Lions defence mauls Big Blue

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This article was published 22/06/2023 (869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There haven’t been a ton of stinkers on home turf for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the last few years. Thursday, however, you needed to hold your nose through most of the night.

The Bombers were outworked, outclassed and ultimately outscored by the B.C. Lions, who arrived in Winnipeg clearly on a mission, leaving with a 30-6 victory in front of 25,662 at IG Field. It was the kind of performance by B.C. that will undoubtedly send a message to the rest of the CFL, and particularly the West Division, that the Lions mean business.

“I think the better question is, what went right?” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said after the game when asked what went wrong. “Not enough, obviously, to win. Full credit to them, they came here and beat us pretty good in front of our fans.”

Many pundits across the CFL framed the game as a matchup between the top two clubs in the league, with both teams entering the night perfect through the first two weeks. The Lions improved to 3-0, moving into sole possession of first place in the West, while the Bombers dropped to 2-1.

To call the loss at home a rare occurrence would be putting it lightly. The Bombers entered the game 27-2 in their last 29 home games and hadn’t lost to a West opponent at IG Field since a 32-27 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders back on Sept. 8, 2018 – a stretch of nearly five years.

The Bombers entered the game with the CFL’s most potent offence, averaging 39 points per game following convincing wins over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Roughriders. Meanwhile, the Lions had the league’s stingiest defence, allowing a combined 15 points in a victory over the Calgary Stampeders, followed by a rare shutout against the Edmonton Elks.

Needless to say, it was the Lions defence that rose to the occasion, limiting Winnipeg to a measly 218 yards of net offence. Collaros had arguably his worst game in a Bombers uniform, ending the night 15-for-26 passing for 178 yards and an interception.

Brady Oliveira, who was cleared to play after dealing with a thorax injury all week, rushed just 10 times for 52 yards. Carlton Agudosi led all Winnipeg receivers with five catches for 61 yards, with 47 of those coming on one catch. Dalton Schoen and Nic Demski combined for 92 yards on eight catches.

“Give credit where its due. They played a great game. They were physical. They covered us up pretty well,” Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros said. “We’ll clean it up. We’ll watch the tape.”

B.C.’s pass rush was seemingly unstoppable, with Collaros sacked seven times, including three times by Lions defensive end Mathieu Betts. The Lions defence forced three turnovers and have now gone two games without allowing a touchdown to an opposing offence, with just one through three games this year.

The Lions offence weren’t world-beaters by any stretch of the imagination, putting up 313 yards of offence, but given how well their defence played, they didn’t need to be. Vernon Adams Jr. played a clean game behind centre, throwing for 241 yards on 20-for-30 passing and a pair of touchdowns — strikes to Alexander Hollins and Justin McInnis — and was sacked three times.

Hollins led all receivers with eight catches for 84 yards and the TD. Running back Taquan Mizzell was rarely used, rushing just 10 times for 50 yards, with Adams registering 30 yards on two carries.

“There are high expectations in this building for a reason,” Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill said. “We believe in the guys that are here. At the end of the day, we need to be playing our best football in November. You’d rather learn this (now) than in the playoffs. You got to take this, be critical and improve.”

The Lions defence flexed their muscles from the get-go, making for a slow start by Collaros & Co., with the Bombers mustering just six points – a pair of field goals (36 yards and 21 yards) from Sergio Castillo – in the opening half. Winnipeg put up 173 yards of offence compared to B.C.’s 180 through the opening two quarters, with other offensive statistical categories also comparable between the two Western foes, including first downs (12 to 14), offensive plays (24 each), and time of possession (14:42 to 14:39).

The biggest difference in the first half was the Lions were able to find the end zone, scoring a pair of touchdowns to go with a 40-yard field goal from Shaun Whyte. As skillful as the scoring drives were, it was the timing of each that made it particularly impressive.

After the Bombers opened the game with a field goal, the Lions answered back with a touchdown drive that was aided by two defensive pass-interference penalties by the Bombers, including a 37-yard gain on a call against Abu Daramy-Swaray. The drive was capped off with a one-yard QB sneak by former Bomber Dominique Davis.

When Castillo kicked his second field goal to make it a 10-6 game with 49 seconds remaining, the Lions wasted little time taking the ball the other way. Adams orchestrated a five-play, 70-yard drive that was capped off with a two-yard TD pass to Hollins, giving the Lions a 17-6 lead at the break.

“We were behind in a bunch of (statistical) categories that really determine the outcome of games,” O’Shea said. “We started slow in the first quarter. Usually, we’ve been able to come out of the gates after half and rev the engines, get going and we just couldn’t today.”

The Bombers offence continued to struggle in the third quarter, with the Lions taking a 23-6 lead into the final frame. Winnipeg had three offensive series in the third, all resulting in punts, including a trio two-and-outs.

Whyte increased the Lions lead to 20-6 with a 33-yard field goal on the first drive of the second half. The Bombers were fortunate to escape with only three points against, as the Lions series was stalled deep in Winnipeg’s end following a Celestin Haba sack and a pass breakup by Desmond Lawrence in the end zone.

The Bombers defence would limit Whyte to another field goal — this time from 22 yards — after the Lions started the drive at Winnipeg’s 37. The favourable field position was the result of a time-count violation, followed by a measly 39-yard punt from Jamieson Sheahan and a 14-yard return by Terry Williams.

Penalties were a problem for the Bombers all evening. After taking a combined six penalties totalling 32 yards in the first two games, Winnipeg was flagged nine times for 40 yards against the Lions.

The Bombers opened the fourth quarter with an illegal block penalty on their punt return and six plays later gave the ball back to the Lions. When they got the ball again, Collaros was intercepted and, one play later, Adams found McInnis for a 12-yard touchdown. The game was scoreless for the last 9:40, the Bombers running out the clock with a run from Johnny Augustine.

The Bombers return to practice next week to prepare for a road game against the Montreal Alouettes on Canada Day.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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