Upon Further Review | Cal 37 Wpg 16

There’s plenty of time for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to do a deep dive on their Stampede Bowl loss to the Calgary Stampeders through the bye week and beyond.

 

And undoubtedly the film will be dissected by everyone in Bomberland with the thoroughness and diligence of a coroner.

All that said, it was head coach Mike O’Shea who provided the most complete and succinct answer and delivered it in the most blunt of terms after Thursday’s 37-16 beatdown at McMahon Stadium.

 

“We got our asses beat,” said the Blue Bombers head coach. “I mean, it’s pretty straightforward.”

The Blue Bombers head into their second bye week now to get answers on the how and why Thursday’s ass-kicking happened, but that summation from the boss is an important starting point.

 

There can be no sugar-coating after a loss like that, after all, nor a desperate attempt to seek out silver linings.

 

Instead, rebounding from this must come from simply dealing with the reality of it all. After all, we saw this movie play out a year ago when the Blue Bombers fell into an 0-4 hole to start the season before coming back to finish first in the West Division and advance to a fifth straight Grey Cup.

 

“I’m pretty sure we can look back in recent history and see that we’ve been in tougher spots before, so…” said O’Shea. “One win doesn’t crown us and one loss doesn’t do anything to put us out of the race, either. It’s so early.”

 

ICYMI, here’s our Game Recap story from Thursday’s loss:

THREE NUMBERS WHICH STOOD OUT… after a second glance at the stats package, which can be found here:

 

1 The Blue Bombers offensive numbers are a bit upside down given the result. Winnipeg had 29 first downs — that’s more than in any game a year ago and the most since a road win in B.C. on October 6, 2023 in which the club had 31 first downs.

 

The team also had 408 yards of net offence with 316 yards passing and 92 yards along the ground while having the ball for almost five minutes more than the Stamps.

 

Yet, the two Pick-6s thrown by Zach Collaros were critical in combination with the explosion plays surrendered by the defence. Countering that were these numbers: the 48 attempts Collaros had were a single-game high for the veteran pivot as a Blue Bomber, second only to the 53 attempts he had in a game in 2016 as a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. His 34 completions also tied a career high, including that 2016 game he had as a member of the Ticats.

Yet those two interceptions came with the club trailing 8-3 and then while attempting an against-all-odds comeback while down 30-9.

 

“We have to do a better job of protecting the football and that starts on me,” said Collaros. “The first (interception), they weren’t really doing anything that we didn’t expect. (Damon) Webb made a great play on the concept we ran. I’d like to have that one back and I lost (Derrick) Moncrief on the other concept we ran.

 

“It’s on me.”

 

2 Winnipeg’s defence limited Calgary to 334 yards of net offence — 114 rushing and 222 passing — but were burned for some big explosion plays in the first half as the Stamps built a 29-6 lead.

 

Vernon Adams, Jr. hit Clark Barnes for a 43-yard TD on the first drive and also connected with Tevin Jones for 29 and Jalen Philpot for 66 while Dedrick Mills also rumbled for 21 yards on one play.

“Last week we talked about miscommunication on a play. That can’t happen any more,” said Blue Bombers dime back Redha Kramdi. “It can’t happen every week and we had a couple.

 

“(Calgary head coach Dave) Dickenson is a great offensive coordinator with great concepts. But today we just didn’t do our job. They didn’t run anything we weren’t expecting. It’s all about assignments and being sound and we weren’t today.

 

“That’s why I’m frustrated about this loss. They’ve still got to throw, they’ve still got to run their good routes and still got to recognize the coverage. They did it — hat’s off to VA, hats off to Dickenson and that receiving corps is good. But this loss is on us. It’s on us for playing bad more than on them for playing great, in my opinion.

 

“Our defensive staff did a good job of prepping us for the game. If you ask anyone they’ll all say the same thing: we have to do a better job as players in executing the call. That’s what’s so frustrating.”

 

3 There were some big numbers posted by Blue Bombers receivers Thursday — and some concern for Dalton Schoen, who left the game in the second half and was hobbling as he headed to the sidelines. Don’t expect an official update on him until the club returns to practice following the bye.

 

Second-year Canadian Kevens Clercius was exceptional with career-best number of 10 catches for 78 yards; Nic Demski was busy with nine catches for 74 yards and extended his reception streak to 75 games, while newcomer Jerreth Sterns had seven catches for 49 yards and his first TD as a Blue Bomber in what was a sensational catch.