{"id":822963,"date":"2026-07-24T11:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/822963\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T11:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:45:24","slug":"game-preview-blue-bombers-4-2-vs-stampeders-2-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/822963\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Preview | Blue Bombers (4-2) vs. Stampeders (2-4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve reached the one third mark of the Canadian Football League season and if you were to ask around the Winnipeg Blue Bombers clubhouse for a quick summation of the first six games the answers would be virtually the same.<\/p>\n

At 4-2 \u2014 and even through a three-game winning streak of late \u2014 there\u2019s been some good stuff, some meh periods and some chunks of play which are certainly left to be desired. Or as head coach Mike O\u2019Shea said Thursday in advance of Friday\u2019s home date against the Calgary Stampeders:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re learning. Still trying to become the team we want to become. That\u2019s part of the process and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s different than any other year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the thing about the expectations in Bomberland over the last few years which has featured nine consecutive double-digit win seasons, five Grey Cup berths and two championships: the push for more never stops and that means the hard questions are always being asked, even after victory. You see, it\u2019s too easy to settle sometimes.<\/p>\n

And as the old saying goes, \u2018whatever you are not changing, you are choosing.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a good season so far, but we hold ourselves to a high standard and we know how much more we have to give and how much more potential there is that\u2019s still untapped on this team,\u201d said veteran receiver Nic Demski. \u201cWe\u2019re still learning how to play together but here we are a third of the way through the season and now we can\u2019t use that as an excuse or something to hinder what\u2019s going on. We\u2019ve got to come out here and play good Bomber football and get back to our brand, back to our standard and hold ourselves that to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to call the down periods hiccups because I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve been playing bad football. It\u2019s just, again, that we have that high standard here. And this is a good team. We love working together and there\u2019s still a lot of great football we still haven\u2019t shown yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday night offers an excellent opportunity step to the front of the stage and showcase more of that untapped potential, because the Stamps are asking their own questions after their 2-4 start that features four losses by a combined total of 18 points \u2014 including a 30-28 loss to Winnipeg in the season opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good football team, man,\u201d said Blue Bombers cornerback Jonathan Moxey of the Stamps. \u201cThey\u2019ve got tenacity and dogs and grit over there, too. It\u2019s just sometimes in CFL football the ball just doesn\u2019t bounce your way sometimes. I know first game in the season we went over there and got the \u2018W\u2019 and now they\u2019re going to come over here and try to do the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be on our P\u2019s and Q\u2019s and protect our home turf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

BLUE BOMBERS (4-2) vs STAMPEDERS (2-4)
Kickoff: Friday, 7:30 p.m. CDT; Princess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg
TV\/Streaming: TSN; RDS2; CFL+<\/a>
Radio: 680 CJOB; Play-by-play: Derek Taylor | Analyst: Doug Brown;
Streaks: Wpg.: 3W; Cal: 2L
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A win by the Blue Bombers would already secure the season series with Calgary because this is the final matchup between the two clubs in the regular season. Still, it\u2019s July and there is a whole lot of highway left.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say you\u2019re thinking about that,\u201d said Demski. \u201cBut anytime you\u2019re playing a West team there\u2019s a bit more heaviness to it even though we don\u2019t talk about that stuff. We don\u2019t talk about winning the season series or anything like that, we talk about going 1-0 each week and if that\u2019s where you put your focus, you\u2019re going to have better results rather than thinking about all the other little stuff around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s O\u2019Shea if anyone in the building is on standings-watch thing right now:<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say none from the coaching staff; I would hope none from the players. It would be foolish for me to say there isn\u2019t a player that isn\u2019t trying to do some standings math because there\u2019s got to be 70 or whatever number of guys we have and there\u2019s got to be somebody who is doing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for the most part I really don\u2019t think the vast majority of our guys do not do that \u2014 they stay focussed on the task at hand. All the games against Calgary seem to be very, very tight and right down to the wire and if you can spare a few minutes to look somewhere else than rather at your playbook then I think you\u2019re doing your team a disservice.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of this isn\u2019t to say the Blue Bombers are unsatisfied at 4-2. They\u2019ve won games with three different quarterbacks at the helm in their four wins \u2014 Zach Collaros, Dru Brown and Taylor Elgersma \u2014 and have also welcomed a whole pile of new faces to the roster through the first third of the season.<\/p>\n

Yet, they do know they\u2019re still light years from their ceiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve shown we\u2019ve got a lot of grit. We had to grind out a win last week and we\u2019ve had some tough games where we had to find a way to win. That\u2019s a good thing to see early on,\u201d said Moxey. \u201cThat tenacity and mindset, we\u2019ve all got it. We\u2019re finding ways to win. Everybody has already had an opportunity to showcase why they\u2019re here. We practice so hard, Osh pushes us to high limits, and I think you\u2019re seeing that turn over into the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in football you never really peak because you\u2019re always going to think you\u2019ve got more left in the tank. There\u2019s always something you can correct, something you can get better at, get a step faster, read your keys quicker\u2026 there\u2019s always something. We definitely have room for improvement. We haven\u2019t played our best football yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

