Bombers on outside looking in after beatdown from Als

The visitors’ locker room at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium was eerily quiet late Saturday night.

Many of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers sat in their stalls with dejected looks on their faces, trying to wrap their heads around what had just transpired: a 37-10 beatdown at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes.

“(That game) felt like s—-, honestly,” receiver Tim White told the Free Press postgame.

And the Bombers have plenty of reason to feel that way, especially when looking at the West Division standings.

After retooling in the off-season by hiring veteran playcaller Tommy Condell and spending a boatload of money in free agency, few imagined the Blue and Gold would be 7-8 at this point and in danger of missing the playoffs with three games remaining.

“Guys should be frustrated. We’re better than this and we’re not necessarily showing it,” said quarterback Dru Brown.

“We show tiny little glimpses but that’s not what a good football team does – they do it all the time.”

Saturday’s clash against the Calgary Stampeders (8-8) in Winnipeg could end up deciding the Bombers’ fate. Before looking ahead to that pivotal matchup, let’s revisit Saturday’s shellacking with 5 Takeaways.

Down on Brown

The Bombers paid a premium for Dru Brown.

Considering Zach Collaros’s injury history, Taylor Elgersma’s inexperience and Bryce Perkins’ limitations as a passer, sending a first-round pick to Ottawa for Brown was a move Winnipeg simply had to make.

With that said, the return on that investment hasn’t been as high as they would have liked.

Brown is 2-4 as a starter this season, and the offence has been mostly vanilla with him at the helm.

Does he deserve all the blame? Absolutely not. The O-line has struggled to pass block, the receiving corps lacks a superstar like Kenny Lawler or Dalton Schoen, and Condell’s offence still lacks an identity after 15 games.

One thing is clear, though: if Collaros (head) doesn’t return from injury, this team is going nowhere.

This group has its limitations even with Collaros under centre, but the offence has disappeared for far too many stretches with Brown running the show.

That was the story Saturday, as the Bombers showed zero fight in the final 30 minutes, generating a measly 45 yards and two first downs.

And the way they ended the first half was inexcusable. They punted on three straight drives before a nice return by Trey Vaval gave them the ball at midfield with one second left on the clock.

They were in position to take a shot at the end zone and, who knows, maybe even draw a pass interference penalty. Instead, they were flagged for a time-count violation, pushed back and forced to take a knee.

Brown finished 11-of-16 for 161 yards and one touchdown. He wasn’t egregiously bad, but how many starting quarterbacks around the league can he outduel at this time of year?

Numbers game

The Als outgained the Bombers 440-161, dominated in first downs (36-6) and converted on second down 70 per cent of the time. Montreal also ran 40 more offensive plays than Winnipeg (70-30).

The Bombers converted on second down just 16.7 per cent of the time and committed 11 penalties for 104 yards.

Yikes.

“They beat us pretty good,” said head coach Mike O’Shea.

After scoring 10 points in the opening quarter, the Bombers completely vanished. Those who turned off the TV at halftime, with Winnipeg trailing 24-10, made a wise decision.

Roller-coaster ride continues

Inconsistency has been the only thing the Bombers have done consistently this season.

They looked like they had found their groove when they embarrassed the Als in Winnipeg back in Week 13. Two weeks later, they pummeled the Riders in the Banjo Bowl.

And just as everyone was starting to believe in blue again, the Bombers followed it up with two discouraging losses against opponents from the East.

“It’s tough to try to figure that out,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson.

“We haven’t been able to figure it out all season.”

Beating the Als a second time – especially when they haven’t lost at home all season – was a tall task. But suffering their most lopsided loss in more than a decade is a cause for concern.

“We’re not playing three-phase football consistently. Your quarterback situation is changing, there’s a lot of pieces that are moving, and we just have to battle with each other no matter what the circumstance is,” said White.

“There’s no excuse for losing, there’s no excuse for a game like this.”

Can’t stop ’em

Jefferson hasn’t experienced a regular-season loss this deflating since he became a Bomber in 2019.

“No, never. I can’t say I have,” he said.

It happened because the Bombers’ defence had no answers for Montreal’s star-studded attack.

Quarterback Davis Alexander (30-of-40 for 440 yards and one touchdown) and receiver Tyson Philpot (11 catches for 207 yards) did whatever they wanted whenever they wanted.

Philpot racked up 151 yards in the first half alone, highlighted by catches of 52 and 46 yards.

“They were hot and we didn’t stop the fire,” said halfback Deatrick Nichols.

Montreal was on a mission to make up for what happened when the two sides met in Winnipeg.

“There was more to it than just a win,” Alexander admitted postgame.

Still alive

You can’t write the obituary on the 2026 edition of the Bombers just yet.

They’re still very much alive, even though the weekend went horribly for them in more ways than one.

For starters, Calgary won its third straight game by manhandling the Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-7) in Regina on Friday.

If the Stampeders beat the Bombers this week, they’ll win the season series and be guaranteed to finish ahead of Winnipeg.

That would leave the Riders as the only team the Bombers could still surpass.

The defending Grey Cup champions are on the ropes but could be catching a major break, as Saskatchewan now plays back-to-back games against Montreal. With the Als having clinched the East Division on Saturday, they have nothing left to play for and could potentially rest names like Alexander and Philpot.

If the Bombers beat the Stamps, they would then need to win just one of their final two games – at Edmonton and at B.C. – to secure a playoff spot, regardless of how Calgary or Saskatchewan fares down the stretch.

There’s still a lot up in the air, but at least the Bombers are in a position where they control their own destiny and don’t need outside help.

“The most important thing to remember right now is it’s all right there in front of us,” said O’Shea.

“When they come back ready to work for Calgary, I bet you we see a rejuvenated group that’s ready to go and understands this one’s important and can determine a playoff seeding.”

The Bombers return to practice on Wednesday.

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