It was a good 30 minutes post-game and inside a raucous Winnipeg Blue Bombers locker room there was still a buzz about the club’s dominant 25-zilch win over the B.C. Lions.
Yes, it’s been said and written since Thursday’s victory that the result resembled so many during the team’s epic run over the last four years that saw the club appear in four straight Grey Cup games, winning twice and losing two others by a combined five points.
It is a room that still features Canadian Football League stars like Zach Collaros, Willie Jefferson, Brady Oliveira, Adam Bighill, Nic Demski and Deatrick Nichols among other veteran faces. Yet, glancing around the space you also see so many of the new faces that represent the overhaul the roster has undergone this summer, much of it by choice and so much more by the number of injured players now crowding the infirmary.
The Blue Bombers sacked Vernon Adams, Jr. four times on Thursday
To that end, Thursday’s win featured eight first-year starters in cornerbacks Terrell Bonds and Tyrell Ford, defensive linemen TyJuan Garbutt and Jamal Woods, right guard Kendall Randolph and receivers Kevens Clercius, Josh Johnson and Pokey Wilson. Seven other players who dressed against the Lions — offensive lineman Gabe Wallace, receiver/returner Kody Case, linebacker Michael Ayers, defensive linemen Devin Adams and Owen Hubert, linebacker Max Charbonneau and third-string quarterback Terry Wilson — are CFL rookies.
So, given that, a couple of things: can we stop with the narrative the Blue Bombers 3-6 start this year was due to an aging roster? Because that’s simply doesn’t play now.
And, two, what kind of template does a win like that become for so many players new to this team and to this league?
“First of all we needed a win, that’s the biggest thing,” said Bighill, the veteran middle linebacker who had a team high seven tackles and a sack — the 50th of his career — against his old club. “But are we surprised this is how the game happened? No.
“We played great. And if we take care of the Football 101 things the way we’re supposed to — takeaways, limiting explosion plays, taking care of the football, controlling the clock, moving the ball — good things are going to happen. It takes all three phases.
“The guys who have been in this league for a long time, we know what it takes. We know the process each week. What’s really important is a result like this can show the young guys what it’s all about; it can show them the way.”
Adam Bighill had a team high seven tackles and the 50th sack of his career
There were so many layers to the win on Thursday and we’ll get to that further down in this piece, but the overwhelming takeaway was the work of the defence, which has now allowed just one TD in its last three games.
And, again, this is a unit that said good-bye to Jackson Jeffcoat, Ricky Walker and Demerio Houston in the offseason and is without Kyrie Wilson, Celestin Haba, Miles Fox, Cam Lawson, Brian Cole and Jamal Parker — all on the injured list.
“We’re understanding now that you can make mistakes, just don’t make the same mistake twice,” said Bighill “The young guys we have are learning that very fast. We’re learning to play together very, very fast. Our communication is critical. The experience we have is critical in being able to anticipate your target. That takes some time playing together.
“We’re climbing a mountain and every week we’re taking a step up and that’s indicative of that communication, plus our preparation and hard work.”
ICYMI, here is our Game Recap…
And what follows is a deeper dive on the Blue Bombers third win of the season in this week’s edition of UPON FURTHER REVIEW…
THREE NUMBERS THAT STOOD OUT… after another look at the game’s statistical package, which can be found here:
1 Shutouts are so rare in the CFL, so that’s the number that instantly leaps out to everyone after the win over the Lions. How rare? The goose egg was the 36th shutout in Blue Bombers history dating to 1936. But, consider this: 22 of them were posted before 1960 and this was just fourth time in this millennium and just ninth time since 1971 the team had blanked an opponent.
Another total which speaks of Blue Bombers dominance the other night: B.C. managed just four first downs all evening and the CFL record in that department (dating back to 1958) is three; done by Saskatchewan in October of 1959 in a 45-6 loss to B.C. and by the Blue Bombers in September of 1975 in a 15-1 loss to the Lions.
2 We’ve said many times in this space before that the time of possession can be sometimes misleading — especially if a high-octane offence is putting up one explosion play after another — but it said everything about the Blue Bombers win on Thursday.
Winnipeg held the ball for an astonishing 41 minutes and 52 seconds to the 18:08 for B.C. Just to put that into perspective: that is the third-highest TOP since the league started tracking the stat in 1996, behind 43:22 the Lions had in a game against Toronto in 2019 and 42:14 by Calgary in a win over Toronto in 2010.
It’s also a new Blue Bombers record.
Offensive coordinator Buck Pierce and Zach Collaros
Over the last four games he has completed 75 percent of his passes for 1,222 yards with four TDs and four picks.
“Offensively we’ve got to continue to get better, believing in our plan, scoring more touchdowns,” said Collaros. “Sergio (Castillo) was unbelievable all night, the special teams were, too.
“I thought we sustained drives fairly well, ran a lot of plays, and did enough to win.”
Collaros also rushed to defend the offensive line when asked to assess the work of the men up front after they had been under the microscope after giving up five sacks in the loss to Toronto.
“I think it’s unfair when you put the offensive line under the microscope — there’s a lot of things going on within a play, it takes all 12 starting with myself,” he said. “So, getting the ball out of your hand is always very important.
“They’ve done a great job all season long, they have for a decade here. It’s the leadership they provide to our team and they’re steadfast. They’re just a steady group and you can always count on them. I thought they did a great job tonight.”
WHAT THE BLUE BOMBERS ‘D’ DID… to limit the CFL’s most potent offence was, frankly, jaw dropping. The Blue Bombers forced 10 two-and-outs and kept the Lions out of the score zone as B.C. managed just 102 yards of net offence, while Vernon Adams, Jr. — who left the game with a knee injury and might miss a few weeks, according to head coach Rick Campbell — finished 8-0f-17 for 74 yards while being intercepted once by Tyrell Ford.
Willie Jefferson and TyJuan Garbutt
“It felt great. It felt amazing,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson of the Blue Bombers defensive effort. “It was getting back to doing what we do — getting pressure on the quarterback, getting in his face, getting him off his spot, good work on the back end taking away his initial throws and giving us a little bit more time to get to him, get him flustered and make him throw some bad balls.”
Asked if he was surprised by the work of the ‘D’, Jefferson was quick to counter.
“Nah, man. If you look back to Week 1 we’ve been playing good football, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “We’ve been having some good games and it’s just little things.
“This week, short week, playing at home in front of our fans we were ready for the challenge. We were locked in, we were focussed and locked in on our keys and we hit our target. Bullseyes. We weren’t trying to let them get in good field position to where they could kick the ball because they’ve got a great field goal kicker in Sean Whyte.
“If we can win the turnover battle, if we can win the field position battle and keep them backed up, win on first down, get off the field on second down and make it hard for them we know our defence can play just like that.”
LUCKY WHITEHEAD’S GRIN CAN LIGHT UP… Princess Auto Stadium and no one was more thrilled to be back on the field for the first time in 2024 than the veteran receiver.
Lucky Whitehead celebrates his TD against the Lions
His time waiting for the phone to ring and then for his chance to get into the Blue Bombers lineup also admittedly had him soaking up things differently.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You find a different kind of appreciation for the game when you haven’t been in it for awhile, missed a whole training camp and all that other stuff.
“I was trying to be in the moment, but if I could have just stayed in that end zone and kept celebrating with the team… it was crazy, I didn’t want to leave the end zone. It was the crowd and how loud they got. It was just amazing how proud they were on that play and just the love I got.”
AND, FINALLY… if you loved that victory so much and want to relive it as the Blue Bombers head into the bye week, we’ve got you covered:
sip your morning joe and re-live thursday’s game ☕ #ForTheW pic.twitter.com/EhK8dYiYCu
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) August 3, 2024