Bombers battle bravely but fall to Stampeders 37-33

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This article was published 19/10/2019 (2150 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CALGARY — It was the kind of game the Winnipeg Blue Bombers can expect to be in as they near the end of the 2019 Canadian Football League season. With just weeks before the start of playoffs, the Bombers will no doubt find themselves in close affairs in their bid to snap a lengthy Grey Cup drought, currently at 28 years and counting.

The problem, however, is that despite being 17 games into the season, the Bombers still don’t know how to do the critical things required of a championship team, at the most critical moments. Most notably, they seem unable to finish whenever the game hangs in the balance.

It was much the same story Saturday at McMahon Stadium, where the Bombers did enough to hang around for much of the night only to stumble down the stretch in what turned out to be a 37-33 loss to the Calgary Stampeders. The Bombers, who dropped to 10-7, are now 1-4 in games that are decided by four points or less.

“It is tough to put your finger on. We’re just two to three plays to getting those wins and that’s happened in all of these close games we’ve been in,” right tackle Patrick Neufeld said. “We just got to find a way, through film and practice, that we correct those two to three plays and come out with a win somehow. At this point, it has to be by any means. This is playoff football for us right now and we got to get that stuff corrected and make sure we can get those wins in those tight games.”

The Bombers understood the stakes were at their highest and what the implications would be if they lost. Winnipeg can no longer finish first place in the West Division and now second spot, which comes with hosting the West semifinal, feels nearly as impossible. For that to happen, the Bombers would have to beat the Stampeders in the rematch next week and then hope Calgary loses to the Mike Reilly-less B.C. Lions in their final game.

As for the Stampeders, they moved into top spot, at 11-5, tied with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but hold the first tiebreaker with a 2-0 season-series win. The Roughriders finish out the year with back-to-back games against the Edmonton Eskimos.

Clearly, the loss stung for Winnipeg. But head coach Mike O’Shea chose afterward to focus on the positives, taking solace in his team’s effort over 60 minutes in what was tough enemy territory.

“Our guys battled. I thought they worked extremely hard, right from opening kick to final whistle they were battling out there,” O’Shea said. “It’s what you expect — it’s nothing new. They know they’re going to do it.”

There certainly was some good, particularly in the first half, where the Bombers took a 27-19 lead into the break. Winnipeg trailed after the first quarter, swapping field goals before Bo Levi Mitchell found Reggie Begelton on a nine-yard strike — the first of three touchdowns on the night for Begelton — to make it an 11-3 game through 15 minutes.

It was in the second quarter that the Bombers finally come to life, earning contributions from both sides of the ball. In fact, Winnipeg took their first lead of the game early into the frame when they exploded for 17 points over a span of one minute and 39 seconds.

Justin Medlock opened the scoring stretch with his second of four field goals, only for halfback Marcus Sayles to force a fumble on Calgary’s next drive and return it 24 yards for a touchdown. Not done there, Winston Rose intercepted Mitchell on Calgary’s next drive, giving the Bombers the ball back on Calgary’s 25, and the offence needed just one play — a sweep run by Lucky Whitehead up the right sideline — to find the end zone once more.

Suddenly, the Bombers were up 20-11 and in complete control of the game. Though Mitchell would find Begelton again before halftime — connecting on a 21-yard pass up the middle — the Bombers still held an eight-point lead at the break.

Then, it all unravelled in the second half.

“In games like this, we’ve got to make certain plays and we didn’t. We just didn’t execute the way that we wanted to,” Bombers receiver Nic Demski said. “Calgary is always going to come out, they’re going to play hard, they’re going to play disciplined and they’re going to play physical. When it’s a good team versus a good team, what it comes down to is the penalties and whoever makes less mistakes is going to win.”

The Bombers preach every week the need to play clean football. Against Calgary, it’s even more important, given the margin for error is so slim against the CFL’s best team.

A Bombers offence that had run the ball so effectively in the first half was almost invisible in the final two quarters, accounting for just two Medlock field goals. It didn’t help that QB Chris Streveler injured his throwing arm late in the second quarter, which likely played a role in his interception on the first play of the third frame.

Streveler finished the game with 134 passing yards and one touchdown — a 34-yard strike to Kenny Lawler in the second quarter — and two interceptions, with the second coming on the final play of the night. He also led the Bombers in rushing, with 15 carries for 85 yards. Streveler had to leave the game for a drive, with third-stringer Sean McGuire coming in without much luck.

“They just stopped us a little bit more. They made some defensive adjustments and started bringing some pressure and just made some plays,” Streveler said. “I don’t think we ran the ball as effectively in the second half because of that.”

Mitchell, who finished with 337 passing yards and the three scores to Begelton, took full advantage of a leaky secondary. Mitchell’s job was also made easier by a pair of penalties from Bombers strong-side linebacker Marcus Rios that led to Begelton’s second touchdown and a roughing-the-passer penalty by Jackson Jeffcoat negated a punt for the Stampeders late in the fourth quarter, allowing them to further milk the clock.

“There’s no time to hang our head, there’s no time to dwell on things,” Neufeld said. “We’ll go in and watch the film and correct what we can. We have them again in six days.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@jeffkhamilton