Bombers class of CFL

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/12/2021 (1363 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Did that really happen?

It’s a question I’m still asking myself days after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers rallied late to beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 33-25, in overtime to claim the 108th Grey Cup at Tim Hortons Field Sunday. After decades of losing, the Bombers further cemented their reputation as the class of the CFL, back-to-back champions for the first time in team history since the 1961-62 seasons.

In true Bomber fashion, the comeback required efforts in all three phases. From a defence that bent but didn’t break, forcing the Tiger-Cats into short field goals instead of touchdowns; from an offence that sputtered out of the gate, pushed around for the better part of three quarters but found their groove when it mattered most; and from a special teams group that accounted for five field goals and strong field position.

To call it a classic would be putting it mildly. And with lots to get into from the past week, with some additional tidbits looking ahead to the offseason, here’s the latest installment of CFL Rundown – Grey Cup addition.

1) Anytime you can get a walk-off interception it’s incredible, but you’ll see few better than the one that crowned Bombers back-to-back champs. Kyrie Wilson will get credited for the pick, but it was an incredible play by Winston Rose, who kept the play alive by tipping it twice before shoveling it to Wilson. I asked Wilson on Wednesday if the play was intentional, which he said it was, though he stopped short of saying the two made eye contact first.

2) The Bombers finished the game mostly healthy, except for safety Brandon Alexander. Alexander suffered a serious knee injury on the final play of the game, the details of which haven’t been fully released. Here’s to a speedy recovery for the first-time CFL all-star.

3) For those curious why left tackle Stanley Bryant was the first to hoist the Grey Cup it’s because, at 35, he’s the oldest player on the team. In 2019, it was given to D-lineman Jake Thomas because he was the longest tenured Bomber.

4) Many took to social media, including fans and current and former players, to voice their frustration over Zach Collaros earning a nod for Grey Cup MVP because they felt his effort wasn’t deserving. Collaros had a rough start but came alive at the end, finishing the night 21-for-32 passing for 240 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

5) I didn’t have a vote — if it had been a tie, I’d get final say as president of the Football Reporters of Canada — but that wasn’t the case, meaning Collaros had more than half of the voters. I probably would have voted for Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo, who went a perfect five-for-five on field goal attempts against the Ticats. Talk about showing up big when the moment mattered most, and on a team that recycled through kickers all season. Darvin Adams (five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown) and Rose, who snuffed out the Tiger-Cats attempt on third-and-short, would also have been strongly considered.

6) The CFL dodged a bullet with Hamilton QB Jeremiah Masoli getting snubbed after his Tiger-Cats lost. Masoli, who would have been named MVP had Hamilton won, has long been rumoured to be unvaccinated and the optics of a player not getting the jab and winning the game’s top award wouldn’t have been great.

7) Talk about timing. The CFL got the Grey Cup up and running just before Ontario handed down their latest heath restrictions owing to the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, Ontario premier Doug Ford limited venues over 1,000 to 50 per cent capacity.

8) There has been a lot of talk about Tim White conceding a single late in the fourth quarter, putting the Bombers up a field goal, 25-23. The word is White was told to decide based on what he saw from the cover team and if he felt he’d get pinned deep, he was to take the knee. It was a pivotal moment in the game, seeing as Hamilton went on to march down the field, only to nail a 13-yard field goal to tie. I was also told that the Tiger-Cats were thinking touchdown or bust on the drive because they didn’t trust kicker Michael Domagala would make a sizable kick in the wind.

9) Grey Cup TV numbers showed the lowest viewership on record, with 2.873 million people tuning into the game and only 821,000 adults between 25 and 54. That grand total is a 22 per cent drop from 2019.

10) Sportsnet’s Arash Madani reported early Sunday that the Edmonton Elks are interested in O’Shea being their next general manager and head coach. Though O’Shea has a year left on his current contract, because it would be a vertical move, he could take it if interested so long as he got permission from the Bombers.

11) While I can’t picture O’Shea swapping blue and gold for green and yellow, you must wonder what a hefty pay raise might do to change the situation. But while money certainly talks, it’s unclear how the Elks will be able to dig deep into their pockets when they still must pay the remaining years on former GM Brock Sunderland and head coach Jaime Elizondo.

12) The reality is if it’s not Edmonton it’s going to be somewhere else. What O’Shea did to turn around the Bombers has made him the most sought-after man in the CFL. He’s going to deserve a raise and how he gets it will be the most interesting part of the offseason.

13) DC Richie Hall, OC Buck Pierce and STC Paul Beaudreau are all without a contract for next season, and you must think they’ll all be coming back. Hall told me he’s in fine health and would want to come back, Pierce did an incredible job in his first full year with the offence and isn’t in a hurry to move up somewhere else and Beaudreau has the utmost respect from O’Shea.

14) The biggest question coming out of Wednesday’s meetup was how many players the Bombers were going to be able to sign for next season. As it stands, only a handful of players are under contract for 2022, with the most notable being veterans Nic Demski, Darvin Adams and Wilson, as well as rookies Deatrick Nichols and DeAundre Alford.

15) Of all the players still needing to be signed, I think the biggest question mark is defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat. Jeffcoat had his best season in 2021, where he was named a CFL all-star for the first time and was in contention for the league’s most outstanding defensive player award. When I asked him about it, he said he loved Winnipeg and all it has to offer but wasn’t overly committal. He would be a tough one to lose.

16) Collaros will be the biggest signing this winter. We saw what the Bombers are when he’s not in the lineup and it’s not pretty. Don’t expect Collaros to use all his leverage, as I believe he truly wants to be back, but he won’t be cheap.

17) To be a fly on the wall for Adam Bighill’s next deal. If you recall, Bighill was forced to restructure his contract over the offseason, taking a pay cut of more than half of his $260,000 salary to stay in Winnipeg. Bighill repaid that by winning the CFL’s top defensive player and was a big part of the winning culture. He’s got ties to Winnipeg but he’s going to need to be taken care of.

18) Not even Alford and Nichols are guaranteed to be back. It’s not often a rookie defensive back gets named a league all-star, let alone two on the same team. They’re both expected to get looks by the NFL, as well as receiver Kenny Lawler, defensive end Jonathan Kongbo and offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais.

 

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton