They are methodically rolling through the Canadian Football League like a combine through a wheat field in a run that began on August 1st and has featured eight straight wins.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as a result, can now lock up first place in the West Division with a win over the Toronto Argonauts tonight and book a spot in the division final on November 9th.
And while no one wants to fixate on the eight-game streak, most in the Blue Bombers clubhouse will insist there was no seminal moment that sparked the turnaround after 0-4/2-6 starts.
Nor was some sort of magic potion downed by the group or some innovative defensive or offensive scheme implemented that sent shockwaves across the loop.
So, what’s different now from that icky start?
“It’s the attention to detail on offence, defence and special teams,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson Thursday following the team’s walk-through practice. “It’s how this team has come together and how everybody is playing for each other. You can just see it.
“Records don’t really come up in meetings or in the locker room. Every week we just try to go 1-0. We lock in on who our opponent is for that week, try to see what we can do to stop them on defence. On the offensive side of the ball, it’s whatever we can do to try and exploit their defence and put the ball in the end zone, whether that be running the ball or throwing the ball.
“We’ve been doing that for the last eight weeks. It’s just one week at a time.”
There are some obvious factors in play here, from a dramatic turnaround in the turnover differential — minus-eight through the 2-6 start to +13 over the eight-game win streak — through a team featuring so much change due to injuries and roster turnover then finding cohesion.
Granted, that hardly makes for a sexy storyline, but it is a testament to their sweat equity.
“It’s different but I think there’s a fine line,” said quarterback Zach Collaros of the first eight games during the recent run. “You need to make sure you haven’t arrived. You’ve never arrived in this game, and you have to continue to push the envelope and continue to try to get better… your understanding of the game, physically, mentally, all those things.
“It’s way easier to get back to that than it is to keep moving and trending in the right direction. Not to bring any negative energy to it, but it’s just a constant reminder that, ‘hey, we need to continue to lock into what we’re doing here, believe in our process, believe in each other and focus on every single play.
“When we do that, the results have been good lately.”
Oh, you could say that and then some. The eight-game win streak is tied for the fourth-longest in franchise history and the longest since the club opened the 2022 season with nine straight Ws.
“We don’t even really talk about it because each week is a new opponent and new challenges,” said dime back Redha Kramdi. “There’s so many things going on we don’t even really think about winning seven-eight in a row, whatever it is.
“We just focus on what’s ahead, who we’re playing, what they’re good at and our gameplan.”
That’s the interesting part of this run: not only is no one fixating on it, this crew still believes they’ve got a couple more gears to find as it heads to the playoffs.
“What’s different now compared to earlier in the season? It’s a good question,” said veteran guard Pat Neufeld. “It’s mostly on offence about a more-detailed understanding of what we’re doing and then comfort and trust. Continuity is a big thing in football — being able to trust the guy next to you; Zach being able to trust his receivers and as an offensive line it’s about our group playing together more.
“We’re at that stage now where it’s implicit. There’s no question about it now and we’re out there playing fast because of that trust.
“You want to play your best ball in October and roll it into November. We’re starting to get there. Consistency is the name of the game right now and when you’re at a high level you can’t have a lull.”
HIGH FIVE: It’s a story that is part of Winnipeg sporting folklore now — the last-minute deal that brought Collaros to the Blue Bombers at the trade deadline five years ago this month.
And given his success here — two Grey Cups, four straight championship appearances, two Most Outstanding Player awards and a 48-14 regular-season record as a starter in Winnipeg — it’s a tale that never, ever gets old.
Collaros was asked to reminisce about that deal on five years later during his media availability on Thursday.
“I was debating, ‘am I done? Am I going to have togo find a real job?’ All those things,” Collaros said. “And after a week or two I remember calling my wife, ‘These guys are great out here. If we can keep this whole thing together, I think we’ll have a lot of success. And it’s going to be a lot of fun. And you’ll love it out here, too. This is where I want to be.’
“I’m very lucky. Very fortunate that some people still have belief in me. And that I was brought into a really, really great environment to excel.”
“You didn’t have to be around him very long in Toronto to understand that he was a winner,” added head coach Mike O’Shea. “And that he went about his business the right way. He was a football junkie. He was meant to do this.
“We felt he was the only guy that was going to be able to come in and and fit and be the right leader for this team. Not everybody could do that so seamlessly.”