Winnipeg Blue Bombers get run over by Edmonton Elks (& 10 other thoughts)

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost to the Edmonton Elks by a score of 35-27 in front of 22,492 fans at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday night. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Turnover trouble

Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros played well on Friday night, though his performance was marred by two ugly interceptions.

The 38-year-old threw a bad pick early in the second quarter, as he stared down Dorian Singer and didn’t seem to notice Kenny Logan Jr. working over in coverage. The pick occurred deep in Winnipeg territory, giving the Elks great field position.

In the second half, Collaros had Nic Demski open over the middle of the field but threw off his back foot because of the oncoming pressure. The ball floated in the air and landed in the waiting hands of linebacker Nick Anderson.

The interceptions were a real shame, as Collaros was otherwise brilliant. He hit Nic Demski and Ontaria Wilson for scores, and finished the game 28-of-33 for 331 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

This team’s passing attack has been anemic for most of the season, but it seems to have finally hit its stride since Collaros returned from injury. The veteran quarterback has had tremendous respect for offensive coordinator Tommy Condell since their time together in Hamilton. He’s a pass-oriented coach, and the passing game is finally working.

However, it’s tough to overcome giveaways. When a team loses the turnover battle 2-0, it almost always loses the game.

Winnipeg lost the turnover battle 2-0 last week but still managed to beat the Calgary Stampeders, thanks in part to a return touchdown from Trey Vaval. The Blue Bombers struggled on special teams this week — more on that in a moment — and lost.

It was another quiet game for Brady Oliveira, whose production has taken a nosedive since this team remembered how to throw the football. He carried the ball nine times for 37 yards.

If this team makes the playoffs — again, more on that in a moment — they’re going to have to find a way to become more balances on offence.

Losing steam

Last week, Winnipeg’s defence was all about keeping Vernon Adams Jr. in the pocket. This week, the unit didn’t seem to care about containing Cody Fajardo.

Looking at the results, it’s hard to argue with the strategy. Fajardo rushed for 72 yards but managed only 120 yards through the air. He threw two touchdown passes, sure, though both came as a result of excellent field position.

When the Elks were forced to scrimmage in their own territory, they struggled to move the ball — until late, anyway.

Winnipeg’s defence faltered when it mattered most, giving up two long, run-heavy scoring drives in the fourth quarter. The killer was a 13-play, 95-yard drive that chewed up over five minutes of clock, and eventually made it a two-score game. Justin Rankin carried the ball on eight consecutive plays for 53 yards.

The Blue Bombers looked exhausted and dispirited. They couldn’t stop Rankin, and they knew it.

Next year, this team needs to get better at middle linebacker, and do a better job of containing Rankin between the tackles. When he bounces zone reads outside, he’s extremely tough to bring down.

The defence also took two penalties in close succession in the third quarter, which led to an Elks touchdown.

Trey Vaval was flagged for pass interference on a key second down to keep Edmonton’s drive alive. It seemed like a questionable call, as the pass intended for Austin Mack didn’t appear catchable, but Winnipeg elected not to challenge.

On the next play, Cameron Lawson was charged with face masking on Justin Rankin, giving the Elks a first down instead of forcing them to convert on second-and-seven.

Two plays later, Edmonton was in the end zone.

Winnipeg has been the CFL’s least-penalized team for many years now. That trend seems ready to end in 2026, as the Blue Bombers took nine penalties for 101 yards in Edmonton, making this their second-most penalized game of the year.

Unspecial teams

Winnipeg has had the CFL’s best special teams all season long, but they had a bad night in Edmonton and it arguably cost them the game.

The kickoff team gave up a huge return just before halftime. Montrell Washington found a seam and exploited it for 65 yards, giving his team a chance to score with under a minute left in the half.

The play proved costly. Edmonton’s offence needed only four plays to generate 27 yards and a touchdown, which came on a third-down gamble when Cody Fajardo found Austin Mack open along the sideline on an out-and-up.

There was another costly special teams error late in the third quarter when Nick Hallett — who was incorrectly identified by the officials as Evan Holm — was called for clipping. The infraction backed up Winnipeg’s offence to their own 14-yard line.

Sergio Castillo also missed two field goals, which was costly given the tight nature of the game. The first miss came from 57 yards out early in the first half, while the second came from a distance of 55 yards early in the fourth quarter.

It’s tough to be too critical of Castillo — he’s been great for most of the season, and both misses came from significant distance. He also made a 53-yard field goal late to make it a one-score game. Even so, those are the types of kicks you need to make in arguably the biggest game of the year.

Playoff picture

As a result of Friday’s loss, the Blue Bombers have still not clinched a playoff spot nor been eliminated from postseason contention.

Winnipeg can earn a playoff berth on Saturday if the Calgary Stampeders lose to the B.C. Lions. If the Stampeders win, things will get a whole heck of a lot more interesting as we head into Week 21.

The full playoff picture will depend partly on what the Saskatchewan Roughriders do against the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, but suffice to say: it’d be in the best interest of Winnipeg to win next week’s game regardless of what everyone else does. A victory next week would still guarantee a playoff spot.

That’s so Fletch

Michael Fletcher continues to improve late into the season, snuffing out a third-quarter Edmonton drive with a sack. On the play, he blasted through Carter O’Donnell — who is widely viewed as one of the CFL’s best interior offensive linemen — to envelop Cody Fajardo.

The six-foot-five, 271-pound defender now has six sacks on the season, including one in each of the past three games.

Willie Jefferson blew a chance to record an easy sack in the fourth quarter, as he came free on a blitz but was unable to wrap-up Cody Fajardo. After a hot start to the season, he has now gone nine games without a sack.

If it weren’t for the emergence of Major Williams, Fletcher would be a great candidate for Most Outstanding Rookie. I didn’t get a vote for Winnipeg’s team awards, but ballots went out earlier this week.

Here’s who I would have picked: Brady Oliveira, Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian; Major Williams, Most Outstanding Defensive Player and Most Outstanding Rookie; Trey Vaval, Most Outstanding Special Teams Player; Jarell Broxton, Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman.

Of those players, Vaval should be the front-runner to get the nod out of the West Division, while Williams has a chance at Most Outstanding Rookie.

Near disaster

Edmonton kicked short near the start of the second quarter following a touchdown from ShunDerrick Powell, leaving Thiadric Hansen to make the return. Hansen, a career special teams player and rotational defensive end, doesn’t have much experience fielding kickoffs and it showed.

The veteran muffed the initial catch, dropped the ball a second time, and barely managed to pounce on it before he was swarmed by Elks. The play nearly resulted in a turnover, as Winnipeg was forced to scrimmage at its 32-yard line.

This will be something to watch moving forward. Trey Vaval has been great all season long, and ranks first in kickoff return average league-wide (min. 25 attempts).

If Winnipeg makes the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if opponents elected to kick short as a way to take Vaval out of the game, and force others to field the ball, leading to a possible turnover.

Milestones

Tim White made three catches for 61 yards to surpass 1,000 yards on the season, becoming the first Winnipeg receiver to do so this year. He also had a drop.

The 32-year-old has now recorded five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons dating back to his time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He’s been a solid addition to a receiving room that’s currently playing its best football.

With that said, Ontaria Wilson was Winnipeg’s best receiver on the night. He finished the game with 11 receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown. He now has 991 yards on the season, which means he should hit the 1,000-yard mark next week.

Simple mistake

Tyler Elsbury was recently demoted from the starting lineup, yet he still managed to draw attention to himself for all the wrong reasons.

Near the start of the second quarter, the Blue Bombers gambled on third-and-one near midfield. It looked like Bryce Perkins picked up enough yardage for the first down, though Elsbury was flagged for lining up offside. Upon replay, his hands were clearly in the neutral zone.

In short yardage, linemen have two jobs: don’t line-up offside, and don’t move until the ball is snapped. It’s a simple task, but Elsbury messed it up. It was a costly mistake, as Winnipeg was forced to punt.

Who could have predicted?

I can’t believe I’m writing this: it pained me to switch my feed over from Toronto-Ottawa to Winnipeg-Edmonton on Friday night.

This week’s game in the nation’s capital meant nothing in the standings. The Argonauts are locked into second place in the East Division, and the Redblacks have long-since been eliminated from postseason contention. The contest had all the makings of a stinker.

However, the two teams battled until the final whistle as two — yes, two — touchdowns were scored in the final 33 seconds of the game. Ottawa eventually won 40-39 to snap their 22-game losing streak, which dated back to 2025.

If you tuned in for the very start of the Winnipeg-Edmonton game, you missed the end of the Toronto-Ottawa game, as the broadcasts overlapped by close to 30 minutes. The Winnipeg-Edmonton game turned out to be good, but the first one was better.

The CFL is often heralded as one of the least predictable leagues in all of professional sports. This was a perfect example of that — given the difference in stakes between the two matchups, I don’t think anyone would have predicted Toronto-Ottawa would have been Friday night’s must-see game.

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-9) will finish their regular-season against the B.C. Lions (10-6) on Friday, October 23. The Lions have a game between now and then, as they’re scheduled to visit the Calgary Stampeders (8-9) on Saturday evening.

As a result of Edmonton’s win, B.C. is now officially locked into second place in the West Division. As such, the club may choose to rest regular starters next week as they prepare for the West Semi-Final.

When the Lions and Blue Bombers met at Princess Auto Stadium in July, the matchup resulted in one of the most shocking games of the 2026 season.

Rookie quarterback Kaidon Salter started in place of an injured Nathan Rourke and led a dominant rushing attack, as he and Zander Horvath combined for 27 carries for 251 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-19 upset win.

Considering how badly Winnipeg’s run defence played against B.C. in July and against Edmonton on Friday night, they’ve got plenty of work to do between now and then.