 and Evan Holm (31) celebrate an interception in Vancouver on Aug 18 2024 (Winnipeg Football Club).jpg)
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers did more than just crash the party and spoil the Nathan Rourke coronation here on the left coast Sunday night.
It’s bigger than that. Much bigger. In mauling the B.C. Lions 20-11 in front of 30,803 at B.C. Place in a score that was flattering to the home side, they sent a crystal-clear message to the rest of the Canadian Football League: don’t let their 4-6 record fool anybody, these Blue Bombers have bolted up out of the grave after an 0-4 start and are absolutely feasting again.
The win, the club’s second straight, not only pushes the Blue Bombers into third place in the West Division, it puts them very much back in the conversation to potentially host a playoff game, having now clinched the season series with the Lions – who have lost four straight – and also with the Calgary Stampeders, also 4-6.
“Huge, man,” said running back Brady Oliveira, who rushed for 96 yards on 13 carries and pulled in six catches for 51 more. “I was telling the guys, huge game. This can really be a difference maker in how we want to finish. Us getting the season series with them, coming out here and having the performance we had… and our defence, again, is playing phenomenal.
“Zach (Collaros)… great game by him, man. What a stud. Kenny (Lawler) coming back to the lineup and bringing morale to the huddle. Lucky (Whitehead) running hard, (Nic) Demski making plays, our O-line doing their thing every single week.
“What a performance. Huge for this season. I said this a couple of weeks ago: we’re going to go on a heater and we’re going to go on a nice little run here. We’ve got to keep taking it one week at a time, come in ready to work and go on a roll.”
‘D’ IS FOR DOMINANT; ‘D’ IS FOR DEADLY:
The Blue Bombers defence is quickly emerging as a force in the CFL, limiting the Lions to 303 yards net offence and not surrendering a touchdown until a late, garbage-time score with two seconds remaining.
Winnipeg’s ‘D’ kept the Lions off the scoreboard through three quarters and a Sean Whyte field goal early in the fourth ended a shutout streak of 106 minutes and five seconds. The Blue Bombers defence has now given up just two touchdowns in the last four games.
“We know what we can do,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson, who was a force off the edge and picked up his fifth sack of the season. “The sky’s the limit right now. At this point in time in the season, it’s anybody’s game in the West. We’ve just got to stick together and play three-level football with offence, defence and special teams – play together, play for each other, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
“… That’s something we talk about all week, that’s something we talk about as a team before we even step on the field coming out of the locker room. We’ve got to believe in us.”
PARTY POOPERS:
There was buzz about the return of Rourke, the Lions quarterback, not just in Vancouver but across the CFL. Working on just a couple days practice since signing a new deal on Wednesday, he struggled mightily in completing 8-of-25 passes for 126 yards with no touchdowns while being intercepted by Deatrick Nichols and Tyrell Ford. The Lions lone score came late with Chase Brice subbing in and at the controls.
FYI, Rourke is now 0-4 in starts against the Blue Bombers.
Get these numbers by Lions starters Rourke and Vernon Adams, Jr. over the last two games: a combined 16-of-42 for 200 yards with no TDs and three picks.
“Rourke is a very good quarterback – we saw what he did in ’22 and he got his opportunity in the NFL. We know that; we understand that,” said safety Brandon Alexander. “He’s not in our locker room and so with his return, there’s nothing we can do about that. What we can do on our side is make things difficult for offences.
“It’s not just one player. There are 12 players on the field and in order to make it difficult for them we’ve got to be the best we can be on our side.”
THE ATTACK FINDS SOME TRACTION:
The Blue Bombers cranked out 392 yards of net offence – 288 through the air and 116 along the ground – as Collaros completed 23-of-31 passes for 288 yards with a TD strike to Demski and one pick. Demski finished with six catches for 109 yards.
WAIT TO START TEN
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“Our defence has been unbelievable all season long. They played a heckuva game,” said Collaros. “Special teams did a great job. I thought we did enough (on offence). We did a great job of possessing the football (32 minutes, 34 seconds time of possession). We missed on some opportunities and early in the game there were a couple throws I’d like to have back, and we might have been able to extend it for us earlier. I’ve got to get better at that but other than that I thought we did a pretty good job.”
CLUB 100:
The win was the 100th for Mike O’Shea, making him the 11th coach in CFL history to reach the century mark. He now trails Bud Grant by two victories for the franchise all-time lead.
Asked by TSN’s Farhan Lalji what 100 wins means, O’Shea offered this: “Lost a lot of games, too. Those are the things you really remember, what you could have done better.”
KEY MOMENT
The Blue Bombers were in complete control from the get-go, but brought the hammer down with a Chris Streveler QB sneak in the third quarter to put the visitors up 17-0. Critical in that was a picturesque Collaros-to-Demski grab that covered 37 yards and pushed the Winnipeg attack to the Lions 21-yard line. Six plays later Streveler was in and the Blue Bombers had their stranglehold.
KEY STAT: 11/27
The Blue Bombers gave up just 11 points against the Lions over two their last two games – they had entered the August 1st matchup as the CFL’s most-prolific attack. And over the last three games the team has surrendered just 27 points, including a controversial Pick-6 against in the OT loss to Toronto.
NEXT: The Blue Bombers get back in front of their home fans for the first time in three weeks this Friday, August 23rd, when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats venture west to Princess Auto Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
This story originally appeared at bluebombers.com and is republished here with permission