BIG PLAY V.A.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The volume should probably be cranked up on a narrative that has been far too quiet early in the CFL season: Stampeders QB Vernon Adams, Jr. is a legit Most Outstanding Player candidate, right there with Edmonton\u2019s Justin Rankin, Davis Alexander in Montreal and Saskatchewan\u2019s Trevor Harris.<\/p>\n

The veteran Stamps QB has a TD:interception ratio of 17:0 \u2014 tying a CFL record to open a season with Ricky Ray and Darian Durant \u2014 and has not thrown an interception in his past 243 attempts. His current pace would see him throw for 51 TDs and 6,010 yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes Vernon difficult to play against is in his career as a quarterback is he\u2019s been in a bunch of different systems and see a lot of different defences,\u201d explained Blue Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson. \u201cRight now, he\u2019s playing with a ton of confidence with a good receiving group that, with a bunch of those guys, he\u2019s had in his two years in Calgary. They have a chemistry and he knows how to get the ball to those guys. He\u2019s in a spot now where they believe in him, he knows he can win, and he\u2019s just doing what he does best.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s elevated his game. When he first came into this league and up until a few years ago he was the elusive quarterback, who if he didn\u2019t get to his first or second reads he was going to put his head down and use his legs to get the first down and get out of the pocket to extend the play.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, he\u2019s more confident and calmer in the pocket. He has that expertise and know-how to wait to see if his receivers could maybe get open.\u201d<\/p>\n

GETTING BACK THAT \u2018O\u2019 MOJO<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Given the end result, there was a ton to like about Winnipeg\u2019s 36-34 OT victory in Ottawa last week which included a rally from being down 26-9 in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

Yet\u2026 it also begs the question: where the bleep was that in the first half?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I knew that. We\u2019re figuring out the same thing,\u201d said receiver Tim White this week with a grin. \u201cHow can we get going faster? How can we execute a little bit better in some of these situations \u2014 in the screen game, in the deep ball game. We\u2019re trying to figure it out. I think we have the guys to do it. We have the coaches to do it, so I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to take too much longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number worth noting: after the Blue Bombers were down 26-9 Brown then completed 14-of-16 for 181 yards and two TDs to get the team to OT.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we have a really confident group because in the locker room at halftime it was, \u2018All right, we\u2019re going to lock them down and then go and get the win,’\u201d said White. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we did. It came in the fourth quarter where the targets started coming our way and guys were making plays. You don\u2019t even think about what\u2019s on the scoreboard \u2014 obviously, you\u2019re aware of it because that\u2019s what we do \u2014 but you\u2019re kind of in flow state and that\u2019s where everybody was. Eventually, it was, \u2018All right, the game\u2019s tied, this is exactly where we were\u2019 and it was funny hearing the other team speaking and we were like, \u2018We\u2019re about to lock them down.’\u201d<\/p>\n

BROWN X3<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Friday night will mark the third straight start for Brown, acquired in a trade with Ottawa on June 23rd, as Zach Collaros spends another week on the six-game injured list. Through his two starts, both wins, he has completed 52-of-74 passes (70.3 percent) with three TDs and one interception.<\/p>\n

This from a guy who, while familiar with some receivers and offensive coordinator Tommy Condell, has essentially parachuted into the club without the benefit of a full training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t really thought about that, to be honest with you,\u201d said Brown to a question from Taylor Allen of the Free Press. \u201cThe situation is the situation. I try not to think, \u2018Oh man, it would be a lot better if I was here from Day 1\u2019 because that wasn\u2019t in the cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the time that I\u2019ve been here I\u2019ve tried to communicate and work with those guys pretty relentlessly. We have a great coach and quarterback room that have done a lot of work before I got here and as I\u2019ve got here in getting everyone on the same page.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty happy with where we\u2019re at and just look forward to building with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE LINEUP: The Blue Bombers have made five changes to the roster for Friday\u2019s game, the biggest being the absence of safety Redha Kramdi, who moves to the six-game injured list.<\/p>\n

Kramdi will be replaced by Jake Kelly, with Ethan Ball added to back up that position along with Nick Hallett. Also coming aboard are LB Lane Novak, who has been out since last summer after suffering a knee injury, DT Tanner Schmekel, WR Kevens Clercius and DB Matthew Jackson.<\/p>\n

Off, in addition to Kramdi, are DB Ethan Stuart, DE Kydran Jenkins, LB Charles-Elliott Bouliane and WR Joey Corcoran.<\/p>\n

The six-game injured list now features Kramdi, QB Zach Collaros, DT Lawson, DB Cam Allen, linebackers Brody Clark, Jaiden Woodbey and Jovan Santos-Knox, defensive lineman De\u2019Shaan Dixon, offensive lineman Micah Vanterpool.<\/p>\n

FULL DEPTH CHART<\/a><\/p>\n

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