Ed Tait, Winnipeg Football Club

Already decimated by injuries across their depth chart, the Blue Bombers fell to 0-4 to start the campaign following a 22-19 overtime loss to the Calgary Stampeders in front of 22,386 at McMahon Stadium.

What’s worse is Zach Collaros exited at halftime following a hellacious hit to the chest and did not return.

The names on the lineup cards change, as do the venues, yet one thing has remained constant for Valour FC this 2024 Canadian Premier League season – their frustrating inconsistency from one moment to the next, one half to the next.

And it’s costing them dearly.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have found themselves in a dark, damp, hellish place they haven’t visited in over a decade – an 0-3 hole and staring up at the rest of the Canadian Football League’s West Division.

An injury-ravaged Blue Bombers squad – which now looks to have sent even more bodies to the infirmary – traded punches with the B.C. Lions on a perfect Friday night in front of 31,210 at Princess Auto Stadium, but still suffered another loss in a 26-24 defeat.

Valour FC’s frustrating inconsistencies in this 2024 Canadian Premier League season were right there in full display and in vivid colour Friday night at Princess Auto Stadium.

Playing some of their best football of the campaign — and, perhaps, some of their worst, too — the home side fell 3-2 to Pacific FC in a performance that saw them gift-wrap a penalty, fall behind 2-nil before rallying to tie it in dramatic fashion… and then have the eventual match winner decided with an own goal in the 75th minute.

Injuries are piling up – as are the losses – and now even Mother Nature seems to have a serious hate-on for a Winnipeg Blue Bombers team that has been so dominant for so long.

The Blue Bombers fell to 0-2 on the season with a 23-19 loss to the Ottawa RedBlacks at TD Place here in the nation’s capital in an ugly lightning-delayed affair that was lacking in artistic flair yet still featured a wacky and dramatic finish.

Valour FC traded punches with the Canadian Premier League’s top squad Sunday afternoon, going toe-to-toe with a bunch yet to taste defeat in 2024 in league play.

What they didn’t expect was for the killer blow to be delivered by the head official with an iffy penalty call against them that completely changed the complexion of what had been a well-played 0-0 draw with Atlético Ottawa through 57 minutes.

Call it a completely out-of-character and baffling performance by a Winnipeg Blue Bombers squad which has consistently served up Oscar-worthy work over the past few seasons.

And as opening night performances go, the Blue Bombers’ 2024 debut in a 27-12 loss to the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League’s season opener in front of 30,140 at Princess Auto Stadium would best be summed up as a sloppy, mistake-filled disappointment.