TORONTO – They continued to blast holes in both feet, occasionally handled the football like it has been dipped in a vat of 10w30 motor oil and repeatedly got in their own way, over and over and over again.
As a result, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 2024 season hit yet another sour spot after a 16-14 overtime loss to the Toronto Argonauts in front of 14,994 fans at BMO Field Saturday night now drop to 2-6.
The Blue Bombers turned the ball over a whopping five times and still had a chance to win the game twice in the dying moments– failing to convert a third-and-one from the Argos’ 22-yard line with 57 seconds left after opting not to kick a field goal, and then having Sergio Castillo miss from 41-yards out in overtime. The Argos then sealed their fourth win of the season on a 34-yard Lirim Hajrullahu field goal for the two-point victory.
Indeed, the only category the Blue Bombers seem to lead the Canadian Football League right now is self-inflicted wounds.
“We need to be better. We ALL need to be better,” said running back Brady Oliveira. “We need to take care of the football, that’s first and foremost. That’s the most important thing. We talk about it every single week. We came in at halftime and it’s close and it was going to come down to the team that played the cleanest was going to win the game. In a grinder, tight game like that we know this.
“We are making too many mistakes. That needs to end. We need to be better. I can play a better game. I can’t put the ball on the ground, I’ve got to take care of the football. I’ve got to look in the mirror, everyone’s got to look in the mirror and ask how can you demand more from yourself and be better because your teammates deserve better.
“We’re losing. What are we doing? We know we can win games. We have the group to do it, we’re just making too many mistakes. We’ve got to go get better. It sucks, man.”
More on the Blue Bombers sixth loss of the season from our view in the press box…
FROM THE SILLY TO THE RIDICULOUS:
The Blue Bombers spit up the ball three times in last week’s loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and then trumped that with an even more atrocious ball-protection performance in a game that was absolutely, positively there to be taken.
The litany of errors:
- Oliveira fumbled after a 22-yard run in the first quarter on the Argos side of half
- Drew Wolitarsky fumbled after a 16-yard gain to the Toronto 23-yard line in the second quarter,
- The Argos got a Pick-6 in the fourth quarter after a Zach Collaros pass to Nic Demski was broken up – Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea unsuccessfully challenged for pass interference – with the ball then tipping off Kody Case’s hands to DaShaun Amos who raced 41 yards for a score.
- And on the next series Collaros connected with Nic Demski for a 30-yard gain to the Argo 34-yard line but fumbled with the ball recovered by the Argos.
- Then, after a Collaros-to-Pokey Wilson 55-yard TD tied the game with 4:05 left, the Blue Bombers still had their shot late before Chris Streveler was stopped on a third-and-one inside the final minute.
“Just enough mistakes to keep us from winning – me included,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “I got a little greedy there (on the third-down gamble) and have got to take the points when they’re available.
“They work on (ball security) during the week. They work hard at it. It’s not taking hold just yet. Obviously, it has to at some point because they’re pros and they’ll fix it. How long it takes, who knows?”
Asked what he would say to the squad after a mistake-filled performance like that, he added:
“Just tell them to pick themselves up. Get off the mat. We’ve got to go to work. Tomorrow, we have to go to work. They have to come in with that attitude.”
ANOTHER DEFENSIVE GEM WASTED:
The Blue Bombers limited the Roughriders to just one TD last week in a 19-9 loss and did not give up a score to the Argos on Saturday while limiting them to just 205 yards net offence, including a paltry 124 yards through the air.
Collaros, meanwhile, completed 25 of 32 passes for 317 yards with the TD to Wilson and the Pick-6.
“You can apply a bunch of different words to it – frustrating performances,” said Collaros. “I can really only speak for the offence. We didn’t score enough touchdowns, not just in the last two weeks but all season long. We’ve got to make ball security a priority. I’ve been a culprit of that, obviously. When we’re taking points off the board, you’re not going to win a lot of games in this league.
“Angry, frustrated, all those things. I keep saying we’ve got to get back to the drawing board, we’ve got to get back to work, all those things. You can say that, but we’ve got to win games.”
Collaros was then asked if this team, at 2-6 and with two games with the B.C. Lions next up, was good enough to compete for a playoff spot.
“I think we can beat anybody in this league, there’s no doubt about that,” he said, “But we’ve got to start showing it.”
KEY MOMENT
As ugly as it was offensively with all the turnovers, the Blue Bombers pushed this one to overtime. Winnipeg had the first possession and after failing to get a first down, trotted out Castillo for a 41-yard field goal. Alas, the kick sailed wide left.
And while the Bombers then limited Toronto to just seven yards in their possession, Hajrullahu connected on a 34-yarder for the game-winning kick.
KEY STAT: -7
The Blue Bombers were -4 in the turnover ratio Saturday and, coupled with last week’s -3 in Regina, are now -7 in the last two weeks. Winnipeg is now -8 in that department on the season.
NEXT: The Blue Bombers are back home after two straight on the road to face the B.C. Lions on Thursday, August 1st with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.