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Blue Bombers spoil Nathan Rourke’s return, win season series over B.C. Lions (& 10 other thoughts)

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the B.C. Lions by a score of 20-11 in front of 30,803 fans at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Dominant defence

Winnipeg’s defence had a performance for the ages when B.C. visited Princess Auto Stadium on Aug. 1, allowing zero points, 102 yards of net offence, and four first downs.

The Lions had a new quarterback under centre on Sunday as Nathan Rourke returned to his old team following a two-year excursion to the NFL, but the results were largely unchanged from two weeks ago.

At halftime, the Lions had zero points, 119 yards of net offence, and eight first downs. William Stanback accounted for 84 of those yards as Rourke struggled badly, completing five-of-fifteen pass attempts for 47 yards and two interceptions.

The first pick came early in the second quarter when Deatrick Nichols jumped a bang route intended for Alexander Hollins. The second, which was initially returned for a touchdown, was made by Tyrell Ford in the dying moments of the first half, though a holding penalty on linebacker Tony Jones negated the score. Winnipeg ended up having to settle for a 38-yard field goal from Sergio Castillo right before halftime.

B.C. finally got on the board on a 23-yard field goal from Sean Whyte early in the fourth quarter, ending Winnipeg’s defensive shutout streak at seven quarters — nine, if you don’t count Toronto’s overtime field goal from Week 8.

The Lions finished the game with 11 points, 303 yards of net offence, and 20 first downs. It should be noted that eight of those points came in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter after Nathan Rourke had been pulled in favour of rookie quarterback Chase Brice. Rourke’s statline was awful to end the night, completing 8-of-25 pass attempts for 126 yards and two interceptions. He also ran the ball four times for 27 yards.

A big part of Winnipeg’s defensive surge has come from Willie Jefferson, who has refound his form as one of the league’s best edge rushers. He finished the game with only one sack but helped flush Rourke from the pocket multiple times.

Celestin Haba returned to the lineup after missing seven games due to injury and defensive coordinator Jordan Younger used him often on passing downs, moving TyJuan Garbutt or Willie Jefferson inside to get three defensive ends on the field. Garbutt sacked Rourke in the fourth quarter after Jamal Woods was unable to corral the mobile passer, while Haba came close to a cleanup sack on the first play of the fourth quarter, though Rourke managed to reach to the line of scrimmage for no gain.

The Blue Bombers have arguably had the league’s best secondary all season. Now that the front is starting to generate pressure with some consistency, the defence as a whole has become arguably the best in the CFL, as evidenced by their eye-popping numbers.

The Law man

Kenny Lawler made his much-anticipated return to the lineup on Sunday night after missing eight games due to a fractured arm, catching four passes for 54 yards.

The two-time all-star drew man coverage on a corner route from Adrian Greene on Winnipeg’s first drive but the play was defended perfectly by the Toronto native, who knocked the ball away. Three plays later, Lawler was wide open over the middle of the field with Greene in chase and secured a 34-yard gain to set up a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nic Demski.

Lawler had a chance to get into the end zone in the dying seconds of the second quarter working one-on-one on Garry Peters, who is arguably the best cornerback in the CFL. The receiver timed his jump well and got inside position but wasn’t able to bring the ball down, leading to a 38-yard field goal from Sergio Castillo.

The 30-year-old also made a major gaffe near the end of the second quarter as he was ruled offside, negating a third-down conversion deep in Winnipeg territory. The penalty moved the ball back to the 24-yard line, where Jamieson Sheahan hit a 51-yard punt.

Winnipeg clearly planned to attack Greene early and often as he was playing out of position at field-side halfback. He got crushed by Demski near the sideline late in the first quarter, then made a nice tip on the following play, almost causing an interception. He was also in coverage on the first-quarter touchdown to Demski.

Some of Kenny Lawler’s best games have taken place against B.C., including a 205-yard performance in 2021 and a 200-yard effort last season. This performance wasn’t on par with some of his previous ones but it was a nice step to him returning to form.

Season series

The impact of Sunday’s game on the West Division standings can’t be understated as the Blue Bombers now hold the season series against B.C. and trail them by only two points. Had Winnipeg lost this matchup, they would have been six points behind the Lions without the tiebreaker, making it almost impossible for them to host the West Final for a fourth straight year.

The Blue Bombers should send flowers to the CFL’s schedule-makers as their third and final meeting of the regular season against B.C. couldn’t have come at a better time. Though it remains to be seen if Nathan Rourke will return to his form from 2022, there’s no doubt he’s going to improve as he shakes off rust. Getting to play him in his first game back seems like a coup for Winnipeg.

Winnipeg now sits three points out of first place and, if the season were to end today, they would finish third in the West Division by virtue of winning the season series against the Stampeders, who have a matching 4-6 record. Given how badly the Blue Bombers started the season, they have to feel happy with where they currently are.

The challenge

B.C. running back William Stanback fumbled late in the third quarter as he was wrapped up by defensive tackle Jake Thomas, though he was initially ruled down by contact. Head coach Mike O’Shea challenged the ruling on the field but was allowed to withdraw his flag when the command centre determined that the fumble was recovered by B.C.

The CFL’s command centre has recently come under fire for some questionable calls and I wrote a column this past week about why the league should greatly reduce its use of video replay. This play was a great example of what I tried to illustrate in my article: oftentimes, the calls, even when imperfect, are within the spirit of the rules enough that they’re not worth poring over in ultra-slow motion for minutes at a time, creating unnecessary delays that seem to leave most fans feeling unhappy anyway.

Stanback probably fumbled — though it was close — and the Lions recovered. Simple. Move on and keep the game flowing.

Return policy

Lucky Whitehead took over Kody Case’s job in the return game and produced essentially the same results, bringing back seven punts for 65 yards. He showed signs of rust early on as he dropped his first punt return of the game but didn’t make any errors from there.

The veteran receiver also remained active on offence despite not being in the starting lineup, making four catches for 39 yards, most of which came after the catch.

Blindside blunder

Winnipeg’s pass protection has been inconsistent all season, though future first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee Stanley Bryant has generally played very well. On Sunday, he had arguably his worst rep of the season when he was beaten on a speed move to the outside by Sione Teuhema. Teuhema got home for two sacks in the first quarter, using a similar outside move to beat rookie Gabe Wallace, who was in at tight end off the right side.

Bryant also tripped Chris Streveler early in the third quarter on third-and-one, resulting in a turnover on downs. The trip was obviously incidental, though Bryant failed to generate any push off the left side, which may have been why Streveler didn’t better anticipate having to leap over the veteran’s outstretched leg.

The Blue Bombers routinely had extra offensive linemen in to help block, which paid off down the stretch as Zach Collaros had more time to operate for most of the final three quarters. He finished the game 23-of-31 for 288 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

The offensive line, which featured rookie offensive lineman Kendall Randolph making his second career start at right guard, opened plenty of holes in the run game, allowing Brady Oliveira to rush for 78 yards on 10 carries and Streveler to get home on a one-yard touchdown plunge.

The doink

After an incredible six-for-six performance two weeks ago, which included a field goal from 60 yards out, Sergio Castillo missed a 42-yard attempt early in the second quarter, squandering a scoring opportunity created by an interception from Deatrick Nichols. The kick doinked off the upright, rendering the play dead.

The veteran placekicker finished two-for-three on the night but, regardless, the field goal could have been costly had B.C.’s offence shown more signs of life.

Walking wounded

Adam Bighill suffered what appeared to be a non-contact hamstring injury early in the second quarter and didn’t return. Shayne Gauthier entered the game in his place at middle linebacker and made three tackles and one forced fumble. He even did his best Bighill impression on short yardage, leaping over the pile to try to stop fullback David Mackie, who goes under centre for B.C. in those situations.

Nic Demski left the game late in the third quarter after making a catch-and-run deep in B.C. territory but returned not long after. He was Winnipeg’s leading receiver on the night, making six catches for 109 yards and one touchdown.

Century mark

Head coach Mike O’Shea now has 100 career wins as a CFL head coach, becoming only the eleventh person to reach that milestone. The late Bud Grant, who remains Winnipeg’s franchise leader, won 102 games as a head coach, leaving him well within striking distance for O’Shea before the 2024 season comes to a close.

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-6) will host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-8) on Friday, Aug. 23 in what will be the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Tabbies are coming off a humiliating 47-22 loss to the Edmonton Elks on Saturday during which they committed four turnovers and lost newly-minted starting quarterback Taylor Powell to a head injury.

The matchup will mark Hamilton’s first trip to Princess Auto Stadium since Week 1 of last year, a game Winnipeg led 29-4 at halftime and won by a final score of 42-31. Chris Jones, who was recently fired as the head coach of the Edmonton Elks, has reportedly been hired as Hamilton’s defensive coordinator, so stay tuned to 3DownNation for all the latest news.

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John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.

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