12 thoughts on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers improving to 3-0 with win over Edmonton Elks

By
John Hodge
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Photo: Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Edmonton Elks by a score of 36-23 in front of 32,343 fans at Princess Auto Stadium on Thursday night. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Dropping dimes

After a middling debut last week, Zach Collaros was dominant on Thursday night. The veteran passer completed 25-of-30 pass attempts for 334 yards and three touchdowns and recorded another score along the ground.

After hitting Nic Demski for an early eight-yard touchdown, Collaros threw his second score to Keric Wheatfall, who is quickly establishing himself as a top deep threat in the CFL. The second-year receiver caught a beautiful 52-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter and flashed his hands late to make it happen.

Defensive back Devodric Bynum was in perfect trail position but Wheatfall waited until the last possible second to flash his hands. As a result, Bynum was late getting his arm up and fell down, allowing the receiver to stroll into the end zone.

On Winnipeg’s next possession, Collaros found Demski one-on-one with strong-side linebacker Chelen Garnes, who made his first career CFL start. The veteran receiver made a late adjustment to the ball, slowing his momentum slightly, before charging through the defender en route to the end zone for a 60-yard score.

Collaros and Demski almost connected for a third touchdown in the fourth quarter as the receiver corralled the ball at the goal line surrounded by three defenders. Bynum, who was positioned behind Demski, got a hand in to break-up the pass, which led to a field goal from Sergio Castillo two plays later.

“(Offensive coordinator Jason Hogan) has given us some opportunities, he really has and that’s all we can ask for,” said Collaros postgame. “I tell him all time, ‘Just trust us, we’re gonna make it right,’ and I thought he did a really good job of mixing things up tonight — throwing the ball to different personnel, as well as running the football and calling smart runs throughout the game.”

The veteran quarterback put the ball at risk only once as a deep shot intended for Jerreth Sterns hung up in the air and was almost picked off by Royce Metchie. It wouldn’t have mattered if the veteran defensive back snagged it, however, as Jonathan Kongbo — a former first-round pick of the Blue Bombers — was flagged for roughing the passer, negating the play.

Collaros saved his best for last as he scampered for a 13-yard touchdown with only five minutes left to ice the game. Facing a six-man blitz, the 36-year-old turned back the clock by sidestepping multiple oncoming rushers and dodging Nyles Morgan, the linebacker who appeared to be spying him, to reach the end zone.

“I’ve done (scrambles like that) many times, but it’s just been a long time,” said Collaros. “I don’t know if I made somebody miss or not — I kind of got through the first layer the defence … and (Morgan) was just kind of out of place. … By the time I got the second level (of the defence) I was like, ‘I think I can score here.'”

“The man is a sneaky athlete,” said offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld. “He still likes to brag about being drafted in Major League Baseball all those years ago, so he still talks about the good old days. We trust him with his legs and what a play.”

“(Collaros) balled today,” said Edmonton quarterback Tre Ford. “I think he threw for like 350 (yards) or something and he had that rushing touchdown. He’s getting a little bit older, but he can still move. A veteran quarterback, he did a great job tonight.”

Collaros celebrated the score by firing the ball into the stands, which could cost him $500 — a rule that’s in place to protect the CFL’s expensive microchipped footballs. For a highlight like that, the throw was probably worth the money. When reminded about the possible impending fine after the game, Collaros clearly forgot he wasn’t supposed to throw the ball into the crowd.

“Oh, they do (fine you). Damn,” said Collaros, remembering the rule. “They never used to. That was our thing in the past — we threw a lot of footballs in the crowd. In Hamilton, I used to try to throw it out of the stadium. The bell there — that little steam whistle — I used to try to always hit that.”

Then again, a Genius Sports representative indicated to 3DownNation after the game that they were able to recover the football, so the veteran’s wallet might be spared.

For those keeping score, Collaros has now thrown for 766 yards and nine touchdowns over his last two games against Edmonton. Meanwhile, Demski has four touchdowns in three games so far this season. Unbelievable.

Inconsistent defence

It was an uncharacteristically inconsistent performance from Winnipeg’s defence, which tightened up when it mattered most late in the game.

Edmonton quarterback Tre Ford took advantage of a bust in coverage early in the third quarter, hitting Kaion Julien-Grant for a 68-yard touchdown. The former second-round draft pick out of St. Francis Xavier University would have had two touchdowns on the night but he dropped one right before halftime.

“It was just miscommunication,” said defensive back Evan Holm. “We’ve gotta make sure we’re on the same page about things, that’s really all it was — it wasn’t a great concept by them, just miscommunication (by us). We all were on one guy, so that’s all it came down to was miscommunication. We gave them a free one, which you can’t do. It gave them momentum back in the game.”

Ford can be extremely dangerous when he flees the pocket and the Blue Bombers did a good job containing him with linebackers Tony Jones and Kyrie Wilson both recording sacks. Willie Jefferson also got home for a late sack after beating left tackle Martez Ivey off the edge, doing an impressive job of corralling Ford.

“We’ve got vets on the team that have played him before and we kind of know what he likes to do as a runner,” said defensive lineman James Vaughters. “On a short week, all we could do is try to get our legs back and plan for the things that he likes to do: rolling out to his right, losing ground to gain ground, losing ground to throw to open receivers. We had to use our instincts, our knowledge, and do the best we could to contain him.”

The native of Niagara Falls, Ont. beat Winnipeg with his arm at times, finishing the night 18-of-29 for 252 yards and one score. Edmonton also ran the ball relatively well as Javon Leake and Justin Rankin combined for 72 yards on 12 carries.

It was far from a bad defensive performance from the Blue Bombers but Jordan Younger’s unit has set the bar sky-high. Clearly, there are still some details to clean up.

Running nowhere

The Elks completely shut down Winnipeg’s rushing attack until the fourth quarter, swarming the ball-carrier regardless of who was in the backfield. Matthew Peterson finished the night with 12 carries for 65 yards, 57 of which came in the fourth quarter.

Quinton Cooley’s best play came midway through the third quarter when he picked up 12 yards on a draw, which doubled Winnipeg’s rushing yardage at the time. The effort was wasted on the next play, however, as defensive tackle Jake Ceresna shot the gap to tackle Nic Demski for a six-yard loss, forcing the Blue Bombers to punt.

“Hats off to them — they played a great game, especially on defence. They stifled us in the run but Zach and the receivers played awesome. I thought we protected fairly well, but ultimately I’m just happy we got the W,” said offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld. “I don’t know (what made the run game so successful in the fourth quarter). If I had an answer, we would have done it earlier. I don’t know. It just was working for us.”

It wasn’t necessarily a bad night for Winnipeg’s offensive line as the unit kept Edmonton’s high-priced defensive line mostly at bay. Jake Ceresna beat left tackle Stanley Bryant to sack Zach Collaros in the third quarter, though it was arguably a coverage sack as the quarterback had plenty of time to throw. The Elks have now recorded only two sacks over their first three games to rank dead-last in the CFL.

Regardless, with the timeline for Brady Oliveira’s return unclear, the Blue Bombers have to find a way to get their ground game going. It was spectacular in their first game, average in their second, and was poor on Thursday night.

No picks

Winnipeg defensive back Evan Holm was flagged for incidental pass interference midway through the third quarter, negating his interception on the play. Edmonton receiver Kaion Julien-Grant ran a corner route and lost his footing while the ball was in the air, allowing Holm to catch it uncontested.

“In this league, if he falls, it’s probably a penalty, so that’s what we err on the side of,” said Holm. “If a defensive player falls, it’s nothing. When an offensive player falls, it’s (pass interference). I didn’t really need to even be near him a little bit — I could have played the ball later, so I could be maybe a yard off. It’s how this league is, so I gotta know that.”

Incidental pass interference is most often called when a receiver is accidentally tripped by a defensive back. Watching the replay back, it didn’t look like Holm made any contact with Julien-Grant’s lower body — the receiver appeared to trip over his own feet.

“I don’t know that you can win that one (if you challenge the call),” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “I don’t think Evan Holm even touched him. Evan says he didn’t really touch him, but he also said, ‘We’re not winning that challenge, coach.’ He liked that we didn’t (challenge). Evan’s so good and so clean in his coverage, I don’t know that he touched him. It looked like the receiver might have tripped himself, like stubbed his toe. Evan had his hand out, but I don’t think he pushed him.”

Later in the quarter, Terrell Bonds jumped a quick pass intended for Zach Mathis and picked it off. It was a heck of a play, especially considering Bonds dropped a would-be pick-six last week against the B.C. Lions.

Upon review, however, it was determined that Bonds didn’t secure the ball as he fell to the turf, negating the interception. The replay clearly showed that the ball made contact with the turf, so ruling it an incompletion was the correct call.

Bailing out the rookie

Rookie returner Trey Vaval made the first critical error of his career on Thursday night, muffing a would-be punt return midway through the second quarter before taking a hellacious shot from defensive back Leonard Johnson. D.K. Bonhomme recovered the loose ball for Edmonton, giving the Elks possession in Winnipeg territory.

Two plays later, Tre Ford had Steven Dunbar Jr. wide open for a touchdown on a post route but didn’t see him, throwing it instead to running back Justin Rankin. Redha Kramdi punched the ball out, which was recovered by James Vaughters to give the Blue Bombers a first down.

Football is the ultimate team sport and every player needs to be bailed out eventually — especially rookies. Kramdi and Vaughters bailed Vaval out on Thursday.

It wasn’t all bad for the rookie returner, however, as he notched a 36-yard kickoff return early before a 25-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter. It’s starting to feel inevitable that Vaval is going to break one for a score sometime soon.

No-al line stand

Winnipeg momentarily appeared to stuff Cody Fajardo on a quarterback sneak midway through the first quarter. Michael Ayers initially met the veteran quarterback at the goal line before strong-side linebacker Redha Kramdi pushed him back over the line of scrimmage, setting up third down.

After review, however, it was determined that Fajardo had briefly thrust the ball over the goal line for a touchdown to open the scoring. Given the nature of the play, it’s almost impossible to overturn calls near the goal line — there are simply too many bodies cluttering the path for cameras to get a clear shot of the football. This was one of the rare instances in which there was a clear shot.

Under cover

Winnipeg’s coverage units had a bit of a rough night, losing contain on Javon Leake early in the third quarter. Jamieson Sheahan punted the ball only 42 yards but Leake picked up 30 on the return, crossing the field until Sheahan pushed him out of bounds.

Entering this week, the Blue Bombers ranked eight league-wide in net punt average at 36.8 yards despite solid coverage downfield in their first two games. It’s clear that Winnipeg asks Sheahan to prioritize the placement of the ball instead of merely maximizing yardage, which is fine so long as the coverage units are stingy. This week, they weren’t stingy enough.

Sophomore streak

There are plenty of second-year players who have shown dramatic year-over-year improvement for the Blue Bombers — Keric Wheatfall, Gabe Wallace, Marquise Bridges, Kendall Randolph, and Devin Adams would all be among them — but fullback Michael Chris-Ike deserves a mention as well.

The former second-round pick out of Delaware State had another incredible special teams tackle, crushing Arkell Smith for an 11-yard return early in the second quarter. He’s also becoming more involved in the pass game, catching one pass for five yards, and looks much more refined as a run blocker. Chris-Ike also would have had his first career touchdown last week had it not been called back on a phantom holding penalty.

Utter dominance

The Blue Bombers have now won 13 straight regular-season games against the Edmonton Elks and even covered the 10.5-point spread in doing so this week.

The last time Edmonton beat Winnipeg was Nov. 3, 2018. The team had a different name and there were still 30,000 fans coming consistently to Commonwealth Stadium. How times have changed.

Sold out

It was another full house at Princess Auto Stadium, bringing Winnipeg’s consecutive sell-out streak to seven dating back to last year.

After leading the league in attendance for the last three seasons, the Blue Bombers will almost surely do so again in 2025. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if the team broke last year’s average regular-season attendance record of 31,196.

A note to the thousands of fans who did the wave late in the fourth quarter: enthusiasm’s great, but there’s a reason Zach Collaros was trying to quiet the crowd — the offence needs to be able to communicate effectively. Next time, save the wave for when Winnipeg’s on defence.

Team Ted

Winnipeg’s coaching staff sported “Team Ted” t-shirts during Thursday’s game in honour of Ted Goveia, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The native of Burlington, Ont. served as an assistant general manager with the Blue Bombers for eleven years before becoming the general manager of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this offseason.

The Blue Bombers are the third team to sport such t-shirts, joining the Tiger-Cats and B.C. Lions. Here’s hoping the rest of the CFL’s six teams follow suit.

Mike O’Shea, who sported one of the t-shirts, has a history with Goveia that dates back even before their time together in Winnipeg, winning a Grey Cup together with the Argonauts in 2012.

“We worked together for over 15 years,” said O’Shea. “I love the guy.”

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3-0) will visit the Calgary Stampeders (2-1) at McMahon Stadium on Thursday, July 3 with kickoff slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT. The Stampeders are currently on a bye after losing 20-12 to the Ottawa Redblacks in a rain-soaked snoozer last week, which saw them lose the turnover battle 5-0.

The Blue Bombers split their two meetings against Calgary last season, losing 22-19 in overtime on the road in Week 4 before winning 41-37 at home in Week 6.

John Hodge
John Hodge

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