Bombers dominating as playoffs draw near

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This article was published 06/10/2024 (460 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HAMILTON — The Winnipeg Blue Bombers might trail the Montreal Alouettes for the CFL’s top record, but there’s no doubting who’s the hottest team in the league right now.

The Bombers continued their dominance across the three-down loop, earning an eighth consecutive victory with a convincing 31-10 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field Friday.

The Blue and Gold improved to 10-6, keeping pace atop the West Division with two regular season games remaining, and are second only to the idle Alouettes (11-3-1), who have just one win in their last four games but have already wrapped up the East.

Speaking of the East, the Ticats were stealing a lot of the spotlight heading into the weekend after putting together a four-game win streak and climbing back into the playoff race. But similar to the Edmonton Elks a few weeks back, the Bombers have all but dashed what little hope still existed for a Hamilton club that stumbled out of the gate and were once 2-9 before the recent run.

Indeed, not all teams can survive a slow start, but don’t count the Bombers in that group. Winnipeg opened the year 0-4 and then were 2-6, only to go on an eight-game run to get to where they are now.

The Bombers need one more win to lock up the West, which could come as early as this Friday when they welcome the Toronto Argonauts to town. But before we look too far ahead, let’s take a look back at the win over the Ticats in the latest edition of Bombers Breakdown.

1) It was another strong performance from Brady Oliveira, who rushed 24 times for a season-high 147 yards and a TD, while adding one catch for 15 more yards. Oliveira was simply a beast in how he found ways to dodge tacklers, putting his team on his back at times. With a league-leading 1,254 rushing yards and 424 receiving yards, Oliveira needs a combined 322 yards over the next two games to reach 2,000 from scrimmage. With another memorable outing, it’s impossible to argue against the Bombers RB being the obvious West nominee for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award.

2) Oliveira was quick to give credit to his offensive line after the game for giving him time and holes to attack. Ticats defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones dared the Bombers to run, and the front-five shoved it down his throat, as Winnipeg finished with a combined 199 rushing yards. They really came alive in the second half, beginning with a drive midway through the third quarter, where the Bombers rushed Oliveira six times on a nine-play drive that took six minutes off the clock and ended with a four-yard Oliveira TD. This is bad news for the rest of the league, given how important it is to win the battle in the trenches, especially as the temperature dips and the Grey Cup inches closer.

3) While Oliveira stole the show, it was one of the more balanced attacks by the Bombers offence, with the unit finishing with 393 net offensive yards. QB Zach Collaros wasn’t as dynamic as the week before, when he tossed a career-high six touchdowns and threw for more than 400 yards, but he did turn in a statistically clean game. Collaros completed 13 of his 19 passes for 201 yards and a TD — a 25-yard strike to Kevens Clercius in the back-left corner of the end zone. The Bombers dominated time of possession, having the ball more than 16 minutes longer or more than a quarter more in a 60-minute game.

4) The TD was the first of Clercius’ professional career, while the two one-yard TDs by QB Terry Wilson were also his first in the CFL. Clercius has been given a ton of opportunity since being drafted in the second round back in May, so it’s a good sign he’s making it count. Meanwhile, Wilson has looked good taking over for Chris Streveler on short-yardage duties, converting all six opportunities, including the pair of TDs.

5) Nic Demski looked no worse for wear after being deemed a game-time decision, reeling in five catches for 47 yards, including 42 yards coming after the catch. Kenny Lawler led all Winnipeg receivers with 78 yards on three catches – his longest being a 55-yarder that set up Wilson’s first TD. Lucky Whitehead didn’t register a catch and wasn’t technically credited for a target, either. But he did draw a critical defensive pass interference penalty in the end zone that put Winnipeg on the one-yard line, with Wilson’s second score to follow, putting the visitors up by three TDs in the fourth quarter.

6) Receiver Ontaria Wilson was on the receiving end of a shoulder-to-helmet hit from Ticats defensive back Stavros Katsantonis in the second quarter. Wilson appeared to be fine after the collision but was eventually ruled out the game at halftime. It’s unclear what his status will be for the Argos this week, so it’s something to monitor at practice, while I’d expect the CFL to levy some additional discipline against Katsantonis.

