked Winnipeg 9-0 in the final 30 minutes and out-scored the home side 18-zip in rallying from a 13-3 hole.
\nWinning the turnover differential \u2014 the Blue Bombers were a -3 in the takeaway\/giveaway department.
\nAnd cutting down on the costly penalties \u2014 Winnipeg was nailed for five penalties for 66 yards, including two pass interference infractions in the fourth quarter totalling 41 yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just not making our plays when we get the chance,\u201d said veteran centre Chris Kolankowski. \u201cWhen it comes to a game like that, you can look at a play in the first, second, third or fourth quarter as to why we didn\u2019t win and when it comes down to the wire. You look at the whole game under a magnifying glass and look to see where you could have got that extra inch, that extra first down to stay on the field\u2026 all that stuff. These are the hard ones to look at afterward because there are so many plays that make it that close.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurts,\u201d Kolankowski. \u201cAt the end of the day, though, it\u2019s professional football and it comes down to the details. It\u2019s not college anymore. It comes down to the details on every snap on every drive. So, to lose like we have in the last couple of weeks is frustrating, but it\u2019s what we signed up for.\u201d<\/p>\n
ICYMI, here\u2019s our Game Recap story from Saturday\u2019s loss in the Banjo Bowl:<\/p>\n
Game Recap | Banjo Bowl \u2013 Sask 21 Wpg 13<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n And what follows is the rest of this week\u2019s\u00a0UPON FURTHER REVIEW\u2026<\/p>\n THE BIG STORYLINE EXITING THE GAME\u2026 and leading into this week\u2019s game in Hamilton against the Tiger-Cats once again focusses on the status of quarterback Zach Collaros.<\/p>\n The Blue Bombers QB1 exited the game with Winnipeg leading 13-12 and just over five minutes left in the third quarter when blitzing Roughriders linebacker C.J. Reaves exploded into the backfield to deliver a massive hit. Reavis was flagged for roughing the passer after the play was challenged by O\u2019Shea and while Collaros ran into the locker room after the hit \u2014 waving briefly to the crowd \u2014 and was spotted with his teammates post game, he did not return and his status won\u2019t be known until the team returns to the practice field on Tuesday, if not later in the week.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s brutal again,\u201d said Brady Oliveira of seeing Collaros leave a game for the third time this season. \u201cThat\u2019s a guy that does everything right and puts in preparation to the max. The guy is here super early, he\u2019s here super late \u2014 him and Strev (Chris Streveler) both, all our quarterbacks. But Zach is the leader of that group, the leader of this team, the leader of this locker room and to see him go down just sucks. You hate for when it\u2019s guys like that do the right thing all the time.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 I\u2019ve said it before: Zach truly is an ultimate competitor. The guy just truly wants to win games by any means and whatever that looks like. I have so much respect for him because of that. I\u2019m the same way. I just want to win football games. We put a lot into this; a lot of sacrifice to win football games.<\/p>\n \u201cHearing that he jogged off is a good sign.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, Collaros\u2019 exit \u2014 coupled with his injury history \u2014 not surprisingly let to some commentary post-game about his future, although it comes without knowledge of what caused the veteran pivot to leave the game. This from Blue Bombers legend Milt Stegall, now an analyst with the CFL on TSN:<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as Zach goes, I\u2019m going to look at it from a standpoint of if that was my son, he wouldn\u2019t step on the field again. He\u2019s retired; that\u2019s it. He\u2019s never playing another down of football. I\u2019m basing this on that we\u2019re thinking he suffered a concussion. It hasn\u2019t been disclosed what he suffered; I\u2019m basing it on he\u2019s suffering a concussion. Zach Collaros should not step on the field again.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the medical staff in Winnipeg; they do a great job. If he\u2019s medically cleared, they\u2019re doing the right thing, I know that. But then I\u2019m looking at it if I\u2019m one of those board members, or I\u2019m an executive with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, would I want my son to step back on the field again? That\u2019s the way I would look at it. 100 percent, Zach Collaros should never play football again.\u201d<\/p>\n THREE NUMBERS WHICH STOOD OUT\u2026 after a second glance at the stats package, which can be found\u00a0here:<\/a><\/p>\n 1 Go ahead and point fingers at whatever aspect of the Blue Bombers you may find lacking, but the most telling is staring everyone right in the face: Winnipeg has turned over the ball a league high 34 times this season, including four interceptions on Saturday. Their turnover differential on the season is now -11, ranking last.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one of those metrics that\u2019s well known across football, from minor football all the way through to the pro level is if you lose the turnover margin, you\u2019re going to have a chance of losing the game,\u201d said O\u2019Shea. \u201cThere are some games where you end up winning even though you\u2019re behind in the giveaway\/takeaway category. We\u2019re not there yet. We\u2019re not there where we\u2019re taking the ball away enough or surviving giveaways.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s football. (The Riders) are a good team. They get paid. We\u2019ve just got to figure out a way to take care of the ball better and limit the damage when it happens and take the ball away a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n This telling stat to add to that: in the Blue Bombers six wins their turnover differential is +7. And in the six losses, it\u2019s -18.<\/p>\n 2 After it being a talking point all week following his low carry total in the Labour Day Classic \u2014 five for 24 yards \u2014 Oliveira lugged the ball 20 times for 83 yards in the Banjo Bowl.<\/p>\n That was his highest total of the season and the most since the club\u2019s Western Final win over the Riders last year, when he also had 20 carries.<\/p>\n Credit the Riders, though, for limiting Winnipeg\u2019s power back to an average of 4.2 yards per carry and a long of 14 yards.<\/p>\n 3 Discuss among yourselves\u2026<\/p>\n Chris Streveler\u2019s numbers in his two starts this year, both wins: 32-of-45 (71.1%) for 419 yards and three TDs against four interceptions.<\/p>\n And his numbers in the three games he had to step in for an injured Collaros: 32-of-52 (61.5%) for two touchdowns against four interceptions.<\/p>\n QUOTABLE\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to keep going. When the odds stack against you, you\u2019ve just got to continue to work and stick to the script. Everything is going to be all right. We\u2019ve just got to keep believing and stick together. It\u2019s not frustrating at all; it\u2019s part of football. You\u2019ve got to have the right mindset when you see that everything you want is still in front of you. You\u2019ve got to trust the process here.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t look at it as offence, defence or special teams \u2014 we just didn\u2019t accomplish enough as an entire unit. We\u2019ve all got the same jersey on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Deatrick Nichols<\/p>\n NOTABLE\u2026 Thanks to Blue Bombers fans \u2014 again \u2014 for packing Princess Auto Stadium for what was the 11th consecutive sellout, a club record.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n eleventh straight sellout. electric as always, bomber nation \ud83d\udc99 #ForTheW<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MIqsuDov8C<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) September 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n AND FINALLY\u2026 thanks for reading this far and for those who have made it to the bottom and want to see the video evidence of the Banjo Bowl loss, we have it here with the condensed game:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CP174961246-1600x1220.jpg\")
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