Winnipeg Blue Bombers bully Hamilton Tiger-Cats to clinch home playoff game (& nine other thoughts)

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats by a score of 31-10 in front of 22,241 fans at Tim Hortons Field on Friday night. Below are my thoughts on the game.

Bully ball

With players on both sides of the ball dropping like flies — more on that in a moment — the Blue Bombers leaned on their running game in Steeltown and it paid off as Brady Oliveira carried the ball 24 times for 147 yards and one touchdown.

The Winnipeg native is on a mission to win Most Outstanding Player and the only knock on his resume is a lack of scores. He came close to recording a touchdown late in the first half but the play was initially ruled a fumble and a touchdown by offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld, who made the recovery.

This was correctly overturned by the command centre as Oliveira was ruled down by contact just shy of the goal line. Backup quarterback Terry Wilson came in on the following play to punch it in for the score in short yardage.

Courtesy: CFL on TSN

Oliveira went untouched on his only score, which came late in the third quarter. It looked eerily similar to the play design Buck Pierce dialed up in the red zone last week as Nic Demski sprinted across the formation to the non-play side, pulling the linebackers with him. It seems like only a matter of time before Demski gets the ball on one of those jet sweeps, though he’s proving to be a useful decoy for the time being.

Winnipeg’s offensive line of Stanley Bryant, Liam Dobson, Chris Kolankowski, Patrick Neufeld, and Eric Lofton deserves a lot of credit. The unit technically allowed one sack but it occurred when Zach Collaros tried to step up into a gap that had already started to collapse, giving Hamilton defensive end Brandon Barlow an easy takedown. Other than that, they were close to perfect.

The Blue Bombers field six offensive linemen more than any other team in the league and they were rolling on Friday night with Tui Eli frequently in at tight end. Rookie fullback Michael Chris-Ike also probably had the best game of his career, often helping set the edge or executing lead blocks.

The sign of a truly dominant rushing attack is when you’re able to run the ball well even when your opponent knows what’s coming. Winnipeg did that brilliantly in Hamilton — call it bully ball — and rode it to a big win.

Black and Blue Bombers

At least four players — receiver Ontaria Wilson, linebacker Michael Ayers, and defensive backs Brandon Alexander and Michael Griffin II — left Friday’s game due to injury and didn’t return, forcing the team to make adjustments on the fly.

Rookie receiver Keric Wheatfall, who was sensational last week against Edmonton, also appeared to be absent for long stints of the game, though it’s unclear if this was injury-related. Defensive tackle Jamal Woods also missed a stretch due to an undisclosed injury.

Lucky Whitehead took extra receiver reps for Wilson, Brian Cole played weak-side linebacker in place of Ayers, Jake Kelly took over from Alexander at safety, and Nick Hallett drew in as the extra defensive back for Griffin. Aside from some minor confusion that preceded a couple of plays, you’d never have known the team was missing so many players, which is a testament to the team’s coaching and preparation.

Wilson’s injury occurred late in the second quarter after taking a vicious shot from Hamilton safety Stavros Katsantonis, who put his shoulder into the receiver’s helmet. Ironically, defensive back Jamal Peters — who was positioned directly behind Wilson when the hit took place — appeared far worse for wear.

Jonathan Moxey was forced to take over for Peters at boundary cornerback and was targeted heavily by Winnipeg, giving up a deep shot to Kenny Lawler late in the second quarter and taking a questionable pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter in coverage on Whitehead.

The injury was a tough break for Wilson as he’s in the race for Most Outstanding Rookie. Coincidentally, the arguable front-runner for the award — Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges — was unable to play on Friday due to a quad injury that appears to have ended his season. Bridges has made 83 receptions for 933 yards and four touchdowns this year, while Wilson has 59 catches for 910 yards and three scores.

On a positive note, head coach Mike O’Shea told 680 CJOB postgame that Wilson was upset he wasn’t allowed to reenter the game and will be “fine.”

Veteran offensive lineman Patrick Neufeld also briefly left the game with an apparent knee injury on Winnipeg’s opening drive but returned for the team’s next possession.

