Bombers’ D torched by Tabbies

Despite the on-and-off downpour, and the fact that he was playing in front of a raucous sold-out crowd on the road, Bo Levi Mitchell looked as comfortable as ever against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday night.

It was a vintage performance by the future Canadian Football Hall-of-Famer, with Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats torching the home side’s leaky defence en route to a 37-27 victory at Princess Auto Stadium.

“When you have a quarterback like Bo Levi back there, they’re going to make plays. But as a defence, we weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be,” said Bombers linebacker Tony Jones.

“There were some critical plays that we want back that as a defence where we didn’t operate at our highest level.

“We’re gonna put this one in the past, learn from our mistakes, and not make those mistakes again further down the stretch.”

The Bombers opened the 2026 campaign in enemy territory last week in Calgary and stumbled out of the gates by allowing the Stampeders to gain over 100 yards on the ground and put 21 points on the board after two quarters. It was a similar result in their latest outing, only this time they fell victim to an aerial attack, with Mitchell completing 15-of-19 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns in the first 30 minutes.

In the second half, Hamilton shifted to the run with CFL newcomer Larry Rountree III gaining 67 of his 124 rushing yards.

The Tabbies ran into a brick wall in Week 1 — a 30-27 overtime loss at home against Montreal — where they were held to a paltry 35 rushing yards and 2.2 yards per carry average. Against Winnipeg, they totalled 171 rushing yards for a 5.5 average.

“When we had the opportunity to get him in the backfield, or get him for short gains, he was bouncing off tackles,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson.

“They showed up this week wanting to prove they can run the ball. We just gotta make the effort to make the tackles.”

The Bombers were expected to have an obvious edge in terms of running the football, and yet, Brady Oliveira was a non-factor with 32 yards on eight carries.

“I think Hamilton started loading the box, adding extra guys in. And when we started going down, we had to start throwing the ball,” said right tackle Jarell Broxton.

“I think the run game is good, we’ll be good, it was just one of those games where we got behind and we had to catch up and get out of the hole.”

Even though the Bombers were far from their best, they made things real interesting at the end with Bryce Perkins punching in a score — off an 11-play, 69-yard drive — to cut Hamilton’s lead to 34-27 with 2:12 remaining.

With a chance to make up for their previous shortcomings, the Blue and Gold defence fizzled by allowing backup quarterback Tre Ford scamper for a 22-yard gain, followed by a 30-yard strike from Mitchell to receiver Kiondre Smith to set up a 27-yard field goal to put the game out of reach with 35 seconds left.

“It hurts. In a crucial drive like that when we’re down one possession, we want to get that stop but we didn’t operate as a unit how we were supposed to,” said Jones.

“We just couldn’t get off the field.”

Mitchell now owns a 14-9 career record against Winnipeg. The 36-year-old ended the contest 19-for-24 for 287 yards. His only big mistake was failing to connect with a wide-open Kenny Lawler with seconds left in the first on what should’ve been a 102-yard touchdown with Bombers halfback Deatrick Nichols in coverage.

Mitchell and Co. quickly regrouped and finished that drive 13 plays later in the end zone with a four-yard toss to tight end Max Mang.

To add salt to the wound, the Ticats greatly benefited from their cast of former Bombers. Receiver Keric Wheatfall, who had just two 100-yard receiving performances in 23 career games with Winnipeg before signing with Hamilton this off-season, shined with 102 receiving yards on three catches — all of which came in the first half.

Before the halftime whistle, Ticats kicker Marc Liegghio, a Bomber from 2021-22, drilled a 53-yard field goal to give the visitors a 24-10 advantage. Ticats short-yardage quarterback Jake Dolegala, who was cut by the Bombers ahead of the 2025 campaign, scored a one-yard touchdown in the fourth to make it a 31-13 contest after a 28-yard pass interference penalty on rookie corner Major Williams who was covering yet another past blue and gold member, Lawler. Receiver Myron Mitchell, who played four games for the Bombers in 2024, also made his presence felt with five grabs for 50 yards.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling. This league isn’t that big, so you know guys on every team,” said Jefferson.

“You want your team to execute and do the right things and win the game, but when you have friends and ex-teammates on other teams, you want to see them do good, but you also want to see them get stopped when you play them.”

Bombers pivot Zach Collaros had a strong showing by going 28-for-35 with 421 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. His lone turnover came late in the second when he forced a pass to a blanketed Pokey Wilson in the end zone for an easy Stavros Katsantonis interception.

“Just a matchup that we liked, a look that we liked. We had a run called with it as well, based on the coverage,” said Collaros.

“We had the right coverage and yeah, bad throw.”

Tommy Nield was his go-to target and led all receivers with seven catches for 111 yards — a new career-high.

“(Nield is) the ultimate pro. Comes in with the right attitude every day… And overall, just a really good dude,” said Oliveira. “I just wish we would’ve won that game. It would’ve made (Nield’s) first 100-yard game that much sweeter.”

The Ticats leaned heavily on Smith who caught five passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

The contest came to a screeching halt with six minutes left in the opening corner when Ticats corner Jamal Peters collided headfirst with Nield’s knee on a 16-yard completion. The defender laid motionless on the field for several minutes before being taken away in a stretcher. The Ticats later provided an update saying Peters was conscious and in stable condition en route to a local medical facility.

Thursday marked the 15th consecutive sell-out at Princess Auto Stadium.

For just the second time in seven seasons, the Bombers fail to start 2-0. They’ll take their 1-1 mark into a bye before hosting the Edmonton Elks on June 25.

“It’s OK to be mad about the loss tonight. But it’s on to the next opponent that we have,” said Broxton.

“We just got to flush it in the bye week and know that we can get better and learn from what we did wrong and right.”

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