Bombers turn over a new leaf

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This article was published 08/10/2024 (525 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not often a player finds himself in the midst of a lengthy win streak, only to have his week spent feeling the sting of a particularly painful loss.

That’s been the case for Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Brady Oliveira. Oliveira, like the rest of his teammates, will continue to pore over the film of a 16-14 overtime road loss to the Toronto Argonauts from late July as they prepare for the rematch at Princess Auto Stadium this Friday.

“It sucks because you’re watching that tape all week,” Oliveira said following practice Tuesday. “It looks like totally different guys out there. That wasn’t Bomber football being played in that game, not at all.”

The two-point defeat has been tough to stomach, made worse by having to digest the season-high five turnovers the Bombers committed en route to a narrow defeat.

Winnipeg fumbled and lost the ball three times, beginning with Oliveira minutes into the game; threw for one interception, which was returned for a defensive touchdown; and had one turnover on downs in the final minute of the fourth quarter that ultimately sent the game to extra time.

The loss to the Argos dropped the Bombers to 2-6, with many believing things were only going to get worse from there. Suddenly, the Bombers were too old, too slow, too whatever to return to their dominant ways of the past few seasons.

Since that defeat more than two months ago, the Blue and Gold have yet to lose, reeling off eight consecutive victories to improve to 10-6 and sit atop the West Division. A Bombers win Friday would clinch the West for the fourth year in a row, putting the Bombers back in the driver’s seat, just a victory in the West final away from going to a fifth consecutive Grey Cup.

“We’re peaking at the right time and we’re playing our style of football, which is obviously pleasing to see,” added Oliveira. “It’s great we get another opportunity to show our style and our brand of football when we play the Argos this week.”

Indeed, it’s been quite the turnaround from the first eight games of the season compared to the last eight. While there are several factors that have led to the Bombers current run, perhaps none is more prominent than the improvement in ball security.

In the first eight games, the Bombers committed a league-worst 19 turnovers — including nine interceptions and six lost fumbles — and had a minus-8 turnover ratio, which was also good for last in the CFL. Over the most recent eight-game stretch, though, they’ve climbed the rankings, committing 11 fewer turnovers, three fewer interceptions, six fewer fumbles and have a plus-13 turnover ratio over that time.

“We’re peaking at the right time and we’re playing our style of football, which is obviously pleasing to see.”–Brady Oliveira

Put another way, no one in the CFL has committed fewer turnovers (eight), has thrown for fewer interceptions (six) and has lost fewer fumbles (zero) than Winnipeg over the last eight games.

“If I knew exactly why (we’ve turned things around), it wouldn’t have looked that way at the beginning,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said. “But, certainly, there’s a lot more focus, just practising with good intention, focusing on those specific ideas.”

“The giveaway-takeaway margin, it predicts wins and losses at a high rate,” the Bombers coach added. “You have to work on keeping the ball. You have to work on taking it away.”

Given the importance of being on the right side of the turnover battle — something that every football coach, at all levels, preaches — it’s no surprise the Bombers have edged their opponents in this battle in six of the last eight games. They’ve tied once and lost on another occasion over this recent run, leading to a nailbiting 26-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

While the turnovers have dwindled, the number of takeaways the Bombers have generated has grown exponentially, improving from 11 takeaways in the first eight games, to 22 in last eight.

“You have to work on keeping the ball. You have to work on taking it away.”–Mike O’Shea

“The priority is always to get the man down on the ground first,” Bombers defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger said.

“There’s just certain situations where the game presents itself, where you see the ball carrier may not be in a position to protect the ball. The quarterback was about to take off and he hadn’t tucked it away yet. Recognizing that and not settling for the tackle is professional football awareness.”

Nic Demski was distraught in the visitor’s locker room following the loss to the Argos. The Bombers receiver was reeling from a costly fumble early in the fourth quarter, in what was his third lost ball of the season. He had just two lost fumbles in the previous four seasons.

One game earlier, Demski reeled in a deep pass against the Saskatchewan Roughriders that seemed destined to reach paydirt. Riders linebacker Jameer Thurman caught up to him and popped the ball loose with fewer than three minutes remaining, as the Bombers went on to lose 19-9.

Demski hasn’t caused a turnover in the last eight games.

“In those early games, there was a lot of new things going on, with newer guys stepping into roles and everyone gelling together,” Demski said. “We’re just playing cleaner football now. It’s a bad feeling giving the ball away, probably one of the worst things that you could do. The ball is the most important thing on the field.”

It’s been a similar improvement for quarterback Zach Collaros, who has the second-most interceptions in the CFL, with 14, but has just two in his last five games. It has helped that Collaros hasn’t been trailing in games like earlier in the year and that he’s playing behind a healthy and dominant offensive line that gives him time and space to make his reads.

“It’s a myriad of things,” Collaros said. “Ball security is all-encompassing. It starts up front with me, Brady, with just understanding what they’re giving you as a defence. It starts there and then as the play goes on, the blame can go one way or the other. But it takes all 12 guys, for sure.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton