Winnipeg Blue Bombers pluck right strings in Banjo Bowl win (& 11 other thoughts)

Samantha Keen/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders by a score of 19-6 in front of 32,343 fans at Princess Auto Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Seeing Red-ha

Winnipeg’s defence had one of its best performances of the season on Saturday, which came in part to the stellar play of veteran defensive back Redha Kramdi. This was his first game back from injury, and he provided a noticeable boost.

Midway through the first quarter, the 29-year-old punched the ball loose from D’Sean Mimbs, and Evan Holm recovered for the takeaway.

Three quarters later, Kramdi struck again.

Trevor Harris threw a pass into traffic, and Jake Kelly tipped it into his teammate’s awaiting arms. Kramdi gobbled it up and returned it for eight yards to snuff out Saskatchewan’s drive.

The Roughriders recorded only six points and 278 yards of net offence. Winnipeg’s defence tackled well, played physically, and contested several catches.

Deatrick Nichols generated a takeaway with a forced fumble, while Jake Ceresna recorded a sack and Evan Holm led the game with three pass knockdowns.

Ridge Texada got picked on at times during his second career start, but also made a nice play to break up a would-be touchdown pass in the third quarter.

Kramdi is the leader of Winnipeg’s defence. He knows the game well enough that he’s essentially an extra coach, and it won’t be long before he’s coaching professionally.

If the Blue Bombers are going to compete for the Grey Cup, their defence will have to get them there. It was only one game, but the unit looked like a championship defence in the Banjo Bowl.

Poor protection

The Banjo Bowl always requires protection, whether for one’s ears or one’s quarterback.

Winnipeg’s offence had a solid day overall, but they certainly didn’t do a good job of protecting their passers. Zach Collaros was sacked four times, then Dru Brown was sacked once in relief.

The first sack came after Brady Oliveira whiffed on a block, and Seyi Oladipo Jr. got home for the tackle. It was a rare mistake from the talented tailback.

The second sack occurred when Caleb Sanders rushed the A-gap unblocked between Tyler Elsbury and Gabe Wallace. Oliveira was on the other side of the formation, so this appeared to be Wallace’s mistake.

Mike Rose got home for the third sack. I didn’t catch the replay, so I’ll have to update this portion of the article once I get another look at it.

The fourth sack came after Stanley Bryant was beaten one-on-one by James Vaughters. Heading into this week, Pro Football Focus credited Bryant with eight sacks allowed, which was the most in the CFL. He’s now allowed nine.

The fifth sack was a coverage sack, as Brown spent too long surveying the field and was brought down by Ali Saad while trying to escape the pocket.

Collaros finished the game 13-of-19 for 175 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions (more on those in a moment). He left the game near the midway point of the third quarter after helping make the tackle following his second interception. He did not return.

This marks the third consecutive year in which Collaros was forced to leave the Labour Day Classic or the Banjo Bowl due to injury.

Making history

Brady Oliveira rushed 14 times for 100 yards on Saturday to surpass 1,000 yards on the season. He is now the first Canadian player in CFL history to record five consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

It’s a pretty remarkable accomplishment considering some of the players who came before him — Jon Cornish, Normie Kwong, Andrew Harris, Sean Millington, and Jerome Messam, among others.

The 29-year-old’s best carry came early in the third quarter. Winnipeg ran a draw on second-and-five, but a defender got immediate penetration. Oliveira was forced to stop his momentum well before the line of scrimmage, but spun off the would-be tackler to pick up 14 yards and a first down.

Brrrrrrrrrr

Growing up, I was taught that every football fan needs two jerseys: one that fits properly, and one that’s a few sizes too big, so it can be worn over a hoodie or parka.

This year’s Banjo Bowl was definitely a big jersey game.

It was 13 degrees at kickoff, feeling like 10, with a cold northwest wind gusting to 50 kilometres. Princess Auto Stadium shields the field from the wind well, but the walk from the parking lot to the press box was awful.

It didn’t look like the wind affected the game very much, save for a management decision from head coach Mike O’Shea.

Winnipeg kicked off to start Saturday’s game, then kicked off again after halftime. This was presumably done because of O’Shea’s desire to have the wind in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for the Blue Bombers, Sergio Castillo made a rare mistake when he booted the second-half kickoff out of bounds, giving the Roughriders possession at their 50-yard line.

Chuckin’ picks

It’s funny how things work out sometimes.

In the first quarter, Zach Collaros threw a nice pass to Nic Demski, but Nelson Lokombo timed his hit perfectly to pop the ball into the air. Aubrey Miller Jr. snagged the pigskin and returned it 19 yards, resulting in the first turnover of the game.

In the second quarter, Collaros looked deep for Demski, but the ball was underthrown and hit Seyi Oladipo Jr. in the hands. The rookie defender should have made the easy interception but let the ball fall to the turf for an incompletion.

Collaros was great on the first play, which resulted in a turnover. He was bad on the second, but there was no harm done.

Oladipo Jr.’s drop proved costly for Saskatchewan, as Collaros hit Demski for 42 yards, then Tommy Nield for 30 yards and a touchdown. Through his first eight starts this season, Collaros managed only three completions of 30-plus yards. In the Banjo Bowl, he got two in as many plays.

Things took a turn in the third quarter when Oladipo Jr. got his revenge. The rookie defender broke off his coverage on Dorian Singer to sit perfectly in front of the intended receiver and intercept Collaros.

Playoff picture

With the win, the Blue Bombers now sit third in the West Division standings at 7-6, though the B.C. Lions will have a chance to surpass them against the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday evening.

The Blue Bombers also now sit only two points back of Saskatchewan for second place. They’ve won the head-to-head season series by virtue of the point differential, which will prove huge if the teams finish the regular season with the same record.

There’s still a lot of work to be done if this team wants to host a playoff game, but Saturday’s win has kept those hopes alive.

Getting sloppy

There are a lot of drawbacks about the growing prominence of generative A.I. in our society, and one of them is how lame it’s made online smack talk.

As recently as a few years ago, fans had to get creative to poke fun at a rival fan base. If you wanted to garner attention, you had to come up with a clever joke, snap a great photo, or make a funny sign.

Over the last couple of weeks, almost every social media barb I’ve seen has been A.I. slop — a ChatGPT rendering of players and fans crying like babies or bribing officials, that kind of stuff.

In some of the memes, the people are wearing green and white. In others, they’re wearing blue and gold. Either way, the images all end up looking the same: lame.

I probably sound like an old man yelling at clouds, but I miss seeing funny online posts that took a little effort to make. They were way better than A.I. slop.

Jaws

Matt Jaworski made his season debut after rejoining the Blue Bombers last month.

The 23-year-old showed promise late last year, but his career was momentarily put on hold after he was involved in a serious car accident during the offseason.

The Fordham University product didn’t make the box score, but he made an immediate impact on special teams. Jaworski blew up Thomas Bertrand-Hudon on the game’s opening kickoff, then came close to blocking Oscar Chapman’s first punt on the ensuing drive.

Getting hitched

Two Winnipeg fans got engaged during a television timeout in the second quarter.

She was dressed in a Blue Bombers quarter-zip, while he donned a Blue Bombers jersey. The number? 13. The nameplate? “Sask Sucks.”

You can’t make this stuff up.

Congratulations to the happy couple.

RIP

Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of Ted Goveia’s death. Having four CFL games, eight U Sports games, and seven CJFL games to mark the occasion was only fitting. Canadian football was Goveia’s life, and he would have loved this.

Last year, I wrote about Goveia’s passing after speaking to over a half-dozen of people closest to him, including his fiancée, Jennifer Martin. You can find the article here.

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-6) are heading into their third of three bye weeks. The team is always coy about injuries, but you have to wonder if any players from the six-game injured list could be ready to return when practices resume in a little over a week.

Winnipeg’s next game will be played at home against the Toronto Argonauts (7-6) on Friday, September 25. The Boatmen will play a game between now and then, as they’re set to host the Edmonton Elks at BMO Field next week.

The Blue Bombers and Argonauts have already played once this season, when Winnipeg came away with a 31-20 win in Week 6. Dru Brown started in place of Zach Collaros and threw for 339 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the victory, while Chad Kelly threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort.