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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are bleeding out right now and — in a storyline that was old weeks ago — the gruesome wounds continue to be primarily and frustratingly self-inflicted.
The Blue Bombers dropped their third straight contest in a 32-21 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of 22,913 fans at Hamilton Stadium Friday night, falling to 6-7 and under .500 for the first time this season, in a game that was again pockmarked by costly mistakes and an anemic passing attack.
“It’s obviously frustrating. I just hate losing. I hate losing. We all hate losing,” said running back Brady Oliveira, who finished with 116 yards rushing on 15 carries, but with the bulk of that coming in the first half as he had 13 carries for 110 yards before the break. “This feeling sucks. We put too much into it. We sacrifice too much as a team. The work that goes on behind the scenes, for us to come out here and have results like this is unacceptable.
“I’ve said it before, the only way to get out of hard times is to attack it head-on and embrace adversity, embraces the challenges and struggles and work through it. Get back to work and work you’re way out of this, out of the tough times.
“There’s still football left, and I think we have a good team. We’ve just got to get back to work.”
And they’ll have to get some answers ASAP as the B.C. Lions and Edmonton Elks are both closing in the West Division, while Winnipeg has stalled out after a pair of losses to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and now the Ticats.
“We’ve got to find a way to click in the second half,” said defensive back Michael Griffin II. “We’ll figure it out. There’s still a lot of season left and so it’s just a matter of us clicking at the right time.
“Not every season is going to look the same, but we’re an experienced team and we’ve been in a lot of different situations, and we’ve gone to the Grey Cup in different ways. This one is already different, but our ultimate goal is the same.”
More from our view in the Hamilton Stadium press box on the Blue Bombers' seventh loss of the season…
A SPUTTERING ATTACK…
Chris Streveler got the start for an injured Zach Collaros — his third start of the season — and the last notes of O Canada were still hanging in the air when the Blue Bombers made their first offensive mistake of the game. Streveler’s second pass attempt of the game — and the club’s third offensive snap — was jumped by Jamal Peters and returned 39 yards to the Winnipeg seven-yard line. One play later, Bo Levi Mitchell connected with Greg Bell and the Ticats were up 7-zip on a gift.
The first half then settled for Winnipeg as the defence did an effective job of staying in the fight, particularly after the offence caught the Ticats attempting to change personnel on a third-and-one, with Streveler then finding a wide-open Keric Wheatfall for a 42-yard TD that tied the score at 7-7.
A second critical mistake in the first half came with 1:23 left and the Blue Bombers scrimmaging from their own 35-yard. Rolling to his right, Streveler attempted to hit Nic Demski, but the pass was picked by Dashaun Amos and returned to the Winnipeg 26.
Three plays later Mitchell connected with Tim White for a seven-yard score that put Hamilton up 20-10 in what felt like a kick to the nether regions after the defensive effort in the opening 28 1/2 minutes.
Streveler finished the night 18 of 29 for 241 yards — a good chunk of that coming late as the Blue Bombers did a little scoreboard cosmetic surgery with a late QB TD run inside the final two minutes.
“Turnovers,” said Streveler when asked what the difference in the loss was afterward. “I can’t throw two interceptions. I’ve got to help our defence out, man, and I thought our defence played pretty well tonight. But when you give them short fields twice like that, and they capitalize, it’s hard to win games.
“… I’ve just got to make better decisions and put us in better positions. But I am proud of the way we fought until the end. It says a lot about our team, and although we’re frustrated and not playing our best football, we’re not going to give up.”
Third-string QB Terry Wilson was warming up on the sidelines late in the fourth quarter but did not enter the game. Asked afterward if he gave any thought on inserting him into the game, Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said:
“Strev’s won us a bunch of games, given us the opportunity to win games. We’re still out of it in those situations (late in the game). There’s still a chance.”
There is a potential silver lining here — and this could be legit or proven to be a reach by next week — but Collaros was on the trip with the club and was on the sidelines during the game. He was also on the field before the game, early in the warm-up, throwing passes to third-string pivot Chase Artropoeus.
TEAM TED
The game was played against a very, very emotional backdrop as the Canadian football community lost a gem on Friday with the passing of Tiger-Cat GM Ted Goveia, who was so instrumental in the Blue Bombers' success over the last decade before landing his dream gig in Hamilton.
The Tiger-Cats had already billed the night as the ‘Team Ted’ game, with staff from both teams wearing T-shirts in his support. An excellent piece from colleague Steve Milton of Ticats.ca is here, and the Blue Bombers issued this statement prior to kickoff:
Ted was a respected leader in football, mentor, and friend whose impact was felt across the CFL and throughout amateur football in Canada.
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) September 12, 2025
To celebrate his legacy, the Winnipeg Football Club will match up to $25,000 in donations to the Hamilton Sports Group Foundation as part… pic.twitter.com/VvnjC2oQDB
There was a moment of silence for Goveia before the game and a video tribute played at the end of the first quarter featuring a giant ‘Team Ted’ banner displayed at midfield as fans held up Team Ted towels presented before the game.
“As was mentioned in the tribute, it’s a great loss for Canadian football in general,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “The last few times I had been around Ted he just wanted to talk football, so let’s talk football.”
TURNOVER FACTORY: -1/-12
The Blue Bombers finished -1 in the turnover differential with the two interceptions and then the Ticats turning the ball over on downs with 42 seconds left as they attempted to milk the clock and finish the game.
Winnipeg’s turnover differential is now -12 overall this season.
“That’s the easy one until we look at it and see what exactly happened,” said O’Shea of the turnovers. “But, yeah, they got 14 points off that. Once again, it’s too easy to finger point at one thing. You’d like a better three-phase game where if we happen to give the ball away we hold them to a field goal or no points. Take the ball back or hold them to a single — whatever it is. It didn’t work out that way.
“We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the football and we’ve got to do a better job when we come on the field after a mistake happens. We’ve got to do a better job of coming on and fixing it for our teammates.”
NOTABLE
- Willie Jefferson had one knockdown on Friday and in the process moved past Adrion Smith into second spot on the CFL’s all-time in pass knockdown list, now with (90). Eddie Davis is first in league history with 111.
- Nic Demski continued his consecutive games with at least one reception
KEY MOMENT:
The Blue Bombers were in the fight in the first half of this one, trailing 13-10 with 81 second remaining before the intermission, when Streveler tossed his second interception, setting up the Ticats for a critical score that gave them a 20-10 cushion at the half.
And while Winnipeg rallied with some fight late in the game, that was a killer turnover that turned what might have been momentum heading into halftime into a lead they couldn’t overcome.
KEY STAT: 71.2
The QB efficiency rating for Streveler, who threw for 241 yards and had the two interceptions against the Wheatfall TD. He also rushed for a score.
By comparison, Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell was 21-of-28 for 230 yards and two scores. Kenny Lawler, FYI, had seven receptions for 97 yards.
NEXT:
The Blue Bombers are on the road again next week with a visit to Ottawa to face the Redblacks on Saturday, September 20th with the start scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT.
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This story originally appeared at bluebombers.com and is republished here with permission.