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![\"CHRISTOPHER](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/242a5e290fbfe047e144da7b0992cb9066c9b6aa87130a31bb93af631642512d.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCHRISTOPHER KATSAROV \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES <\/p>\n
Edmonton Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been playoff football for us since two weeks ago,\u201d said Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur backs are against our wall, but we don\u2019t want it any different way. The way we\u2019ve scratched, clawed, and fought to give ourselves an opportunity to play meaningful football into this Thanksgiving weekend has really shown the character of this team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under first-year head coach Mark Kilam, Edmonton started the year 1-6 \u2014 with one of those defeats being a 36-23 loss in Winnipeg \u2014 but have bounced back by going 5-3 in their last eight outings, including a 27-25 victory over the first-place Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sept. 27 to stay alive.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s likely too little too late, but there\u2019s still a chance they make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wild West <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a must-win for the Bombers, but it\u2019s pretty darn close.<\/p>\n
The Blue and Gold can clinch a playoff spot with a win and stay in the running for the No. 2 seed, which would have them host the West semifinal.<\/p>\n
If their arm gets raised in Edmonton and Calgary loses in Hamilton, the Bombers will jump up to second place with two games remaining.<\/p>\n
If Winnipeg and Calgary both win, it would create a three-way tie with the B.C. Lions at 9-7, which would have the Bombers in fourth place and cross over to the East since they\u2019re 2-3 in common games.<\/p>\n
You got all that?<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros <\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t have too many thoughts on it,\u201d said Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros on all the scenarios at play. \u201cI\u2019m just worried about (the Edmonton game).\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Stout defence<\/p>\n The Bombers\u2019 defence has allowed 21 points in their last two games and two touchdown drives in the last 23 attempts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say this unit is peaking at the right time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going against a really good Winnipeg team that I think is firing on all cylinders on defence,\u201d said Fajardo.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve really figured out what they want to do and what they want to be on defence. We got our work cut out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n They are making one change this week with cornerback Demerio Houston being replaced by Jamal Parker. Houston was late returning to Winnipeg after the bye week and missed the first two practices of the week as the veteran defender said he had a family matter to attend to.<\/p>\n As well as the secondary has played, it won\u2019t be easy for them to cause a turnover as Fajardo hasn\u2019t thrown an interception in his last 148 pass attempts. The Elks are 5-5 since Fajardo took over the starting role from Tre Ford, but they remain dead last in net offence, points per game and passing yards.<\/p>\n If the Bombers can hold Bo Levi Mitchell and Kenny Lawler to a field goal, imagine what they can do to Fajardo and Co.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Milestone watch<\/p>\n Brady Oliveira is on the cusp of entering elite company.<\/p>\n With 29 more rushing yards, the star running back will join Bombers legend Charles Roberts (2002-07) as the only players in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n Andrew Harris and Jim Washington reached the 1K mark three years in a row but failed to make it four.<\/p>\n In fact, no CFL tailback has accomplished the feat since Calgary\u2019s Joffrey Reynolds had six in a row from 2005-2010.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Bombers running back Brady Oliveira <\/p>\n<\/p>\n In the beatdown over Hamilton, Oliveira was two yards shy from cracking 100 for the third straight game. He\u2019s heating up, and so is the offence with Collaros coming off his finest showing (367 passing yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions), and the O-line not surrendering a single sack.<\/p>\n Edmonton ranks third in the league against the run, but they\u2019ve been getting decimated through the air as they\u2019re coughing up a league-worst 300.7 passing yards per game.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The streak<\/p>\n So much for being the City of Champions.<\/p>\n The Bombers are undefeated in their last 13 meetings with Edmonton and 16-2 since 2017. It should go without saying, but it\u2019s the longest win streak they have over anyone in the three-down loop.<\/p>\n The last time the green and gold prevailed was at home in the 2018 regular season finale in a game where the Bombers left several key starters in Winnipeg, as the contest meant nothing to them in the standings.<\/p>\n Collaros is 15-6 all-time against Edmonton, while Fajardo is 3-9 in his career versus Winnipeg.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of love and respect for (Bombers head coach) Mike O\u2019Shea. I\u2019ve just admired what he\u2019s done with that program from afar over the years,\u201d said Kilam.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a complete performance in all three phases, because Winnipeg is a three-phase football team. It\u2019s going to take everything that we got.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\tThe Warm-Up<\/p>\n Winnipeg Jets Game Days<\/p>\n On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.<\/p>\n \t\t\tSign up for The Warm-Up<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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