7) On Whitehead, it appears the Bombers are content with keeping him at returner despite middling results. Whitehead has been serviceable in the role and has come up big at key moments in a couple of games, but he’s been far from dynamic. Winnipeg is the only club with only one punt return of more than 30 yards and one kickoff return of more than 40. Depending on what happens with Wilson, there’s potential Whitehead could get an increased role at receiver if they need him to start, while also opening up another roster spot for someone to return kicks. It’s not that Whitehead has been bad, it just feels a lot like the 2022 season, when the Bombers knew they had an issue at kicker and rather than do something about it, they just sat on their hands, ultimately costing them in the GC. The return game is this year’s missing piece.

8) If you’re going to beat the Bombers, you have to play mostly mistake-free football. That, of course, means winning the takeover battle, which Hamilton lost 3-0. While the pair of interceptions thrown by Bo Levi Mitchell hurt and a sack-fumble recovered by Winnipeg ultimately ended the game, it was the missed plays that cost the Ticats the most. Twice in the first half a Hamilton defender dropped what should have been a sure interception, including a few plays before the Clercius TD. Then on the first series in the second quarter, Mitchell delivered the perfect deep ball up the right sideline to Tim White, who somehow dropped the ball just yards shy of the end zone.

9) Another lesson learned was bad things happen when you try to throw on Bombers DB Deatrick Nichols. Nichols would be leading the CFL in interceptions every season if opposing offences had guts like the Ticats, who were testing him far more often than they should have been. Nichols had two defensive tackles and two knockdowns, with many in the locker room afterwards, including head coach Mike O’Shea, crediting his second-quarter interception as a major turning point in the game. Ticats HC Scott Milanovich tried to tell on Nichols for defensive pass interference on one of his knockdowns, but his challenge failed after a long video review upheld the play. Nichols told me he felt his contact on the receiver didn’t obstruct any ability to catch the ball but admitted being a bit worried after it took so long to decide the call.

10) I suppose the Ticats other option was to throw towards the field side, where DB Tyrell Ford currently makes a living stealing balls. Ford was back at it again, recording his seventh pick of the season, which puts him in a tie with Saskatchewan’s Rolan Milligan for the most interceptions in the CFL. It’s a shame the way the awards process currently run, with only one representative from each team for each award. While Ford is likely to get the nod for the club’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player, he won’t, but should be considered for Most Outstanding Canadian, which will likely go to Oliveira.

11) The Bombers were lucky to be up 17-10 at halftime and not just because of the previously mentioned missed plays by the Ticats. There was another play made by the Bombers defence, specifically dime-back Redha Kramdi, that took points off the board for Hamilton right before the break. Mitchell took advantage of a rare breakdown from Winnipeg’s defence, connecting with former Bomber Brendan O’Leary-Orange in the second quarter on a massive 71-yard catch-and-run that ended on Winnipeg’s three-yard line with 12 seconds remaining. The Ticats were then pushed back to their seven-yard line following a four-yard loss on a run from James Butler, setting up a critical second-and-goal with eight ticks left on the clock. That’s when Mitchell found White with a pass on the one-yard line, only to be met with a punishing hit to the back from Kramdi that dislodged the ball, which then appeared to be recovered by the Bombers in the end zone for a rouge. All turnovers are reviewed, and when they took another long look at the play, they called it an incomplete pass and Hamilton had to settle a field goal.

12) Before we get back to the defence, count me curious as to why the Bombers called out the punt team twice rather than attempting a pair of 55-yard field goal attempts. To be clear, 55 yards are far from automatic, but if anyone can convert those long kicks, it’s Sergio Castillo, who has already set a single-season record for most successful field goals from at least 50 yards, with nine, including two from 60. Castillo told me after the game that his range was around 55 or 56 yards in warm-up but that there was a sneaky wind at Tim Hortons Field. O’Shea will often make kicking decisions based on “the feel of the game” and this was one of those times.

13) There was a lot of hype around Mitchell and his recent play has put him in the conversation for MOP. But he was pedestrian against a stingy Bombers defence, throwing for 217 yards on 15-for-28 passing and committing the pair of picks, which gives him a league-worst 16 interceptions. Mitchell didn’t get much help from a few missed catches, but the 71-yarder to O’Leary-Orange also balloons his modest numbers. Mitchell was pulled for backup QB Taylor Powell for Hamilton’s last defensive drive, but head coach Scott Milanovich said he was dealing with a toe injury at the time.

14) The Bombers were notified at halftime that they would be without weakside linebacker Michael Ayers and safety Brandon Alexander. They replied by shutting out the Ticats in the second half, marking the first time that’s happened to Hamilton this season. Bombers defensive co-ordinator Jordan Younger has been nothing short of incredible in his first season running the defence and this was just another example of the terrific work he’s done.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton