 runs with the ball in action against the Ottawa RedBlacks on Thursday, August 14, 2025 in Winnipeg. (Cameron Bartlett Winnipeg Football Club).jpg)
Say this about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as they hit the halfway mark of their 2025 Canadian Football League season:
They have certainly developed a flair for the dramatic — and, yes, sometimes unnecessarily — so much so that the final moments of their games could bring a stone-cold corpse to life again.
The Blue Bombers improved to 5-4 with another all-over-the-map 30-27 victory over the Ottawa RedBlacks in front of another capacity Princess Auto Stadium crowd of 32,343 that certainly felt much more difficult than it needed to be by the night’s end.
“That was a weird one,” said veteran receiver Nic Demski, who was sensational with six catches for 128 yards. “I mean, that’s what makes CFL fun, man. Those last three minutes are always a roller-coaster. You’ve just got to stay locked in.
“Obviously some mistakes on our side, so we’ve got to fix that and make it not so crazy but at least we gave the nation a good show.”
That’s one way to put it.
Twice building 17-point leads at 17-zip and 27-10 to start the fourth quarter, the Blue Bombers almost spit this one up as Kalil Pimpleton returned a Sergio Castillo 57-yard field goal attempt — more on that decision further down — 117 yards for the game-tying touchdown with 53 seconds left.
But to their credit, the Blue Bombers recovered from that kick to the nether regions as Zach Collaros led the offence into field goal range in the final 18 seconds, with Castillo then connecting on a decisive 47-yarder for the victory.
SERGIO DOES IT#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/7AfqNpA9xA
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) August 15, 2025
“Man, that feels good. But are we making hard on ourselves? Absolutely,” said Brady Oliveira. “It’s crazy. It’s the CFL — the Crazy Football League. Anything can happen, especially in that last three minutes.
“They take the kick back and go get a touchdown but there was the understanding we can still operate our offence. And, man, Zach calls his own number… just the ultimate competitor and a guy that will do anything to help this team win games.
“That’s why he’s our quarterback. That’s why he’s our leader.”
More from our view in the press box at on the Blue Bombers dramatic fifth win of the 2025 season…
THE FINAL 180 SECONDS…
An ESPN 30-for-30 documentary could be put together — perhaps even a two-parter — on what happened inside the final three minutes Thursday night.
Winnipeg led 27-13 when Ottawa really began to make folks squirm with a Dustin Crum-to-Josh Hardy eight-yard TD with 2:40 left in the game.
The Blue Bombers then recovered to move the ball 24 yards into Ottawa territory at the RedBlacks’ 49-yard line. Head coach Mike O’Shea then decided to trot Castillo out for the 57-yard bomb — he tied a CFL record with a 63-yarder last week, remember — rather than punt.
And that’s when things got really zany with Pimpleton’s magic moment tying the game.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME KALIL PIMPLETON?!?! 🤯
— CFL (@CFL) August 15, 2025
117-YARD MISSED FIELD GOAL RETURN TD TO TIE IT LATE!!#CFLGameDay
🗓️: @REDBLACKS vs. Blue Bombers LIVE NOW
🇨🇦: TSN, RDS
🇺🇸: CBSSN
🌎: CFL+ pic.twitter.com/fTS5F3jAZy
“(Castillo’s) good from that distance. Put the game away,” said O’Shea on his decision. “It’s way harder to punt that distance than it is to kick the field goal that distance. There’s a reason why they always try for the field goal instead of punting for the single.
“Easy decision.”
Easy decision, perhaps, but the results were disastrous.
To the club’s credit the defence stopped Ottawa after Collaros attempted to hit Demski for a bomb in response but was intercepted with 37 seconds left, forcing the RedBlacks offence off the field while taking only 19 seconds off the clock.
After a Trey Vaval punt return put Winnipeg at their 43, Collaros deftly scrambled for 17 and then rifled a 11-yarder to the sidelines to Demski with 10 seconds left.
“I’m just relieved. Happy to win,” said Collaros.
AIR DEFENCE PLUGS HOLES
The Blue Bombers defence, and in particular the secondary, entered Thursday’s game under the microscope after surrendering 18 30 plus-yard completions this season — tied for the second most in the Canadian Football League.
A season-ending injury to corner Terrell Bonds last week led to another couple of changes in a seemingly ever-shifting secondary with Cam Allen getting his first start at safety and Trey Vaval at corner — both rookies — and Dexter Lawson, Jr. making his second start for the Blue Bombers at the other corner.
Couple that with the numbers put up by Dru Brown in Ottawa’s win over Toronto last week — 373 yards passing and five passing TDs — and that had so many in Bomberland gnawing at their fingernails as this one began.
Ottawa finished with 291 yards through the air, but there was a lot to like from this revamped air defence. Allen took a couple of pass interference penalties — both iffy calls — but Vaval and Lawson, Jr. looked comfortable at the cornerback spots.
Brown was controlled in the first half with just 112 yards passing and while he helped lead a scoring drive to start the second half, also had to exit the game with an apparent knee injury, finishing the night 12-of-21 for 166 yards with no TDs and an interception by Evan Holm.
Dustin Crum replaced him and went 11-for-17 for 125 yards with the late score to Hardy.
“I thought they did a great job,” said O’Shea. “They made some plays. Gave up a couple explosion (plays). But they certainly were, especially in the first half, there was one decent play against us.
“But I thought they pretty damn well.”
NOTABLE
- Demski’s 102 yards allowed him to move past Jeff Boyd into ninth spot on the Blue Bombers all-time receiving yardage list. He’s now at 5,173 yards all-time in Winnipeg colours.
- The sell out was the 10th consecutive for the Blue Bombers, with the next home game — the Banjo Bowl — already sold out, too. Bravo Bomber Nation.
- Oliveira’s four-yard TD run to start the fourth quarter was his first score of the season.
KEY MOMENT(S):
Castillo crushed his 47-yarder for the win, but the Collaros 17-yard run with 18 seconds left and his pass to Demski were absolutely massive plays to allow the veteran kicker the chance to do his thing.
KEY STAT: 39%
The Blue Bombers limited Ottawa to just 39 percent on second-down conversions (11-of-25), including a critical stop in the final minute.
NEXT:
The Blue Bombers are on the road now for two straight, beginning next Thursday, August 21st, in Montreal with a 6:30 p.m. CDT start time, followed by the annual Labour Day Classic in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday, August 31st at 6 p.m CDT.
Winnipeg’s next home game — already sold out — is the annual Banjo Bowl on Saturday, September 6th at 3 p.m. CDT.
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This story originally appeared at bluebombers.com and is republished here with permission.