‘Not making the plays that we need to make’

Patrick Neufeld has played more than 200 CFL games, but his most recent one was among the most puzzling of his career.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played arguably their best two quarters of the season and led 16-6 over the Edmonton Elks at halftime last Friday.

And then the second half hit.

The Bombers returned to the field and looked like Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues and Shawn Bradley after the Monstars had stolen their basketball skills in Space Jam.

The Blue and Gold managed an eye-popping — and not in a good way — 19 yards of net offence in the final 30 minutes en route to a disheartening 22-19 loss at Commonwealth Stadium.

The 37-year-old right guard had to go way back to think of a time when he was part of a similar performance.

“Probably not since college, to be honest,” said Neufeld after Monday’s practice. “That was definitely a tale of two halves.”

The Bombers had just four offensive plays in the third quarter and it all went downhill from there.

“I think everyone on the team is frustrated.”

“It just comes down to execution. So when you lack that you’re not going to get four strong quarters in a row,” said quarterback Zach Collaros.

“Half-time adjustments are things that are good to write about, talk about. I don’t know how much of that actually goes on… And Edmonton didn’t do anything drastically different in the second half.”

Perhaps everyone should’ve known a collapse was coming.

After all, playing four strong quarters in a row has been a challenge for the Bombers all season long. The closest they’ve come to producing a complete game was in Week 6 when they outlasted the Toronto Argonauts 30-21 at home.

“I think if we were to point to anything, it’s just breakdowns on certain parts of the game by certain positions and certain groups, or the defence making plays and us not responding,” said Neufeld.

“It’s kind of the ebbs and flows of football. You can look back at years past and we were making those plays and I’m sure teams were like, ‘Why aren’t we making those plays?’ And now we’re in that situation where we’re not making them.”

Running back Brady Oliveira is churning out another impressive season, but the rest of the offence feels flat — and the numbers back it up.

The Bombers rank dead last in offensive touchdowns (20), completions of 30-plus yards (10), second down conversion rate 94.7 per cent, red zone plays (62), and red zone touchdowns (13).

They’re also ranked second or third last in pass efficiency (95.0), sacks allowed (23), passing yards (263.4), completions (222), average yards per play (6.32), first downs (200), net offence (345.0), and points (25.6).

That’s a lot of categories to be falling behind in.

“Our standard is higher than what we’ve been doing.”

“I think if you’re not frustrated then you’re not caring enough. And I think everyone on offence is definitely frustrated,” said Neufeld.

“I think everyone on the team is frustrated. And you have to channel that frustration into positive energy and putting the work in the film room, the work in the gym, and putting the work in on the practice field and then taking all that and executing on game day.”

The club is, however, first in field goals made with 33 as this team consistently settles for three points when in scoring range.

“We’re not making the plays that we need to make. That’s really what it comes down to,” said receiver Nic Demski.

“I’ll put all the accountability on us because I think every person on that offence and all 11 other players on offence expect more and our standard is higher than what we’ve been doing. I’ll take full accountability as I’m sure the whole offence would. We’ve just got to make the plays when they come to us.”

The Bombers ranked seventh in scoring (23.1) last year with an under-qualified Jason Hogan as offensive co-ordinator. And while they’re averaging two and a half more points this season, they’re still ranked seventh as CFL teams are scoring at a higher rate in 2026.

And nobody is lighting up the scoreboard currently like the 9-1 Montreal Alouettes — the team the Bombers are hosting on Friday.

The Als top the three-down loop in offensive points (34.6) and net offence (454.3) thanks to the heroics of superstar quarterback Davis Alexander.

“We’re not where we want to be. Have we gotten closer? Absolutely,” said head coach Mike O’Shea.

“I talked about it in the last few weeks. We’re down to… the little details, honing our craft. We’re not still in that big picture mode, so I think the guys know exactly where we’re at: 5-5, not good enough, and improving.

“If we play to our potential, we can compete every single week to win a game.”

“We have a team that if we play to our potential, we can compete every single week to win a game,” he added.

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