Can they put it all together?

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This article was published 07/10/2015 (3748 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You know things are desperate at Investors Group Field when not even head coach Mike O’Shea is pretending this weekend’s contest against the B.C. Lions is “just another game on the schedule.”

With his Winnipeg Blue Bombers mired at 4-10 and desperately needing a win Saturday in Vancouver to move back into a tie with the Lions for the final playoff spot in the West Division, O’Shea on Wednesday dropped all the coach babble-speak that has become his trademark and called this week’s matchup with the Lions exactly what it is — the biggest game of the season for his team.

“You want to have them understanding that this is playoff football and we’re approaching this as a must-win game,” O’Shea said following practice Wednesday.

It was a message O’Shea has clearly communicated to his players, who to a man made clear they knew the West Division standings and how crucial it is for them to get a win against the Lions if the team is going to keep alive even a glimmer of hope of playing in the Grey Cup game next month on their home field.

“We’re treating this like the playoffs. This is obviously a must-win,” said running back Da’Rel Scott, who missed the last six weeks with an injury but will draw into the lineup this week in place of Chevon Walker, who was released Tuesday.

While it was refreshing to hear Bombers players finally use language that suggests they have given up the platitudes their coach favours and now fully grasp the gravity of the situation, it’s not actually mathematically true Saturday’s game is a must-win.

The Bombers (4-8) trail the Lions (5-8) by two points and B.C. also has a game in hand. A loss would put the Bombers four points behind the Lions. But Winnipeg will still have three regular-season games remaining and will technically still be alive in the playoff race for at least another week no matter what happens in Vancouver.

Unless the Bombers start winning games — they’ve lost six of their last seven contests — the math is going to catch up with this team very soon. Indeed, they’re lucky it hasn’t caught up to them already.

“You look at the record and you wouldn’t think 4-10 would still have a chance,” said Bombers slotback Nick Moore.

“But seeing as we do, we’re definitely thankful for it.”

Where there’s even the faintest sign of a vital sign, there’s still hope.

“We have no choice, it’s either have hope or give up. And we’re not going to give up,” said Moore.

“We’ve worked too hard all year and guys are too prideful…

“You either pick yourself up and come out to work or you don’t put your pads on, don’t tie your cleats up and don’t practise at all. It’s the only choice.”

The Bombers head to B.C. fresh off two of the most difficult defeats in recent memory for this franchise, including a two-point loss to the Calgary Stampeders two weeks ago in which they fell victim to a blown penalty call in the final minute of the game, and then by one point last week against the Edmonton Eskimos, in a game in which kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed four field goals and a convert.

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Add it all up and you’d think the Bombers might have difficulty picking themselves up off the mat heading into the biggest game of the year.

But defensive tackle Bryant Turner insists his teammates are looking at the narrow losses to the Stampeders and Eskimos as a positive rather than a negative.

“It’s uplifting. We played with two great teams. In our mind, we should have won both games but we didn’t. So now it’s just all about figuring it out and getting it done and finishing.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek