Blue Bombers determined to send fans home happy

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This article was published 03/07/2024 (494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The past four seasons saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lose just three games at home.

It didn’t matter who the opponent was, or what the score was at halftime, it was almost a given the Blue and Gold would find a way to send their fans home happy.

It’s no longer that simple.

A loss on Friday night against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks (2-1) and they’ll have the same number of defeats in their own barn in the opening month of the 2024 campaign.

“We better get going then,” responded head coach Mike O’Shea after Wednesday’s closed practice.

“Our players understand the importance of our fans and how good they are to us. Obviously, I think over the last little while, our players have certainly given our fans a lot to be proud of. And they’d like to get back to that level of play that is not only a source of pride for our fans, but more importantly, winning.”

The winless Bombers (0-4) were smacked 27-12 in their home opener by the Montreal Alouettes and fell 26-24 to the B.C. Lions in Week 3. Their 0-2 start at Princess Auto Stadium already guarantees them their worst record on Chancellor Matheson Road since 2018 when they went 6-3 in front of their supporters.

Bomberland has been spoiled in recent years but that doesn’t mean the diehards are going to stay quiet. Running back Brady Oliveira has had no shortage of fans stop him in public and ask, ‘What’s wrong with the Bombers?’

“All the time. Whether I’m at the grocery store, pumping gas or walking my dogs,” said Oliveira.

“This city, this market is amazing. There’s lots of great sports fans here, but they’re definitely quick to criticize. But that’s fine, they’re fans… I just let them know I’m not worried at all about this group. We’re gonna turn it around, we got the guys to get the job done, the games have been very close and we’ll be all right.”

The Bombers haven’t dropped three games in a row in Winnipeg since 2016.

“I feel as if teams and organizations still (fear coming here),” said defensive end Willie Jefferson.

“They have to play their best, they have to eliminate the mistakes, and they have to try to play a perfect game when they play here because that’s exactly the kind of game that we try to play when we’re at home… We still feel like we can’t lose at home, even though we lost to a good Montreal team the first game of the season and then a good B.C. team.”

The Bombers aren’t exactly in a position where they should be worrying about their building’s reputation — they just need a win.

The last time they started 0-5 was in 1998 when they were a trainwreck under head coach Jeff Reinebold. They finished that dumpster fire of a season at 3-15.

“We’ve been needing to win for a while. It’s not even about (our home reputation) at this point,” said receiver Drew Wolitarsky.

“It’s about regaining our confidence in our team and our belief in ourselves. We’ve lost three tight games that we know we could’ve won and we’re frustrated but we gotta let that go, man. We gotta get back to what we were doing, but it’s easier said than done… We’re being humbled, this game will humble you, and we have to stand up to the adversity and do this.”

Bombers defensive back Deatrick Nichols isn’t lacking in confidence. He said last week if they can cut back on a few mistakes that they’ll start blowing teams out by as much as 30 points.

“I’m gonna stand on that. That’s what I believe in, and that’s what we believe in this building that we’re very, very close,” said Nichols.

“Every year is different. This is just one of our battles that we gotta go through and fight through to figure out. At the end of the season, it’ll all be worth it.”

The Bombers lost 23-19 in Ottawa in Week 2 after failing to score in the red zone at the end of the game. The Redblacks haven’t beaten Winnipeg twice in one year since 2015.

Ottawa, led by former Bombers quarterback Dru Brown, are coming off of a 24-22 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“Our fans come out on a Friday after work and spend their hard earned money to come watch us play,” said Nichols. “We need to make sure they get what they deserve and play a great game.”

COLLAROS UPDATE

According to the injury report, starting quarterback Zach Collaros didn’t participate during Wednesday’s closed practice.

Collaros, who also sat out Tuesday, is listed as questionable for Friday after suffering a thorax injury in last Saturday’s overtime loss in Calgary.

O’Shea declined to give any updates on his status.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31