Big Blue prove doubters wrong

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This article was published 24/09/2024 (408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have chased for much of the 2024 season.

Opening with four straight losses will put a team in that type of predicament.

For the first time, however, the Bombers (8-6) are alone in the pole position of the West Division standings and face a playoff scenario entering this week’s contest against the Edmonton Elks (5-9) that seemed unfathomable even a month ago: win and you’re in.

Indeed, a win over the same team Winnipeg pummelled into submission 27-14, in their own stadium last weekend, will secure an eighth consecutive playoff berth for the club.

To the Bombers’ credit, no one blinked amid the monsoon of criticism as the club got off to a slow start that featured plenty of uncharacteristic moments from some of the team’s best players.

At one point, the injuries were piling up as quickly as the losses, but a belief that the team would return to its winning ways prevailed while they began to pull themselves out of a hole that many thought was too deep. The defence has returned to being one of the best in the CFL while the offence has improved as of late.

“It’s a day-to-day thing, it really is,” said quarterback Zach Collaros, who was unaware that the Bombers were on the brink of another playoff berth. “I think there’s a lot of growth to be had, especially on our side of the ball, there’s a lot of work to be done within the entire team. So we’re just going to take it day by day.”

The playoff scenario was also news to head coach Mike O’Shea, who doesn’t look at the standings.

“Grit, resilience, whatever you want to say — winning differently, it was bound to happen,” said O’Shea.

“It was most likely going to be a different season. They all are different. The rosters are different. We’ve had tremendous continuity, but we’ve got a little bit of difference in our roster this year. The way training camp started, all those things, they add up to we’ve got to learn to do it differently. It took us a little while in the beginning to learn but I think we’re still in that mode of taking in information and being able to process it and put it out there.”

INJURY UPDATES

O’Shea confirmed Tuesday linebacker Kyrie Wilson suffered an injury in warmups of Saturday’s game against Edmonton that was unrelated to the shoulder ailment that forced him to miss the previous six contests.

“Something happened in warm up that he just couldn’t compete so we put him (back) on the six-game, we’re hopeful we can hold him to one (game) if he’s ready — it’s a short week,” said O’Shea.“We’ll see.”

Wilson has appeared in all 18 games just once in his seven-year career (2019) and played in just 29 contests since 2021. His most serious injury was a torn Achilles tendon in 2022, which also kept him out of the first half of 2023.

Despite Wilson’s lengthy injury history, O’Shea has spoken highly of the 31-year-old in past years and has used him like a chess piece when he’s available, to rush the quarterback, drop in coverage or plug holes in the run game.

“I’m not frustrated,” said O’Shea. “I feel bad for him. It cuts a guy pretty deep when he’s so excited to play and help out and wants to do the right things and he just can’t. He’ll get through it, he’s a super strong character, so he’ll work through this as quickly as he can.”

Linebacker Brian Cole (foot) was removed from the six-game injured list and will be available for this week’s contest against the Elks. Should he dress, it would mark his first game action since July 20.

“He’s going to be available. We took him off the six-game, so he’ll be available. We’ll see what happens,” said O’Shea.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam