‘I don’t want this to be over’

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This article was published 17/11/2024 (329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER – The home locker room at BC Place had all but cleared when Brady Oliveira finally surfaced.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers star running back was still dripping sweat in his full equipment, unwilling or unable to believe what had just unfolded in front of him. Oliveira had won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award just days earlier and the Winnipeg native wanted nothing more than to finish off a historic week by bringing another Grey Cup back home.

Instead, he was dealt another devastating blow, falling to the Toronto Argonauts, 41-24, in the 111th Grey Cup at BC Place Sunday. It was the Bombers’ third straight defeat in the championship game, in what was a franchise record fifth straight appearance.

“I don’t want this to be over,” a dejected Oliveira said. “The way this season played out, the way we started, all the ups and downs, highs and lows, and to get here, this is a special group, man. I just don’t want the season to end.”

Oliveira was in a clear state of shock, much like the rest of his Bombers teammates. Not everyone stuck around after the game, those absent likely still reeling from the reality that while the Bombers have been a special team for years now, losing doesn’t exactly scream dynasty.

The Bombers have been chasing that designation for three years now after winning back-to-back Grey Cups in the 2019 and 2021 seasons, even if they don’t like to talk about it. But heartbreaking losses to the Argos in ’22 and the Montreal Alouettes last season, both on last-minute drives, had serious dented that pursuit of greatness and Sunday’s loss might have completely blown it up.

“I’m f—ing gutted and just disappointed,” Bombers guard Patrick Neufeld said. “I’m trying to find words and it’s tough, man, because you just envision coming back to this locker room, and we’ve seen it, where the plastic is up and the champagne is ready and you envision that feeling. You try to chase that feeling and when you don’t get it, it’s f—ing devastating. That’s what I’m feeling right now.”

All three losses in the championship game have been tough to swallow, but this one carried extra weight given how the season went. While the other defeats led to anger afterwards and a renewed commitment to return even stronger the next season, the overwhelming feeling after Sunday’s loss was numbness.

The Bombers opened the year with four straight losses, then dropped to 2-6, forcing them to regroup and refocus. Suddenly, they were too old and too slow. The Bombers, like all teams on the brink of a dynasty, had their share of haters, but the level of criticism thrown their way during their lowest time, it was never clearer they were the CFL’s villain.

Few will admit it, but the Bombers were hanging by a thread, their season seemingly in peril before a 25-0 blowout in Week 9 over the Lions gave them a pulse. Few expected such a dominating result, nor did anyone think it would be the catalyst to a mountainous comeback that included winning 10 of their final 11 games.

But that’s exactly what unfolded, with the Bombers clinching the West Division on the final play of the regular season with a one-point win over the Alouettes and then dominating their archrival Saskatchewan Roughriders, 38-22, in the West final to punch their ticket to a fifth straight Grey Cup.

“It was all right in front of us,” Bombers receiver Nic Demski said. “I haven’t even really felt the pain yet. I’m just numb right now. I’m sure it’ll hit me tomorrow, or maybe later tonight, maybe a week from now, I don’t know. But I know once it does hit me, it’s going to last a while.”

The final score will show a blowout for the Argos, and that was certainly the end result.

What it won’t show is the Bombers led at halftime, if only by a point, 10-9, and had their defence limiting the Argos to three field goals through the opening 30 minutes. It also won’t show that it was a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter, with Winnipeg trailing 24-16 and still very much in the game.

That’s when the wheels began to loosen, and by the final whistle, they had completely fallen off.

Quarterback Zach Collaros, dealing with a cut finger on his throwing hand that required stitches, threw three interceptions on three of the final four drives to seal the loss. Collaros had another one in the first half to give him four on the night, the four turnovers resulting in 20 points the other way.

“The turnovers are killers, and especially ones that lead to points. So, we talked about playing a clean game, complimentary football, those things, and then we just didn’t do a good enough job tonight offensively,” said Collaros, who completed just 50 per cent of his passes for 202 yards and the interceptions, through watered eyes. “The glove was fine. For them to put the stitches in the finger, it was a little numb. The grip was difficult. I told the guys in the huddle…it doesn’t matter.”

The Bombers finished with five turnovers in the game, following a familiar pattern in the two regular-season tilts against the Argos this year. Winnipeg lost both while committing a combined nine turnovers and 12 sacks.

It started with an interception by Argos defensive back Deshaun Amos, who returned the ball 45 yards to set up a 14-yard field goal by Lirim Hajrullahu. It would go from bad to worse on Winnipeg’s next series, with Collaros picked off by Robert Priester, who returned it back 61 yards for a touchdown, the pick-6 putting Toronto up 34-16.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it would go from worse to inexplicable, as Collaros was intercepted for a third consecutive series, this time by Toronto linebacker Wynton McManus, with running back Ka’Deem Carey punching in a four-yard touchdown on the very next play to put the game out of reach, 41-16.

“That’s kind of the quarterback way, right?” Collaros said when asked how much blame he placed on his shoulders. “You always feel like, if you just did this, things would go another way. You’re always going to feel that way. So, right or wrong, it’s just kind of is what it is.”

The Bombers would find the end zone in garbage time, with Oliveira capping off a 10-play, 74-yard drive. Backup Terry Wilson scored the other TD, which came on a three-yard rush in the first quarter to take a lead they would keep until early in the third quarter. Winnipeg finished with 283 of offence, just a tad less than Toronto’s 303.

It was surprising to see the Bombers offence not lean on their run game, on Oliveira, who has been their workhorse all season long. Oliveira ran the ball just 11 times for 84 yards, with 35 of that coming on a run late in the third quarter that led to one of three Sergio Castillo field goals on the night.

“I truly appreciate Zach coming back, him being in that huddle. It gives us some energy. You trust the guy, you love the guy you go to work with every day and he’s a baller in this league,” Oliveira said. “I think we wish as a group, we wish there were some more opportunities. I do think maybe the game goes a little differently, especially early on. My thing is (the run game has) gotten us where we are today.”

Another costly mistake came on special teams, with returner Lucky Whitehead fumbling the ball, giving it back to the Argos on Winnipeg’s 17-yard line. One play later, Argos quarterback Nick Arbuckle connected on the first of two passing TDs and three overall by the offence.

“I was tucking the ball and it kind of just slipped off my sleeve. It wasn’t nothing they did. It was just unfortunate. I was literally tucking the ball and I have these quarter sleeves on and as I’m tucking it, it just popped out,” Whitehead said. “Real pissed off. Disappointed. Trying to gather how the hell that happened. I’m tucking the ball and it was slippery. Hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m obviously disappointed.”

As for Winnipeg’s defence, it was a valiant effort, including a stellar performance by defensive end Willie Jefferson, who finished the night with a team-high six defensive tackles, two QB sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.

But they struggled to put a top on Argos QB Nick Arbuckle, who was sprang into action after Chad Kelly, the league’s reigning MOP, broke his ankle in a win over the Alouettes in the East final.

Arbuckle wasn’t dominant, but he was consistently effective, finishing 26-for-37 for 252 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He was named the game’s most valuable player, which should help his future in the CFL, one that seemed to be in serious peril before signing with the Argos in May.

“We understand we lost, but the way that we lost, that’s not that’s not how we wanted to in our season,” Jefferson said. “We’re better than that. We just didn’t show it.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamilton