Bombers’ struggles continue in disheartening loss to Roughriders

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This article was published 21/07/2024 (470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — Maybe the Winnipeg Blue Bombers aren’t back after all.

After a pair of wins at home that had everyone in Bomberland feeling encouraged, the Blue and Gold came out with a disheartening performance Friday night at Mosaic Stadium in a 19-9 loss against their arch nemesis — the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The now 2-5 Bombers have already had their fair share of rough outings in 2024, but this one was the biggest letdown of them all.

Meanwhile in Riderville, life’s good as the team in green are now 5-1 and sit at the top of the West Division with the B.C. Lions.

The Bombers, of course, will see the Riders again on Labour Day and in the Banjo Bowl, but will first try to dust themselves off in Toronto — a place they haven’t won in since 2018 — this Saturday when they take on the Argonauts.

Before we look ahead, let’s revisit what went wrong at Mosaic Stadium with this week’s edition of 5 Takeaways.

WHERE’S THE ZACH ATTACK?

What’s wrong with Zach Collaros?

Yes, he’s missing his two superstar receivers — Kenny Lawler and Dalton Schoen — and yes, the Bombers have two new faces on the offensive line, but does that excuse the quarterback for his poor play?

Outside of one good half of football in last week’s 41-37 win against Calgary, Collaros has been bad all year and Friday was no exception.

He completed 21 of 30 passes for 266 yards and one interception, but he was actually worse than those numbers suggest. He severely underthrew a ball to rookie receiver Ontaria Wilson on a go route in the first quarter that should’ve been a touchdown, and he had another pass to Wilson over the middle of the field that was dropped by a defender for what should’ve been an easy interception.

The pick the two-time Most Outstanding Player did throw, however, was brutal. It came late in the third on a 1st and 10 when Bombers had the ball at Saskatchewan’s 25-yard. He rolled out of the pocket and threw a pass across his body to Nic Demski who was swarmed by two Riders.

In seven starts, the 35-year-old QB has thrown two touchdowns, seven interceptions, and is averaging 200 yards passing per game. That’s not good enough for any starter, let alone the highest paid in the league ($600,000).

Collaros has earned himself a long leash, and rightfully so, but if anyone else was playing at such a low level, the whole town would be clamouring for Chris Streveler to take over the starting gig.

DEMSKI FUMBLES GAME AWAY

Nic Demski felt sick to his stomach after the game.

The Bombers trailed 16-9 in the closing minutes when the Winnipegger had a 50-yard catch and run spoiled by a Jameer Thurman uppercut. The Riders linebacker chased him down from behind to punch out the football and the home side recovered which ended up sealing the victory.

“I thought I was clear, and obviously, I wasn’t,” said a dejected Demski postgame. “It sucks. I’m a leader on this team, been on this team for (six seasons) now, and I can’t be making mistakes like that especially in moments like that. So, you know, I don’t feel that good about it.”

It was a costly error, but the Riders and Thurman deserve credit for making such an incredible play. No one has forced more turnovers this year than Saskatchewan (18) and Friday night came down to them winning the turnover battle 2-0. The Riders secondary has given up more yards than anyone, but they were fully locked in for this one as Wilson — who broke out for 13 catches for 201 yards and a TD last week — and Demski combined for one catch for one yard through the first three quarters. They had two catches each in the fourth — including a highlight-reel grab at the sideline by Wilson — but it was too little, too late.

RIDERS ARE FOR REAL

If the CFL handed out the coach of the year award after seven weeks, it’d go to new Riders boss Corey Mace.

Mace has this franchise on track again after back-to-back 6-12 seasons under Craig Dickenson where the team played without any discipline.

Despite going through their fair share of adversity — starting QB Trevor Harris sprained his MCL in Week 3 and right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick’s season is in jeopardy as he’s scheduled for surgery on his quad — the Riders have persevered thanks to a top three defence that’s allowed the fewest touchdowns in the league (12) and has held opponents to 47.6 rushing yards per game. Bombers running back Brady Oliveira caught nine balls for 80 yards but was limited to 49 yards rushing — after two straight games with 100-plus yards — on nine carries.

The Riders are also getting it done with an inexperienced replacement pivot in Shea Patterson as he’s now 2-1 in relief of Harris.

Patterson, who joined the CFL in 2021 with the Montreal Alouettes, spent 2022 in the USFL, and then returned to the three-down circuit last year with Saskatchewan, played a clean game going 17-for-25 for 261 yards and one touchdown. To make it even more impressive, he was working with two rookie tackles and his leading receiver was a seventh-round pick — Ajou Ajou who went for 110 yards in replace of an injured Kian Schaffer-Baker.

If they can overcome their injuries on the o-line and start rolling on offence when Harris returns, they’ll be a legitimate Grey Cup contender.

THINGS GETTING HEATED

The game ended with Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill driving Patterson into the ground as time expired.

It didn’t go over well as it led to players from both sides getting into shoving matches.

The Riders had five seconds to erase, and the plan was for Patterson to take the snap then throw the football away, but it didn’t exactly play out that way.

Many have been critical of Bighill for the hit, but head coach Mike O’Shea defended it.

“Instead, (Patterson) leaves the pocket, Biggie’s giving chase, he’s supposed to throw that ball out of bounds,” said O’Shea post-game.

“He hung onto it and throws it late. Biggie’s finishing his play, there’s nothing wrong with it, there was no penalty. They take exception to it but I think if they understand the play, they know their quarterback’s supposed to get rid of it, but far be it for me to say.”

Patterson was understanding of what happened.

“That’s just (Bighill) making a play. That’s on me too, I can’t hold onto it that long,” Patterson said.

“That’s a veteran linebacker sending me a message, respect to him.”

BOMBERS DEFENCE DOING THEIR PART

If you hold a team to 19 points, you deserve to win.

The Bombers only sacked Patterson once and didn’t generate any turnovers, but overall, you can’t knock this group for the loss.

TyJuan Garbutt became the fifth defensive end to start opposite of Willie Jefferson this year and he might be the answer as there were several plays where he put pressure on the young quarterback.

Surprisingly, if anyone had an off night, it was star halfback Deatrick Nichols as the Riders went after him early and often in the first half with success. The refs also didn’t do them any favours with Tyrell Ford being flagged for an extremely questionable pass interference call that resulted in 30 yards for the Riders and eventually a field goal to go up 16-6.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31