Bombers lose second straight to Stamps

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were backed into a corner, and things unravelled quickly.

The Bombers were handed a 41–20 defeat by the Calgary Stampeders in front of 32,324 at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday evening, but the club’s biggest loss came in the later minutes of the second quarter when quarterback Zach Collaros exited the game with what appeared to be a head injury.

The star pivot took a shot to the chest shortly after releasing a pass, his backwards momentum causing the back of his head to smack the turf. Head coach Mike O’Shea had no update on Collaros after the game and would not confirm the nature of the injury.

When Collaros went down, the ship went with him. Winnipeg trailed 17-13 when he exited but was dominated in all three phases for the remainder of the contest, as the club was routed for the second time in three weeks by Calgary.

The Bombers dropped to 3-2 and have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since Week 7-8 of the 2024 season. The Stampeders improved to 5-1.

“The same as the last one — not very good,” said O’Shea. “I thought we weren’t very smart in the first half, and then we just weren’t very good in the second. So, you add those two up, this is the outcome.”

Winnipeg’s streak of 12 straight wins when coming off a bye was snapped, and it is now 18-2 since 2017.

The Bombers will now look toward a road meeting with the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field on Saturday, July 26.

Let’s peel this one back first.

 

STREVY STRUGGLES

It looked like backup quarterback Chris Streveler might be able to keep the Bombers in the game during his first couple of series.

Streveler was using his legs well while the offence leaned on running back Brady Oliveira to move the chains.

That feeling changed early in the third quarter, on the club’s opening drive of the first half, as the Bombers got as far as Calgary’s seven-yard line before Streveler, rolling left, attempted to thread the needle to Kevens Clercius at the front pylon. That pass was jumped by defensive back Adrian Greene.

“Obviously, you can’t throw picks in the red zone, right? So we gotta take care of the ball, especially in a close ball game like that,” Streveler said. “That’s on me, I gotta be better. I don’t think anyone played their best game tonight, so, like I said, we’re going to use this as motivation to work hard this week and be better.”

That was the first of two bad interceptions by Streveler, who threw another pick two drives later that was returned for a touchdown by defensive back Damon Webb to make it 38-13 — the final nail in the Bombers’ coffin.

Streveler, who delivered an eight-yard touchdown pass to Kody Case in the dying moments of the game, ended the night 16-for-25 with 136 yards, one touchdown pass and two interceptions.

The Bombers as a collective lost the turnover battle six to one on this night.

 

SLINGING IT

Before Collaros got hurt, it looked as though he and Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. had a side bet for who could throw for the most yards.

A busy first half saw the starting pivots combine for 310 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions as they both played aggressively and pushed the ball down the field.

Adams Jr. started hot, connecting on gains of 19, 13, 17 and 12 before backup quarterback Quincy Vaughn made a three-yard plunge into the end zone to cap a seven-play, 64-yard opening drive to take a 7-3 lead.

Naturally, Collaros began to chuck it, too. After the Bombers settled for field goals on each of their first two drives — 46- and 58-yard boots from Sergio Castillo — he found Nic Demski on a 73-yard completion in the first quarter, then led a six-play 70-yard early second quarter touchdown drive, capped by a four-yard toss to Demski. Collaros was four-for-four for 64 yards on the drive.

Demski was the lone bright spot for the Bombers on this night, pacing all receivers with six receptions and 137 yards while adding 27 rushing yards.

Collaros finished eight-for-11 for 151 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Adams Jr. continued to have his way with the Bombers’ defence en route to completing 16 of 24 passes for 268 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

For the second straight meeting with Winnipeg, Calgary’s offence was incredibly efficient, needing just 49 plays to rack up 390 net yards (8.0 yards per play).

“Vernon is very slippery, so we get pressure and then he manages to spin around and escape. He’s always done that. He’s pretty good at it, obviously. And he just made us pay a couple times with it,” O’Shea said. “So you can get pressure, it’s just hard to bring him down.”

 

BIG PLAYS

Explosive plays (20-plus-yard rushes, 30-plus-yard passes) continue to be the Achilles heel of this Bombers defence.

Calgary had four on this night, and it easily could’ve been more.

Adams Jr. accounted for three big plays on this night, and two of them went for touchdowns — both to emerging star rookie receiver Damien Alford.

After Winnipeg got into the end zone for the first time, the Stamps responded immediately with a five-play 66-yard drive, capped by a leaping 37-yard touchdown grab by the 6-6 pass catcher. In the third quarter, Adams Jr. delivered a highlight-reel play, spinning as he escaped the pocket, then heaving a 42-yard pass to Alford, who had gotten past the last level of the Bombers’ defence and was wide open in the end zone.

Alford finished with two catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns.

“They take their shots and everything like that, so we just got to win on them plays,” said Deatrick Nichols. “That’s just part of the game when you’re playing defensive back and outside. They’re going to throw the ball up, it’s part of the game, it’s just we got to win more than we lose. For the last two games, we haven’t been coming on top in them situations.”

The Bombers got away with another busted coverage one on the second drive of the game, as a 55-yard grab by Dominique Rhymes was ruled a reception before it was reviewed and ruled that he bobbled the ball as he went to the ground.

Calgary had recorded three explosive plays in their dominant victory at home two weeks ago, while running just 47 plays, and on this night, they were just as good.

 

NO NEED FOR BRADY

It marked the second straight contest in which the Bombers’ biggest offensive weapon was fazed out.

Brady Oliveira had 13 carries for 61 yards in the first meeting between these clubs.

And though the workhorse back’s final stat line — 20 touches for 108 scrimmage yards — doesn’t look concerning, he was limited to 68 rushing yards on 15 carries, as the score got out of hand.

“It’s ugly,” said Oliveria.

“I’m not even sure about this one. It feels a little weird because it was so close. It’s not like the last outing with them, where it really got out of hand quickly into the game. But we’re in it. We knew we had to go into the second half and fight, but it just got away from us.”

The Bombers will need to stay in games to get the most use out of the league’s reigning Most Outstanding Player.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam