Upon Further Review | Wpg 31 Ham 10

They’ve done the same thing for eight straight work weeks now. Heads down and sleeves rolled up, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers keep swinging the sledgehammer and pounding out wins.

And Friday’s 31-10 decision over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — the eighth straight and the longest run since the 9-0 start in 2022 — was befitting the scene in the Hammer, an old-school, hard-working town built on steel.

The victory guaranteed a home playoff game, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday delaying the chance to clinch first place in the West Division for one more week.

Still, the tone from the voices heard post-game was hardly braggadocious or celebratory — just as it was a week previous when the club qualified for the playoffs. In fact, there was ZERO chest-thumping and it reminded me of the old saying about resisting the urge to gloat, because ‘a lion never roars after a kill.’

“Any time you win it’s a good thing,” said quarterback Zach Collaros. “Momentum is a funny thing — you’ve got to continue to learn each and every game and moments in the game… offence, defence, special teams, football IQ — all those things we preach every day.

“We’re moving in the right direction, but we’ve got to get back to work tomorrow. Just because we won today, it doesn’t necessarily translate to Toronto next week.”

Maybe that, in part, comes from the 0-4 start and a 2-6 record after eight weeks. It served as a reminder to stay humble, stay true to the process and never, ever take anything for granted.

Whatever the case, the reaction over the last two months by the Blue Bombers has been the picture of resiliency. And nothing changes with two more regular season games and the playoffs nearing.

“If you look at it, yeah, we’re rolling,” said defensive back Deatrick Nichols. “But we’re not going to change how we do things. We’re going to keep taking it one week at a time and let the dice roll how they roll. Of course we’ll enjoy this, but we’re already thinking about the next game, too.

“Job’s not done.”

ICYMI, here is our game recap from Friday night:

Game Recap | WPG 31 HAM 10

And what follows is the rest of this week’s UPON FURTHER REVIEW…

BOUQUETS ALL AROUND… to the Blue Bombers defensive charges and their coaches for their ability to adapt and improvise during a game in which safety Brandon Alexander, linebacker Michael Ayers and defensive back Michael Griffin II were lost to injury, along with defensive tackle Jamal Woods.

The status of that bunch — along with receiver Pokey Wilson — won’t be updated until the club returns to practice, but it’s how the defence, in particular, responded to those bodies going down that was telling.

Head coach Mike O’Shea praised defensive coordinator Jordan Younger after the game for moving players around on the fly and he certainly wasn’t alone.

“Hats off to J.Y.,” said dime back Redha Kramdi. “He and the whole staff deserve a lot of flowers. We’re playing, but he’s the guy that deserves the flowers.

“The guys that stepped in — Jake Kelly, Nick Hallett, B. Cole, Shayne (Gauthier) it was just a tremendous effort by them to go out there and do their job. Remember, too, that in the Canadian Football League those guys who come in are also playing on special teams so it’s a lot.

“It’s also no surprise. We expect a high level of execution from everyone. We’re not going to lower our standard because of injury. With that being said, it’s easy to say something like this, it’s harder to go out there and execute. Hat’s off to the guys who came because of the injuries but also, again, for J.Y. for putting them in position to make those plays.

“I’m so proud of this team. I’m so proud of us.”

Winnipeg’s defence surrendered just one TD and 10 points to the CFL’s second-highest scoring offence (26.3 points per game) and it marked the seventh time in the last 12 games the Blue Bombers have held an opponent to under 20.

“That’s what we work on daily — everybody going into other spots — and it played out perfectly in this one with the injuries we had,” said Nichols. “Those guys might not get a whole lot of reps there, but they’re not new to it and it showed.

“Everybody is in this together. Everybody has got to know other positions, myself included. When something like happens, when we get that kind of adversity and handle it well, I’m proud of that.”

THREE NUMBERS WHICH STOOD OUT… after a second glance at the stats package, which can be found here:

1 More on the defence… the Blue Bombers forced three turnovers — interceptions by Nichols and Tyrell Ford — his seventh — along with TyJuan Garbutt forcing a fumble which was recovered by Willie Jefferson. The defence also limited the Ticats to a measly 22 percent (five of 19) in second-down conversions.

Ford’s pick led to one of the cooler moments in the game, as he raced to the sideline to give his father Robert — who lives in nearby Niagara Falls — the ball.

Tyrell Ford gives his INT ball to his dad in the stands 💙#CFLGameday on TSN & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/t8P7dQuCyR

— CFL (@CFL) October 5, 2024

2 Decent numbers for Kenny Lawler (three catches for 78 yards) and Nic Demski (5-47) and their work did extend a pair of streaks — Lawler has now gone 51 games recording at least one reception while Demski is now at 69 and counting.

3 Collaros had modest numbers Friday night in Hamilton — he was 13-of-19 for 201 yards with a TD strike to Kevens Clercius and no interceptions — but he didn’t have to be prolific with Oliveira & Co. doing their thing along the ground.

Still, a couple of things: 1. Over the last two games Collaros is 34-of-45 (75.6%) for 633 yards and seven touchdowns against zero interceptions. Over the last five games his TD-to-interception differential is 10:2.

One more on Collaros and courtesy my colleague Rob Vanstone of riderville.com: Collaros now has 198 career TD passes, tying him with Kent Austin for 14th overall.

MORE MOP MOMENTUM… for Oliveira, who was sensational again with a season-high 147 yards rushing on 24 rushes and one catch for 15 yards. He now has 1,254 yards along the ground and 424 yards receiving on a career-high 48 catches.

Friday also marked the sixth time this season he’s eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark. And remember, too, he missed most of training camp and as a result had just 128 yards rushing in his first three games.

“Great team win,” said Oliveira. “Our offensive line… (Hamilton) knew we were going to run the ball and we forced them to make a decision to try and stop us. Our offensive line responded extremely well and made it very easy for me. The receivers protected the edges… it was great to be a part of.”

Not long after Oliveira had just finished doing his interview, yours truly wandered across the room to chat with centre Chris Kolankowski. And before we could get rolling Oliveira was working through the O-line with a series of fist-bumps and bro hugs, offering this to Kolankowski: “You’re a f’in beast, man. A beast!’

“You could hear Brady every time he made contact in the first half,” said Kolankowski seconds later. “We just had to get him a little more space and in the second half we came out with more energy, more push and finish with our feet a bit more.

“That’s what we love to do. When we get a bit of rhythm and Brady’s running like that, we just have to get him past the D-line and he’s good to go. He was running over everybody.

“When you get that momentum going you just keep pounding and pounding them and the clock goes down once you get up, we see it, they see it, everybody sees it.”

AND, FINALLY… for those of you weary of all these words — once again thanks for making it this far — and here is a video recap of Friday’s ‘W’: