Bombers set record in meaningless game

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This article was published 31/10/2022 (1379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible because let’s be honest here, do we really want to spend a ton of time revisiting a game that had no bearing on the standings?

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers closed out the regular season on Friday night at IG Field with a 24-9 victory over the B.C. Lions in front of an announced crowd of 23,685. Both teams started the game with their usual suspects, but backups filled the field in the second half in what was mostly a forgettable night of football.

The Bombers head into the postseason with a 15-3 record and will see their home crowd again on Nov. 13 for the Western final. The loss puts the Lions at 12-6 — their best record since 2016 — and they will meet the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division semifinal on Sunday at BC Place. For the next two weeks, the Bombers will look to stay sharp, while also getting some rest, before returning to IG Field for a chance to book their ticket to Regina for the Grey Cup.

But we’ll have lots of time to talk about that. And even though this felt like a preseason game in October, here’s this week’s edition of 5 Takeaways.

Bombers make history

As 12-time Grey Cup champions, it’s obvious the Blue Bombers have had a lot of great teams over the years.

But this year’s edition of the Bombers is the first team in franchise history to win 15 games in a regular season. Friday’s win set them apart from the 1960, 1993, and 2001 teams that shared the previous mark with 14 victories.

As you would expect, Mike O’Shea and several players downplayed the accomplishment after the game, but it is an incredible feat.

The Bombers are hoping 15 wins treats them better than 14 as all three of their 14-win teams failed to win the Grey Cup.

Rourke is back

After missing 10 weeks following foot surgery, Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke made his return on Friday.

The Lions wanted their star pivot to knock off some rust in the first quarter prior to their matchup with the Stampeders. Rourke showed some signs of rust as his deep ball wasn’t as crisp as you’d expect from the star Canadian, but overall, it was a decent showing.

It started off rough with a fumble on his first drive with defensive tackle Casey Sayles knocking the ball loose for Jake Thomas to pick it up. Rourke completed 7-of-11 passes for 68 yards in his lone quarter of work. The Lions scored zero points with Rourke under centre, but that didn’t alter their plan. They stuck to their word and limited him to one quarter.

There’s not much to say about a guy who only played three drives, but there was at least one memorable thing to come out of it. There was a play where Rourke was knocked down and then reached out his hand to Thomas to help him off. Thomas, hilariously, waved off Rourke’s hand and walked away.

Thomas and the Bombers were in no mood to throw Rourke a welcome back party.

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish

Brady Oliveira took a beating at the beginning of the season, and not from opposing defences.

It was from critics who weren’t shy to knock Oliveira’s play through the first seven weeks of the season.

In that stretch, he had 258 rushing yards and a paltry 3.4 yards per carry average. He didn’t look like the answer, and I was pounding the table for more Johnny Augustine at that point. But to the team’s credit, they stuck with Oliveira.

Oliveira, and the Bombers, ignored his doubters and the Winnipegger managed to turn his season around. With 72 yards on Friday, Oliveira ended 2022 with 1,001 rushing yards — third most in the league — and an impressive 4.96 yards per carry average. Oliveira became just the fourth Canadian running back (Andrew Harris, Jerome Messam, and Jon Cornish) to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season since 2000.

He’s not the rusher that Andrew Harris is and never will be, but Oliveira proved he’s more than worthy of being a starting tailback in this league.

Schoen’s the guy

What else can be said about Dalton Schoen?

I hope Bomberland enjoyed the heck out of this guy because there’s no way an NFL team doesn’t give him a shot next season.

The lock to win the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie award caught two passes for 84 yards and a touchdown against the Lions. The 26-year-old out of Kansas State ends the year as the league leader in touchdowns (16) and receiving yards (1,441). What makes Schoen’s campaign even more insane is the fact that it’s the best season a Blue and Gold receiver has had since 2002 when Milt Stegall won the league’s Most Outstanding Player award with a record-breaking stat line of 106 catches for 1,896 yards and 23 touchdowns.

If you’re putting up Stegall-esque numbers as a rookie, you’re doing something right.

Miller time

I should probably devote a takeaway to Zach Collaros and his near-perfect first quarter, especially since his two touchdowns passes gave him 37 for the year which puts him only behind Khari Jones, 46 in 2002, for most touchdown passes in a season by a Blue Bombers quarterback.

But I’m not going to do that (besides, that sentence basically tells you everything you need to know).

Instead, I’m going to show some love to special teams ace, Mike Miller. The 33-year-old veteran of 11 seasons scored his first offensive touchdown of his career on Friday with a one-yard plunge in the third quarter. It was obvious the Bombers were set on getting Miller — the CFL’s all-time leader in special teams tackles with 226 — a score as they ran the same play twice in the first half on the goal line twice to no avail.

Prior to last week, Miller’s lone touchdown was on a punt block in 2017.

Special teams play often goes unnoticed, but the Bombers have made it clear how much they respect Miller as they constantly rave about his game and what he means to the team. For them to go out of their way to make sure he scored, it makes you wonder if Friday was the last regular season game of Miller’s career.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31