‘Felt like we couldn’t do anything right the last game’

Redha Kramdi will stay awake all night after a Blue Bombers loss.

He gets home, waits for the game footage to be uploaded around 2 a.m., then watches all four quarters — sometimes more than once — before returning to the facility the next morning to go through the tape one final time with his teammates.

The agony of defeat sends the 29-year-old safety on a mission to find out where it all went wrong. Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to search too hard after the 37-27 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 2 because just about everything went wrong on defence.

The Blue and Gold have had plenty of time to process the setback after spending last week on a bye before returning to work on the weekend.

“It was only Week 2, but obviously, it felt horrible. It felt like we couldn’t do anything right the last game,” Kramdi told the Free Press after Monday’s closed practice.

“I always feel better when we watch it as a unit and we make a correction, then move on. So, losing before the bye week, that process gets cut off. It was a pretty hard bye week, I’d say.

“Some people would say it’s good, some people would say it’s bad, but I’m not the type to move on super fast from losses, unfortunately,” he added.

For those who need a quick reminder, Ticats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell ripped the Bombers to shreds with three touchdown passes in the first half, while running back Larry Rountree III spearheaded a ground attack that piled up a whopping 171 rushing yards.

“We shot ourselves in the foot multiple times. It’s nothing super complicated, it’s just small alignment adjustments that we need to make. It’s nothing big, which is frickin’ frustrating because if we do the small things right, we have a chance to win,” said Kramdi.

“And regardless of, excuse my language, but the bullshit football we played on defence, we were down seven with 1:20 left and if we stopped them, our offence was rolling so we’d have a chance to tie the game and even that we couldn’t do. So, yeah, it’s a pretty shitty feeling.”

Through two games, the Bombers rank sixth in points allowed (32.5), seventh in opponent net offence (422 yards), and dead last against the run (171 yards per game).

“If you look at 2024 when we ended up being at the top of most defensive stats, we started pretty slowly on defence,” said Kramdi.

“Every year is different and we have a great team, great coaches, and we have every tool to be great. We just have to put it all together and execute when it’s time to execute. I’m not even sweating it.”

If Kramdi and company want to feel better about themselves, they only need to look around the league to see that most defences have stumbled out of the gates.

“We shot ourselves in the foot multiple times. It’s nothing super complicated, it’s just small alignment adjustments that we need to make.”

CFL contests are averaging 62.8 points per game through three weeks. Last season, teams combined for 52.9 points per game.

“It can take a bit of time for a defence to mesh, but usually it’s the opposite way with offences struggling early on and defences starting strong,” said Bombers defensive tackle Cameron Lawson.

“It is kind of weird that it’s a pattern and that multiple teams are in these high-scoring games.”

It won’t get any easier for the 1-1 Bombers this week. They’re preparing to host the Edmonton Elks (2-0) on Thursday (7:30 p.m.), with Edmonton coming off a 32-29 overtime victory over the mighty Montreal Alouettes.

Als quarterback Davis Alexander had a chance to tie the CFL record for the best start to a career by a quarterback, set by Bo Levi Mitchell in 2016 with 14 straight regular-season victories.

Elks running back Justin Rankin spoiled that bid by exploding for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries while adding five receptions for a team-high 51 yards.

The Bombers will have to be much better if they want to slow down Rankin, who has been one of the league’s most impressive players through the first few weeks.

“One of the best backs in the league, clearly. He’s hard to tackle and that’s the biggest thing,” said Lawson.

“He gets his big plays off of guys who maybe get into the backfield and you feel like the play is over and then bam, he breaks a tackle, he hits it outside and he’s super fast. He can beat DBs in a sprint. When you have him locked down and in your sights, you have to make that tackle. That’s how he makes his money with those 40, 50, 60-yard touchdowns.”

The Bombers learned that the hard way last October in Edmonton when Rankin ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run to lift the Elks to a 25-20 victory.

This season, under second-year head coach Mark Kilam and veteran quarterback Cody Fajardo, the Double E is 2-0 for the first time since 2019.

“For Edmonton, they’ve always been a good team, they just couldn’t find a way to finish games in the fourth quarter,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson.

“We just got to go out there and play our game, play Winnipeg football. When we’ve got the opportunity to get off the field on defence, we have to do that.”

Elsbury’s wedding weekend

Centre Tyler Elsbury had to muster up the courage to walk into head coach Mike O’Shea’s office and ask for Saturday off.

The first-year starter had a pretty good reason: he was getting married to his high school sweetheart in their hometown of Byron, Ill.

“He’s a good kid,” said O’Shea.

“He was extremely concerned about having to ask for another day. He did not feel very well having to ask for an extra day. So, you know he is serious about his craft, and you know he wants to do the right thing for his teammates. That’s why we have teammates. They look out for you and fill in when you need them to.”

The wedding had been in the works since last year when Elsbury stepped away from football and wasn’t sure if he would return. His big day just happened to fall on the Bombers’ bye week.

He had more than a dozen groomsmen, including former Iowa Hawkeyes teammate and fellow offensive lineman Gennings Dunker, who was selected in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“They tried to kick us out once and Gennings stepped up to the DJ and said, ‘Screw it, I’m gonna pay for another hour,’ so we stayed a little longer,” said Elsbury.

“It was a good time.”

So, does that mean the honeymoon is in Winnipeg?

“Yeah, absolutely,” said Elsbury with a laugh. “She drives up here next Sunday.”

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