Big Blue prevail in ‘slugfest’

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This article was published 07/07/2023 (1051 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was far from a dominating affair. And for long stretches it looked like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers might actually be in trouble against a beat up and battered Calgary Stampeders club desperate for a win.

The sure sign of a good team is its ability to pull out a victory on nights it is not at its best, and that was certainly the case for the Blue and Gold on Friday. The Bombers turned a slow start into a strong finish, shutting out the Stampeders in the final two quarters to earn a 24-11 triumph in front of 30,561 at IG Field.

“It was kind of a slugfest, or a boxing match,” Bombers quaterback Zach Collaros said afterwards. “We just wore them down. We’re a good team, we’ve got a lot of veterans. But we need to get better. There are a lot of things on the film that we need to clean up.”

The win improved the Bombers record to 4-1, moving them into sole possession of first place in the West Division. The B.C. Lions (3-1) can join them with a win over the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday.

The Stampeders dropped to 1-3 with the loss and are second last in the West, ahead of only the lowly 0-5 Edmonton Elks. Calgary also extended its losing streak at IG Field to seven games; the last time the Stampeders won in Winnipeg was July 7, 2017 – exactly six years to the day of Friday’s affair.

The Bombers finished with 307 yards of net offence, including 101 rushing yards. Collaros was 20-for-28 passing for 231 yards and two touchdowns — strikes to Greg McCrae and Rasheed Bailey.

The Stampeders, who arrived in Winnipeg with 14 injured players on their roster, including 11 on the six-game imjured list, had just 215 yards of offence, with much of that coming in the first half. Jake Maier, now 0-3 versus the Bombers in his career, completed 14 of 25 passes for 122 yards and an interception that helped turn the game in favour of the Bombers.

Winnipeg’s defence was once again the star of the show. It made Maier’s life miserable down the stretch, sacking him three times. Calgary sacked Collaros twice.

An embarrassing 30-6 loss to the Lions in Week 3 was long in the rear-view mirror by the time the Bombers returned to practice this past week. That didn’t stop players from talking about wanting redemption for their performance against the Lions now that they were back playing in front of their fans, with several noting the importance of having a strong start.

Instead, the Bombers came out just as flat as they did two weeks ago, trailing 10-1 after the first quarter. The offence was particularly slow out of the gate, earning the single point off a Jamieson Sheahan punt that deflected off the corner pilon of the end zone to seal the rouge.

Meanwhile, the Stampeders secured points on two of their three drives in the opening frame. Already up 3-0 following a 29-yard field goal on the club’s first offensive series, Dedrick Mills capped off a 10-play, 71-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to give Calgary a 10-0 edge.

Mills, who was elevated to starter after Ka’Deem Carey suffered an injury in Week 1, entered the game averaging a league-best 88 rushing yards per game, with Winnipeg’s Brady Oliveira in second, at nearly 82 yards. Mills was close to eclipsing that average by the end of the first half, rushing for 85 yards, including a 33-yard run that helped set up the Parades field goal. By comparison, Oliveira had four carries for 11 yards by the break, with Winnipeg registering a dismal 16 rushing yards through two quarters.

The second frame started just as sleepily and would have stayed that way if not for the offence finally waking up in the final minutes before halftime.

With the defence settling in, forcing the Stampeders to punt five consecutive times in the quarter, Collaros connected with McCrae down the left sideline for a 68-yard touchdown.

McCrae, who made his 2023 debut last week in the win over Montreal, got behind veteran defensive back Brandon Dozier following a Collaros pump-fake to make it an 11-11 game heading into the third quarter. Sergio Castillo connected on a 47-yard field goal earlier in the quarter to round out the Bombers scoring at the break.

“Resolve,” is what head coach Mike O’Shea said when asked what the difference was in the second half. “Our guys weren’t happy with the first half. We played better, executed better and certainly increased our physicality in the second half.”

Any momentum from the late surge by the Bombers to close out the second quarter wouldn’t extend into the start of second half, at least not right away. It would be a defensive battle for most of the third quarter, before the Bombers defence tilted the field with an interception by Demerio Houston.

Houston’s team-leading third pick of the season gave the Bombers offence the ball on the Stampeders’ 54-yard line. Collaros, who had lamented not earning enough points off turnovers against Montreal, then orchestrated a seven-play, 36-yard touchdown drive ending with an eight-yard toss to Bailey, who strolled into the end zone untouched to give the Bombers their first lead, 18-11.

Winnipeg’s special teams would get in on the action on the Stampeders’ ensuing punt, with McCrae returning a missed field goal 102 yards, eventually running out of gas at Calgary’s 13. Collaros took a shot at the end zone, but overthrew Dalton Schoen, forcing the Bombers to settle for a 17-yard field goal and a 21-11 lead minutes into the final frame.

The Bombers would eventually put the game out reach with a long and time-consuming drive near the end of the fourth quarter.

Starting on their own seven-yard line, the Bombers ran 15 plays, travelling 99 yards, while eating up nine minutes and 43 seconds of the clock. It didn’t end in a touchdown, but it dug the Stampeders’ hole a little deeper, as Castillo hit a 12-yard field goal to make it 24-11.

“That drive was amazing,” said Bombers defensive back Willie Jefferson. “The only thing that would have made that drive better was if they put it in the end zone. That’s the way the game goes sometimes and we were still able to put three points on the board and make the lead a little bit bigger. Defence went in and took over and the offence finished things off.”

The Stampeders got the ball back with 1:49 remaining, but five plays later, with Tommy Stevens in for Maier, were unable to convert a third-and-10, resulting in a turnover on downs. The Bombers took over and ran out the remaining 1:15, with Collaros launching a throw out of bounds as time expired.

The Bombers return to practice on Tuesday to prepare for a Week 6 road matchup in Ottawa against the Redblacks Saturday afternoon. Winnipeg swept the two-game season-series last year.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton