Tim White in action against the B.C. Lions; photos by Cameron Bartlett
The jalopy that is the 2026 Winnipeg Blue Bombers is currently in the shop with a team of mechanics now under the hood examining everything about a squad which has had its good and bad moments through the first eight games of the season.
And so it’s now — what with the club in its second bye week and at 4-4 overall — where we thought we’d chime in from our perch with a look at some telling numbers that have defined the club into August…
First the good stuff…
3 GOOD NUMBERS
658 Rushing Yards For Brady Oliveira
As much as this has been a hot-take talking point in Bomberland, especially over the last few weeks, consider this: Oliveira now leads the CFL in rushing yards and carries and has three rushing touchdowns — already the same total he’s had in each of the last two years.
His receiving totals are down from his career-best 61 receptions a year ago — he’s on pace for 45 — but his workload is up over the last two games with 33 carries for 235 yards, compared to 24-176 in the two contests prior to that.
There’s this to munch on, as well: for as much as 100 yards rushing for Oliveira has been critical to the club’s success over his career, the impact of a triple-digit game is diminishing in the win column. The proof: from 2021-24 Oliveira had 17 100-yard rushing performances and the Blue Bombers were a remarkable 16-1 in those games.
Over the last two seasons he’s had seven 100-yard rushing games and the team’s record in those contests is 3-4.
17 Quarterback Sacks
The Blue Bombers are getting after the passer this year and the 17 quarterback sacks through the first eight games has them in a tie for second overall with Saskatchewan and one behind Calgary’s 18.
Willie Jefferson and Jake Ceresna are both tied for the CFL lead in sacks with six — B.C.’s Mathieu Betts also has a half dozen — and that number represents a significant change in these parts. Winnipeg managed just 23 sacks all of last season, ranking last in the CFL and Pro Football Focus numbers have the defence with the highest QB-pressure rate so far this season.
Jefferson has already doubled his sack total of a year ago, has moved into a third-place tie with Doug Brown on the franchise’s all-time sack list with 52 (Tyrone Jones – 98 and Tony Norman, 59 — are first and second) and the veteran end continues to swat passes out of the sky. He has five knockdowns now this season and an even 100 in his career.
First Overall Special Teams Ranking
The CFL uses a formula to rank the league’s special teams which includes a variety of metrics including field goal percentage (Winnipeg ranks seventh), net punting (second), kickoff average (second), punt return average (second), kickoff return average (third), opponent punt return average (second), opponent kickoff return average (second), big-play returns (30-yard punt returns/40-yard kickoff returns) for (first) and against (first) and special teams penalties (second).
Add all that up and Winnipeg’s units rank first in the land.
Of note, while Sergio Castillo’s percentage of 80.6 currently ranks seventh, he again leads the CFL in kicks attempted and made from 40-yards plus (nine-of-15) and 50-yards plus (five-of-nine); Trey Vaval leads the CFL in punt return yardage, is second in kickoffs and first in combined yards; Jamieson Sheahan is the league’s second ranked punter overall while Michael Ayers’ nine special teams tackles is again among the league leaders.
3 MEH NUMBERS
264.4 Average Passing Yards Against
Winnipeg’s air defence has had some explosion plays against this season — its 14 completions for 30 yards or more is middle of the pack and tied for fifth overall — but in a season in which passing totals have exploded across the league, this is a decent number, especially if those chunk plays can be whittled down.
We know what some of you are thinking: that number is definitely impacted by the absence of Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell after he was injured at halftime in the second meeting with the Tiger-Cats and the fact B.C. star Nathan Rourke did not dress last week against the Blue Bombers. And, prior to the last game, Winnipeg had given up 320, 344 and 319 yards through the air in the wins over Toronto and Ottawa and the loss to Calgary.
Still, in a season of inconsistency, that number — coupled with the sack total — must be considered somewhat encouraging.
270.8 Average Passing Yards For
This number ranks eighth in the league, ahead of only Hamilton (236.6) and almost 100 yards shy of Toronto’s league-high (365.1). That said, it is up from last year’s league-low average of 235.0 passing yards per game for the Blue Bombers.
Winnipeg currently has three receivers on pace for 1,000-yard seasons in Pokey Wilson (537), Nic Demski (484) and Tim White (461) and they’ve posted those numbers with QB1 Zach Collaros having missed the last 4 1/2 games.
17 Quarterback Sacks Allowed
Winnipeg has surrendered 17 sacks this year, which ranks eighth in the league and is essentially on the same pace as last season, when it allowed 37. That number comes with Collaros, Dru Brown and Taylor Elgersma all in passing situations — short-yardage specialist Bryce Perkins has yet to throw a pass — and with a new coordinator, new quarterback, new receivers and a variety of lineup combinations up front.
Given that — and considering Oliveira leads the league in rushing and the passing totals are up — that is the picture of a ‘meh’ number.
3 UGLY NUMBERS
141.1 Rushing Yards Against
The Blue Bombers gave up an astonishing 377 yards rushing to the B.C. Lions last week, establishing a new franchise low that had previously been set a whopping 70 years ago. A butt-ugly number like that obviously impacts the overall average, but this has been an issue for the defence, on and off, since the start of the season.
The Blue Bombers gave up over 100 yards rushing in each of the first three games — exactly 171 in the first two and then 121 in the third — before seemingly fixing the problem by yielding an average of just 72.3 yards in their next four contests. And then — BOOM! — came the loss last Thursday in which they surrendered the 377, including 206 yards alone in the fourth quarter.
Now, we’ve already detailed how historic the 377 yards rushing against was for this franchise, but let’s put that 206 in the fourth quarter alone into further perspective. Get this: that’s the most yards — and it came in one quarter — the Blue Bombers have surrendered in a single GAME since July 1, 2016, when Calgary had 207 against the club.
-7 Turnover Differential
It’s not complicated in football — turn the ball over and a team’s chances of winning begin to nosedive significantly. So, given that the Blue Bombers turnover differential is -7 — they’ve turned it over 18 times while forcing 11 of their own — it’s almost remarkable that the team is an even .500.
The Blue Bombers have forced just two interceptions through eight games — one by Major Williams, the other by Jake Kelly — despite, as mentioned above, having the highest QB pressure rate.
10 Red zone touchdowns
Winnipeg’s offence has 10 red zone touchdowns (drives inside an opponent’s 20-yard line), which ranks last in the league and has run just 46 red zone plays through eight games, also last in the league.
Just for comparison, Calgary leads the CFL with 25 red zone TDs, while Saskatchewan has run a league-best 69 plays in the red zone. Those two numbers absolutely, positively must improve in the final 10 games for the Blue Bombers.
