Zach Collaros in action in Friday's loss to Edmonton; photos by Cameron Bartlett
Watching the latest effort by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was another excruciating exercise in frustration.
There was so very much to be encouraged about in the opening and, ultimately, so very much disappointment in its conclusion.
To be blunter, it was akin to savouring every bite of an exquisite dish, only to see a fly in the sauce halfway through the meal. Or absolutely digging the first few tracks on your favourite artist’s latest effort only to have the last few songs be the equivalent of a donkey braying for 30 minutes.
And perhaps the best way to capture all of the pain and frustration from Friday’s 22-19 loss to the Edmonton Elks may be with this scene: as your humble agent worked through a morose Blue Bombers locker room post-game, the quiet conversations were suddenly interrupted by one player who roared — twice — a familiar expletive deleted which was loud enough to cause heads to turn and to peel paint.
“It’s tough. So tough,” began defensive end Willie Jefferson. “It came down to the end again, to the last play again, and we could have made one or two more plays on defence. We also make one or two more plays on offence and then it’s a totally different game.”
And when it was suggested the game offered both the best and the worst of the Blue Bombers this season — from building a 16-0 lead, giving that advantage up before tying it late, only to see the Elks march for a game-winning field goal as time expired — Jefferson nodded his head in agreement.
“That’s it exactly. That’s exactly it with us,” he said. “One more play by the offence; one stop by the defence. Let’s say we get that catch by Poke (Wilson, in the fourth quarter) that went out of bounds, it’s a totally different game. Defensive-wise, if we don’t get that PI against us in the third quarter (against Jake Kelly in the second quarter, setting up Edmonton’s first TD) they’re off the field and it’s a totally different game.
“And then in the fourth quarter, man, we’ve just got to get off the field on second down. We had them backed up two or three times but just couldn’t get it done.
“Like I said, it’s just so tough,” added Jefferson, before pausing to deliver a heavy sigh and a head shake. “We played a good game, just not good enough. We played a cleaner game, just not clean enough. One more play, just one more play…
“We’ve got to keep believing in ourselves.”
ICYMI, here is our Game Recap from Friday night:
And what follows is this week’s edition of UPON FURTHER REVIEW…
THREE NUMBERS WHICH JUMPED OUT AFTER A SECOND GLANCE… at the stats package, which can be found here:
1 Brady Oliveira finished Friday night with 118 yards rushing on 16 carries — 7.4 yards per rush — and added another 11 yards on two catches. In the last four games since his usage was brought into question his yards from scrimmage have been 119, 116, 154 and 129.
Yet, it was when or when he was not being used Friday night which brought so much criticism. Oliveira had 110 of his 118 yards rushing in the first half but just two carries for eight yards in the second half.
As well, the club’s first two drives Friday pushed them inside the Elks’ 10-yard line, only to see the attack pass twice from the seven-yard line and then on a second-and-three from the Edmonton five again attempt a pass. Ditto on the next play, a third-and-three gamble that fell short.
There’s more to this discussion…
The Blue Bombers led 16-6 at the half and gave up a field goal on the Elks’ first possession of the third to cut the advantage to 16-9. On Winnipeg’s first offensive play of the second half Oliveira rushed for six before an attempted draw to Nic Demski on second and four was a complete bust, with the veteran slotback swallowed up in a nanosecond after the ball was put into his belly.
Next possession the Elks march again for a TD before a Zach Collaros incompletion was followed by a sack.
One quarter, four offensive plays run and just three minutes and 25 seconds of possession.
“In the third quarter we didn’t stay on the field — I don’t know how many plays we had in the third quarter… maybe four, six, I’m not sure. Not very many,” said head coach Mike O’Shea after the game. “So, in order to get the plays you want to get run, you’ve got to stay on the field and we just couldn’t. So, once again, it was a complete script flip from the first half and until you really dive down into the film it’s hard to say exactly what the difference was.
“The truth is always if you want more plays you need to have more plays — you need to stay on the field, and we couldn’t.”
2 Other telling numbers in the good half/bad half for the Blue Bombers:
- Winnipeg ran 40 offensive plays and had 300 yet yards offence in the first half but ran just 13 plays for 19 total yards in the second.
- The Elks were one-for-five in second down conversions in the first half but finished 13-of-22 on second down opportunities, or 12-of-17 in the second half.
“The first half, we came out hot, but we’ve got to figure out a way to play like that for the whole four quarters,” said Demski. “We were a different team in the second half and obviously that doesn’t cut it. We really need to find a way to maintain that for all four quarters.
“Kudos to their defence; they beat us fair and square. But, again, we shot ourselves in the foot a few times with a couple mistakes and when you do that against a good football team it’s going to cost you in the end. That’s what it came down to.
“We’ve got to find our groove. We’ve got to figure out how to hold that for the whole game — all three phases.”
3 We’ve never been one in this space to point fingers at the officials and that won’t change here. Still, there was this oddity from Friday night: the Blue Bombers were penalized twice for 56 yards, but Elks were not nailed with a single infraction. Zero.
Officially, it marked the first time since 2013 and a game between B.C. and Calgary that a team — in this case, the Lions — played without being hit with a single penalty. Prior to that you have to go way back to Oct. 8, 1974 and a game in which Edmonton not nailed for an infraction in a 28-28 tie with Montreal.
The last time a Winnipeg opponent was not penalized in a game was 1968 in a game against Ottawa.
O’Shea did challenge for a roughing the passer play on a hit Collaros took on a rushing Joel Dublanko on the second series of the game — with the Blue Bombers QB pushed to the ground after an incompletion.
Asked what he saw on the play, O’Shea said:
“We see it as late. The rule is to avoid all unnecessary contact and so when you’ve got an opportunity to not push the quarterback, you’re not supposed to push the quarterback. But that’s their decision and that’s what came down.”
The Blue Bombers boss then decided to game on third and three.
“You lose by three, I make a decision to go for it inside the five on third and three,” he said. “We could’ve got a first down out of it or scored a touchdown, but still could have got a first down which gives you two options there in my my mind, but when you lose by three and you didn’t take that field goal, I’m sure that comes into question.”
SO, WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BLUE BOMBERS... after such a devastating result? We put that to a couple of people afterward.
“You can’t dwell on it. We’ve got a great football team (Montreal)coming into our stadium this week,” said Collaros. “We’ve got to make the corrections tomorrow morning and get better from it. That’s all you can do.
“The plays are there to be made. I’ve got to be better for everybody. That’s it. But it’s also pro football. If you really need a pep talk, you shouldn’t be here.”
“We had this one. It’s a tough loss and we obviously know how important it was and how extremely tight the West is this season,” said Oliveira. “This definitely could have catapulted us forward. But you can’t let one game define you. We still control our own destiny.
“We’re getting production on offence it’s just when we get to the red zone we’re not getting into the end zone. That’s all come back to figuring out the why. I like our guys. I believe we can get it done.”
AND FINALLY… for 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’s loss, check out the condensed game here:
