The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Edmonton Elks by a score of 27-14 on Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium. Below are my thoughts on the game.
Con-Tre-nment
Edmonton quarterback Tre Ford is arguably the CFL’s most explosive athlete regardless of position, which is what makes him such a nightmare to defend. The Blue Bombers did a brilliant job containing the dual-threat passer on Saturday, eventually chasing him from the game as he was benched in favour of McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Winnipeg has often rushed three defensive linemen on second downs this season while dropping nine players back into coverage, one of whom spies the quarterback. On Saturday, Jordan Younger’s unit consistently used two spies against Ford as Michael Ayers, who started in place of late-scratch Kyrie Wilson, Redha Kramdi, Jake Kelly, and Tony Jones took turns containing the dual-threat passer.
The decision to use Kelly as a spy seemed particularly inspired — though the former second-round pick out of Bishop’s is a little undersized, he’s a tremendous athlete in space, making him the perfect player to match against Ford.
Ford finished the game completing 10-of-17 pass attempts for 131 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. The native of Niagara Falls, Ont. found room to run only once but Willie Jefferson made a brilliant shoestring tackle to limit him to nine yards.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Winnipeg’s defence as Justin Rankin carried the ball 14 times for 157 yards. Regardless, it was still a strong effort for the visitors as they forced six takeaways — more on those in a moment.
In the chicken box
Brady Oliveira had his best game of the year in Edmonton, rushing 18 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns, his first two scores of the season. The veteran running back has made no secret of his desire to reach the “chicken box” — his bewildering term for “end zone” — and did so twice in the fourth quarter, icing the win.
The Winnipeg native has also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the third straight season, now sitting at 1,021 on the year. One would think that Oliveira will continue to get plenty of opportunities to run the ball as the weather turns and, with Chris Streveler out for the rest of the season, he’s now the team’s best option in the red zone.
Stanley Bryant made his return at left tackle and unsurprisingly helped elevate the Blue Bombers’ offensive line, which opened plenty of running lanes and allowed zero sacks. Edmonton strong-side linebacker Derrick Moncrief brought down Zach Collaros once, though that occurred after Lucky Whitehead whiffed on a block in motion.
Not taking advantage
The Blue Bombers generated four takeaways in the first half as defensive back Deatrick Nichols forced and recovered a Tre Ford fumble, linebacker Tony Jones snagged an interception, defensive end Willie Jefferson knocked down a pass on third down, and Jones recovered a Kevin Brown fumble, which was caused by Celestin Haba.
Winnipeg’s offence didn’t take advantage of any of the takeaways, generating zero points on the four ensuing drives. Only one of the takeaways — the interception — gave the Blue Bombers possession in Edmonton territory and Zach Collaros squandered the opportunity by throwing an interception to Darrius Bratton, who was in perfect position on a deep pass intended for Kenny Lawler.
The offence finally cashed in on a takeaway in the second half when Brady Oliveira ran twice for 36 yards to reach the end zone following an interception from Michael Ayers. Winnipeg’s defence forced one final takeaway in the final two minutes of regulation when McLeod Bethel-Thompson inexplicably threw an eight-yard pass on third-and-nine, resulting in a turnover on downs.
It’s rare for teams to force six takeaways in one game. If Winnipeg does so again, the offence will have to do a better job of taking advantage.
Exacting revenge
Tony Jones made an impressive diving interception late in the first quarter when Justin Rankin couldn’t handle a pass from Tre Ford. The ball popped into the air with Jake Kelly bearing down and Jones took flight, securing the takeaway at Edmonton’s 45-yard line.
Tony Jones *might* remember who cut him earlier this year…#CFL #Bombers #ForTheW
pic.twitter.com/4BEcmi8v7o— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) September 21, 2024
Jones helped generate a second takeaway late in the first half when he recovered a Kevin Brown fumble that was caused by Celestin Haba.
Jones already got his revenge against Chris Jones, who cut him in Edmonton earlier this year, when he forced a fumble on a punt return against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the veteran coach’s new team, late last month. On Saturday, the linebacker got retribution against his old squad.
Two revenge games, three takeaways. It seems safe to assume Jones is happy with that.
Brotherly love
Saturday’s game marked the first time twin brothers Tre and Tyrell Ford have started against one another at the professional level. The pair played together collegiately at the University of Waterloo and engaged in some playful banter before this game in Edmonton.
Though Tyrell’s team got the win, Tre earned bragging rights midway through the third quarter when he executed a flea-flicker to perfection, resulting in a 31-yard touchdown to Eugene Lewis. Tyrell ran upfield to defend the run before realizing his mistake and sprinting backward to the receiver, though the damage was already done.
Tre officially has the bragging rights on his twin brother after this touchdown.
Tyrell gave up a touchdown on a flea-flicker against Montreal back in Week 1. I wonder if that played a role in Edmonton dialling this up this week.#Bombers | #Elks | #CFLpic.twitter.com/KEyIcHOPEv
— John Hodge (@JohnDHodge) September 22, 2024
Brandon Alexander took a questionable angle from his safety position, allowing Lewis to step in front of him and make the catch. The veteran receiver spun around and dodged Tyrell on his way to score Edmonton’s first points of the game.
Tyrell got burned for a touchdown on a flea-flicker in Winnipeg’s first game of the season, a 27-12 loss to the Montreal Alouettes. I spoke to Tyrell after the game and he blamed his “eye discipline” for the mistake, saying he needed to do a better job of focusing on his receiver. Given that he’s now been burned twice, it seems safe to suggest that a team will try to burn him with another flea-flicker at some point this season.
Rookie moves
Ontaria Wilson furthered his case to win Most Outstanding Rookie as he made five catches for 55 yards and one touchdown, leading Winnipeg in all three receiving categories.
Pokey punches it in!
Zach Collaros finds Ontaria Wilson for the @Wpg_BlueBombers major! #CFLGameday LIVE on @TSN_Sports
📱: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/BQlcio4WwE— CFL (@CFL) September 22, 2024
The play design on Wilson’s touchdown was brilliant as play-action to Nic Demski forced Edmonton’s defence to move left before Zach Collaros pulled the ball and hit the rookie receiver over the middle. It’s rare for two receivers to be in the same area on a play but Keric Wheatfall, who was back in the starting lineup after a two-month absence, was slightly upfield from Wilson, putting him in the perfect spot to throw a block.
The touchdown pass was only the ninth for Collaros all season as he finished the night completing 19-of-27 pass attempts for 191 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
Double doink
Sergio Castillo took six points off the board as he missed field goal attempts from distances of 53 and 55 yards, knocking them both off the right upright. As a “doink” results in a dead ball, the Elks were unable to return either of the misses.
The veteran kicker made a 23-yard field goal in the late stages of the game to seal the win, which almost clanged off the left upright. Castillo has been among the league’s best kickers all season and is one of the team’s most popular players, so fans in Bomberland will forget about his two long misses. Had he missed the short attempt late in the game, however, he’d probably have ended up in hot water with the team’s faithful.
Missed it by that much
Dakota Prukop, who spent the last two seasons in Winnipeg, came in on short yardage during Edmonton’s first drive of the game and was initially stuffed at the line of scrimmage before getting close to the first-down marker on his second effort.
If you didn’t see the ensuing measurement, it’s worth going back to watch it if you can find the clip. In almost 30 years of watching professional football, it might be the closest measurement I’ve ever seen. The tip of the ball reached the stick by no more than a fraction of an inch.
Walking wounded
It didn’t appear as though Winnipeg suffered any in-game injuries, though veteran linebacker Kyrie Wilson was unable to play after suffering an injury during warmup. According to the team, Wilson’s new ailment is unrelated to the shoulder injury that caused him to miss the past six games.
Kenny Lawler took a vicious shot from Nick Anderson late in the contest, which was called for unnecessary roughness. The veteran receiver, who finished with two catches for 26 yards, was momentarily shaken up before being removed by the concussion spotter.
It didn’t appear as though Lawler took any contact to the head but, based on his initial reaction to the hit, removing him from the game seemed like a wise decision. He presumably cleared protocol as he returned to the game.
Call the fire department
Larry Thompson, the new owner of the Elks, went semi-viral during his team’s most recent game when he drove a mini-fire truck into the visiting bench, presumably by accident.
According to my colleague Andrew Hoskins, the Elks had four fans wearing fake fire trucks run a race on Saturday, riffing off Thompson’s error from last game. If Edmonton is going to fix its attendance woes — and it appears progress is already being made on that front — this is the type of in-game entertainment they need. Be creative, have fun, and always capitalize on viral moments.
Horns up
The Manitoba Bisons beat the Calgary Dinos by a score of 22-17 on Saturday to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2007 — the last time they won the Vanier Cup.
The club will now return home to host the Regina Rams at Princess Auto Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 5:00 p.m. local time. If you’re interested in exciting football and beautiful fall weather, be sure to buy a ticket. I’ll be on the radio call for 620 CKRM.
Next up
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-6) will host the Edmonton Elks (5-9) on Friday, Sept. 27 in what will be the club’s second-last home game of the regular season. Winnipeg has enjoyed unseasonably warm weather the past few weeks and that trend appears set to continue into next week with a forecasted high of 23 degrees.
The Blue Bombers now hold a two-point lead in the West Division standings with the season series against B.C. and Saskatchewan already secured. The season series against Edmonton will be determined next week as the Elks can still claim it with a win of 14 points or more.
