The best of teams, the worst…

EDMONTON — You never know what you’re going to get with these Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

One minute they’re world-beaters, the next they’re a dysfunctional mess — especially on offence.

It was the latter Saturday night in Edmonton with the Bombers disappointing in a 25-20 loss to the Elks at Commonwealth Stadium.

The score is rather generous considering how poorly the Blue and Gold looked.

“I’m frustrated. We put too much into this throughout the week to lose games, especially at this time of year,” said running back Brady Oliveira.

“If we want to get to where we want to go, we need to look at ourselves in the mirror, get back to work and figure out how you can be better for the guy next to you.”

The Bombers could’ve clinched a postseason berth and eliminated the Elks with a win. Instead, they drop to 8-8 to remain fourth in the West Division behind Saskatchewan (12-4), B.C. (9-7), and Calgary (9-7). The good news for the Bombers is they left Edmonton with the tiebreaker as the Elks needed to prevail by 14 or more to take it. Edmonton, now 7-9, is still in the fight but will need some help in the next two weeks to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Up next for the Bombers is a home date with Saskatchewan — who clinched the division this weekend and now have nothing to play for — on Friday at 7 p.m.

If the Bombers close out the regular season in fourth, they will be the crossover team and play the East semifinal on the road.

But before the attention shifts to the Roughriders and the playoffs, let’s revisit Saturday with the latest edition of 5 Takeaways.

Woeful offence

There’s no sugarcoating it: Zach Collaros was dreadful.

Did his offensive line or rookie playcaller do him any favours? No, but that doesn’t excuse the performance of the veteran quarterback.

His footwork was off, his decision-making was off, and his deep passes were way off.

Collaros, who was in prime MOP form two weeks ago against Hamilton, struggled mightily to connect with anyone beyond 20 yards. It started on the second possession when Demski was open in the end zone on a corner route and Collaros underthrew it to force the Bombers to settle for a field goal.

But that was nothing compared to the throw before halftime, where Demski got behind two defenders and a flat-footed Collaros chucked up a horrendously short pass that resulted in an easy interception for JJ Ross.

To add salt to the wound, Demski limped off the field and watched the rest of the game on the sidelines in street clothes (more on this later).

With 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Collaros forced a pass to Jerreth Sterns despite their being three green and gold jerseys surrounding the receiver and it was picked off by Kenneth Logan Jr. Dillon Mitchell was wide open underneath, but Collaros was set on his first read and it cost him.

You can’t say the Bombers didn’t have any luck on their side. Collaros could’ve easily had another two interceptions in the second half if linebacker Brock Mogensen and defensive back Kordell Jackson were able to capitalize on misfires thrown in their direction.

As ugly as it was, Collaros still had a chance to march the team down the field at the end to steal a win. Facing a third-and-four on their own 50-yard line with a minute remaining, Collaros heaved an unnecessary shot downfield to a covered Sterns that resulted in a turnover on downs.

The 37-year-old pivot’s stat line was 22-of-34 for 202 yards, one touchdown, and two INTs. He’s now tied with Toronto quarterback Nick Arbuckle for a league-leading 15 interceptions despite playing three fewer games.

If the Bombers want to write a happy ending to this season, Collaros needs to be much, much better.

 

Play of the year

Even Collaros’s lone touchdown pass was an underthrown ball.

Thankfully, though, as it led to the most spectacular play of the season.

Down 25-13 with six minutes to go, Collaros aired out a 35-yarder to the end zone that bounced off a pair of defenders and was somehow kept off the ground by Ontaria Wilson, who stretched out his right arm to tap the ball up twice before securing it.

“In my head, I’m like ‘It’s my ball or nobody’s ball.’ I was really fighting to not let the defender get the pick, but it ended up being a catchable ball after the bounce,” said Wilson, who finished with four grabs for 65 yards. “I’d rather win than (have) that catch, honestly, but that’s a great catch in my rankings. I’ll always probably remember it. Catches like that don’t happen often.”

 

Down goes Demski

It looks like the Bombers are going to need more circus catches from Wilson moving forward.

It’s never a good sign when a receiver pulls up lame on a route and hobbles off the field, and that’s exactly what happened with Demski. Not to speculate (the Bombers didn’t provide any update after the game), but those are often hamstring injuries that require weeks to heal. With only two regular-season tilts left, time is not on Demski’s side.

Hopefully, it’s not as bad as it looked, but if it is, it’s a heartbreaking end to an impressive campaign for the Winnipegger who was just 30 yards away from setting a new career high. He did have one catch for five yards before he left, which put him at 1,001 on the year to make it three seasons in a row where he’s hit the 1K mark.

Demski’s pal and fellow Winnipeg product Oliveira also hit a milestone in Edmonton. The star running back had 12 carries for 117 yards to give him 1,088 on the year.

 

Bad luck

It was an obvious sign that it wasn’t meant to be for the Bombers.

The Elks somehow recovered their own fumble on a punt and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown to increase their lead to 25-13 late in the third quarter.

Special teams ace Nick Hallett forced the fumble and countless players on both sides failed to pick it up until it rolled to Kordell Jackson and the rest was history.

It ended up being the difference, which is a brutal way to lose, but it’s hard to have sympathy for the Bombers when they stunk out the joint.

Run Rankin run

You can’t point the finger at the Bombers’ defence for the loss, but they do need to be much better against the run.

Elks running back Justin Rankin torched them for 138 yards on 18 handoffs, highlighted by a 62-yard touchdown scamper at the start of third quarter.

“He’s the best running back in the CFL from my perspective,” said Bombers dime back Redha Kramdi.

With that said, they held Edmonton’s offence to 18 points and 307 yards, thanks to keeping quarterback Cody Fajardo in check. If their offence did their part, they would’ve left the Alberta capital with a win.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca