{"id":860126,"date":"2026-08-16T11:56:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T11:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/860126\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T11:56:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T11:56:57","slug":"upon-further-review-blue-bombers-33-redblacks-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/860126\/","title":{"rendered":"Upon Further Review | Blue Bombers 33 RedBlacks 21"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a couple ways to do a deeper dive on the latest win by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the foundation to build each case came from the very voices inside the team\u2019s clubhouse late Friday night.<\/p>\n

Option #1 revolves around this position: the 33-21 victory over the still-winless Ottawa RedBlacks had enough warts and flaws to be concerned now heading into a four-game stretch that features a trip to Edmonton to face the Elks, a home date with the powerhouse Montreal Alouettes and then the annual back-to-back Labour Day Classic\/Banjo Bowl showdown with the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n

To that end, here\u2019s QB1 Zach Collaros:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to play better and better as the season goes on and in every single game. We scored 33\u2026 there\u2019s times I felt we should\u2019ve finished drives but you\u2019ve got to score points in this league. Montreal\u2019s obviously explosive and we have Edmonton next week and they\u2019ve done a great job this season. They have a great defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we\u2019ll enjoy this one tonight and get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also this comment from Brady Oliveira when asked how much better his team will have to be against Edmonton, Montreal and Saskatchewan:<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I don\u2019t really care about that. We won. It\u2019s still pro football. And speaking offensively, going against their defence, like they got good guys on that defence\u2026 They\u2019ve got great players on that defence and they\u2019re trying to turn their season around. Especially with Ottawa right now, they should be playing even harder because they\u2019re trying to fight, scratch, and claw for that first win.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we have to be better? Absolutely. Never get complacent. Always try to find a way to get better, and hopefully you\u2019re on an uphill trajectory as the season goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both fair and honest comments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

David Reese celebrates his first career interception Friday night<\/p>\n

That builds into Option #2 on how to approach the latest Blue Bombers performance in our weekly post-game postmortem: a win is a win is a win.<\/p>\n

And yours truly is going to really lean into this one because, well, sometimes it feels around these parts that with all the success this franchise has had over the last decade we forget to savour the little morsels and flavourful sips along the way.<\/p>\n

Was Friday\u2019s win pockmarked by some mistakes?<\/p>\n

Yup.<\/p>\n

And is everything suddenly right in Bomberland again after just one victory against a franchise that has now lost 15 straight?<\/p>\n

Heck, no.<\/p>\n

Still, the Blue Bombers are 5-4 at the turn of the 2026 Canadian Football League season \u2014 one more win than the B.C. Lions and Calgary Stampeders and still within sight of the Roughriders and Elks. That counts for something.<\/p>\n

Would Friday\u2019s performance yield a result against the Elks, Als or Riders? Maybe not. But it sure as bleep beats the alternative.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also remember that while the RedBlacks have lost their last three games by 21, 22 and 12 points, they also fell to Edmonton by eight, to Montreal by two, to the Riders by five and previously lost to the Blue Bombers by two in overtime.<\/p>\n

Asked afterward if he thought Friday\u2019s performance was a \u2018flawed victory\u2019, head coach Mike O\u2019Shea shrugged and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it was that bad. We did a lot of the things we were supposed to do. Overall, it was pleasing. There\u2019s always going to be things to correct. Individually and team-wise I thought we were pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jake Ceresna and Michael Fletcher bringing the heat<\/p>\n

And this answer from my chat with defensive back Evan Holm about this team backing up the corrections it made following a two-game losing skid \u2014 while admitting there were still mistakes \u2014 was especially insightful:<\/p>\n

\u201cTalk is talk. You have to do it out there. The good thing about having bad experiences, bad games, is that you learn from that. The worst of the worst happened, and you learn from that; you get coached in ways you maybe wouldn\u2019t have been coached. You identify your weaknesses and you\u2019re building resilience and momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody can get hot at any time in this league. The last couple of games before this didn\u2019t go the way we wanted. Now you build off these little moments of winning. It\u2019s huge to gain momentum. \u201d<\/p>\n

Perfect.<\/p>\n

ICYMI, here is our Game Recap from Friday night:<\/p>\n

Game Recap | Wpg 33 Ott 21<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

And what follows is this week\u2019s edition of UPON FURTHER REVIEW\u2026<\/p>\n

THREE NUMBERS WHICH JUMPED OUT AFTER A SECOND GLANCE\u2026\u00a0at the stats package, which can be found here<\/a>:<\/p>\n

1\u00a0Brady Oliveira\u2019s totals really popped off the page as he rushed 11 times for 74 yards and a score and finished with eight receptions for 80 yards \u2014 that\u2019s an average of 8.1 yards per touch. Hidden within that is 68 of his 80 receiving yards came after the catch, including this play on a second-and-17 following the brutal sack on Collaros that temporarily took him out of the game:<\/p>\n

Oliveira powers through \ud83d\udcaa<\/p>\n

\ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f: REDBLACKS vs Blue Bombers LIVE NOW!
\ud83d\udcfa: TSN, RDS2, and CFL+ pic.twitter.com\/1NZiOSnlZ2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 CFL (@CFL) August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Oliveira\u2019s eight catches was a season high \u2014 he had just one in each of the last five games \u2014 and was part of an overall effort that showcased how he can put this team on his back at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think any of those (pass) plays tonight he was the first option. He was probably the fourth option,\u201d explained Collaros afterward. \u201cBut (Ottawa) played a lot of four-man rush and dropped eight and with lots of depth. So, when they do that, you try to buzz through the reads as fast as you can. Brady does a great job of understanding that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times he needs to stay in there (for pass protection) when he\u2019s told to and help and chip, but there\u2019s a lot of times where I\u2019m just kinda yelling, \u2018Get out, get out, get out\u2019 because a lot of times based on coverage you can speed through your read and he does a great job of understanding that, catching the football and I\u2019m sure he had a lot of yards after catch tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Worth noting: for all the consternation about Oliveira\u2019s workload recently \u2014 and it had been justified in the moment \u2014 he\u2019s now on pace for 1,464 yards rushing and 56 catches.<\/p>\n

2 Let\u2019s not undersell how important it was for the Blue Bombers to have Collaros return after the hellacious hit he took from linebacker Lucas Cormier in the second quarter. Collaros\u2019 numbers are decent \u2014 21-of-31 for 222 yards with no TDs or interceptions \u2014 but he does have a presence in the huddle that oozes confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was locked in,\u201d said Nic Demski. \u201cEven the fact he came back in and finished the game the way that he did. As receivers we made the plays for him. But it\u2019s just how I am \u2014 I know we can be a little bit better. I still don\u2019t think we reached our full potential but at the end of the day there were some good things out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Zach Collaros helped guide the Blue Bombers to another W, the 58th regular-season victory with him behind centre since 2019<\/p>\n

Added Oliveira:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy\u2019s a warrior. Again, we have specialists and the staff to make sure. They\u2019re thinking of our best interests. But if there\u2019s a chance, they\u2019re going to allow us to go out there and play. Obviously, Zach got the green light and if you give him the green light, he\u2019s going to play. It doesn\u2019t matter where it is \u2013 that guy is the ultimate competitor. It was really pleasing to see that it wasn\u2019t anything serious and that he was able to come back in and just lead us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked about how composed he is in the huddle when things are going good and when things are going bad. He\u2019s the ultimate leader, a guy you need in the huddle at the quarterback position. He\u2019s such a valuable piece to this offence, so, to have him back in there, it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

3 A few notable notes from the stats sheet:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sergio Castillo\u2019s 56-yard field goal was the 41st 50-yard-plus field goal of his career, now the most in CFL history after passing former Blue Bomber Troy Westwood, the club\u2019s all-time leading scorer.
\nTim White finished with eight catches for 85 yards and in the process went over the 6,000-yard mark as a receiver. He\u2019s now at 6,034 and has 45 catches for 546 yards and four TDs so far this year as a Blue Bomber.
\nAnd a tip of the chapeau to Bryce Perkins, who continues to run the short-yardage package effectively. He rushed four times for 11 yards on Friday, scoring two touchdowns and completing his first pass on a nifty little wrinkle in short yardage to Nic Demski.<\/p>\n

AND FINALLY\u2026 \u00a0for those of you who have read this far, thank you. And for those who missed the game or want to relive all the highs and lows of Friday\u2019s win, check out the condensed game here:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n