REGINA – They dug the hole themselves and tumbled down into the depths of it to start the season. So, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers understood the long climb out would be both slippery and treacherous.
And just when it seemed they had found a route up the mountain following two straight Ws, they were bowled over by an avalanche of obsidian green Friday night in Regina in a 19-9 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in front of 29,649 at Mosaic Stadium.
The Blue Bombers, as a result, now fall to 2-5 while the Riders – wearing their new alternate ‘obsidian green’ jerseys – improved to 5-1.
The concern – beyond the record – is so many of the gains made over the previous two weeks were lost in the loss to the Riders in a sloppy, mistake-filled, penalty-marred performance that has been so unlike Blue Bomber teams of recent vintage.
Simply put, a team can’t win in the Canadian Football League by failing in a trio of key areas – losing the turnover battle three-zip, taking six penalties for 81 yards and not finding the end zone.
“Just not good enough,” said veteran defensive tackle Jake Thomas. “We were right there until the end; we’ve just got to learn to close out games. We now go feel sorry for ourselves for the next 24 hours, flush it and luckily, we have a longer week this week and so we can get more work in and start turning this around.
“This league, it’s crazy. It’s usually the team that’s hot at the end that wins it. The thing is, we can’t wait until then to turn this thing around. We’re seven games through right now and it’s time to get things going in the right direction.”
More on the Blue Bombers loss from our view in the press box in Regina…
TURNOVER TROUBLES:
There’s no good time or place for a turnover, but many of the Blue Bombers wounds were self-inflicted with an interception by Zach Collaros at the Riders’ 22-yard line in the third quarter, a fumble by Nic Demski after a 50-yard completion to the Saskatchewan 29-yard line inside the final three minutes and then a turnover on downs on the last possession.
Cofllaros finished 20 of 31 for 266 yards with no TDs and the interception as the Blue Bombers managed 322 yards of net offence.
“Frustrating, for sure,” said Collaros. “We weren’t good enough on first down. Any time you put yourself in second and seven-to-10 (yard) situations, the way they play they keep everything in front of them and I thought Brady (Oliveira) did a good job tonight in trying to get us close to the sticks.
“I’m sure there were some reads I’m going to want back, but they make it hard on you in second and long situations. It’s something we’ve got to improve upon whether we’re running the football or throwing the football.”
“And, obviously, losing the turnover battle… you can’t throw that interception in that situation in a one score game. That’s on me. Can’t do it.”
Even with all that, the team was in the position to tie late after Demski’s long grab – the longest play of the night – before Riders linebacker Jameer Thurman punched the ball free from behind and the ball was recovered by Marcus Sayles.
“I thought I was clear and obviously I wasn’t,” said Demski. “It sucks. I’m a leader on this team, been on this team for seven-eight years now… I can’t be making mistakes like that, especially in moments like that.”
An example of the mistakes at inopportune times – the Blue Bombers did force a turnover of their own at the end of the first half on an interception by Terrell Bonds, but the play was wiped out by a defensive holding penalty by TyJuan Garbutt.
“Not clean enough. Too many mistakes,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “We took the ball away, a young guy takes a holding penalty – I mean, they’re going to happen – but we got points at the end of the half probably and we lose those.
“We drive down and we have an interception in scoring range again and then just another giveaway. If you can’t play clean in tight games, they’re hard to win.”
‘O’ STRUGGLES:
The Blue Bombers held the Riders to just 19 points and one touchdown – on a bust on a short-yardage play – but the offence really struggled to find traction again. The leading receiver was Brady Oliveira with nine catches for 80 yards while Pokey Wilson – coming off his bust-out game a week ago, didn’t make his first catch until the fourth quarter and finished with two catches on seven targets for 48 yards.
Oliveira also chipped in with 54 yards on nine carries.
“We played hard, we just made too many mistakes,” said receiver Drew Wolitarsky. “We’re putting our heart and soul into this, trust me. This team is a close team. This team is a really good team together, but we really are hurting ourselves, man.
“We’re frustrated by that for sure, Every game, there’s going to be mistakes – it’s just the moments we make them and the weight of them.”
KEY MOMENT
As messy as the Blue Bombers had been on the night, they were in position to potentially tie the game late. Trailing 16-9 inside the final three minutes, Collaros connected with Nic Demski on a 50-yard gain to the Riders’ 29-yard line. But as Demski was running he was caught from behind by Jameer Thurman, who punched the ball loose with the fumble recovered by Marcus Sayles.
KEY STAT: -3
The turnover ratio for the Blue Bombers, with the two offensive mistakes coming at critical times and spots on the field.
NEXT: The Blue Bombers are on the road again next Saturday, July 27th, with a visit to Toronto to face the Argonauts with a 6 p.m. CDT start. The club is back at home on Thursday, August 1st against the B.C. Lions with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.