Dominant D

Winnipeg’s defence was dominant for most Friday’s game, save for a couple of costly breakdowns. The Tiger-Cats managed only 275 net yards of offence, which is one of the lowest single-game outputs in the CFL this season, and committed three turnovers.

Veteran halfback Deatrick Nichols made a great interception on a deep shot down the seam from Bo Levi Mitchell to Kiondre Smith, essentially running the route for the receiver. The ball was slightly overthrown, sure, but this is about as well as you can defend this type of play, especially considering Nichols had help over the top.

Tyrell Ford and Willie Jefferson recorded late takeaways to help ice the game, which improved the club’s turnover ratio to plus-five on the year, while TyJuan Garbutt, Jake Thomas, and Celestin Haba each recorded sacks.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Winnipeg’s defence, however, as Brendan O’Leary-Orange embarrassed his old team shortly before halftime, breaking multiple tackles en route to a 71-yard gain. Tyrell Ford tried to roll into the receiver’s legs instead of wrapping him up, while Jake Kelly and Nichols allowed him to run right through them.

The Tiger-Cats would have capped the drive with a touchdown but strong-side linebacker Redha Kramdi popped Tim White at the goal line two plays later, causing the ball to fall incomplete. Marc Liegghio, who is also a former member of the Blue Bombers, kicked a 15-yard field goal on the following play.

Winnipeg’s defence was also badly outmatched on Hamilton’s only touchdown of the day, which occurred on an 18-yard run by James Butler. Kramdi forced the ball carrier to cut back inside but there was nobody to meet him as offensive linemen David Beard and Coutler Woodmansey flawlessly sealed off the point of attack, allowing Butler to sprint untouched into the end zone.

Winnipeg’s defence has been the best in the CFL for quite some time but there are always things left to clean up.

Catching breaks

For all the misfortune Winnipeg has faced this year in the injury department, the team caught several key breaks during the first half in Steeltown.

On Winnipeg’s second possession, Zach Collaros tried to thread the needle on a crossing route to Kevens Clercius but didn’t get enough speed on the ball, giving strong-side linebacker Jonathan Moxey a great chance to intercept it. The defender was unable to corral the pass and the ball ricocheted into the air before falling incomplete. The drive should have been over but instead ended on a touchdown pass to Clercius two plays later.

Near the start of the second quarter, Bo Levi Mitchell threw a perfect pass to a wide-open Tim White, who’d gotten behind the entire secondary with safety Brandon Alexander in tow. The veteran receiver dropped the ball, channeling the early-season struggles that afflicted him back in June.

Collaros should have been intercepted again midway through the second quarter when he overthrew a pass intended for Kenny Lawler, which landed directly in the hands of boundary halfback Destin Talbert. Again, the defender was simply unable to secure the ball, allowing it to fall to the turf and giving Winnipeg a chance to punt two plays later.

You have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good. The Blue Bombers were both on Friday night.

Quiet encore

Zach Collaros followed up last week’s career day relatively quietly, completing 13-of-19 pass attempts for 201 yards and one touchdown. Though he put two balls in harm’s way in the first half, he finished the game without any interceptions and has thrown only one over his last four outings.

The 36-year-old’s best pass of the day was this deep shot to Kenny Lawler, which led to a touchdown just before halftime. Winnipeg isolated the receiver to the boundary and defensive back Jonathan Moxey was no match in coverage as Lawler ran free, not having to worry about any defensive help over the top.

Career first

Rookie receiver Kevens Clercius scored the first touchdown of his career midway through the first quarter when Zach Collaros took advantage of a bust in coverage, hitting the Montreal native for a 25-yard score in the corner of the end zone.

The University of Connecticut product was hardly a dominant receiver at the collegiate level, making 49 catches for 604 and five touchdowns over 37 games. He was drafted primarily for his blocking ability and special teams value but appears to be developing nicely starting in place of the injured Drew Wolitarsky.

Awards season

The CFL released its official list of first-year players who are eligible to win Most Outstanding Rookie and the Blue Bombers have 18 candidates, which is more than double what they had a year ago. Many of them have also been strong contributors this year, including Michael Ayers, Kevens Clercius, Gabe Wallace, Keric Wheatfall, and Jamal Woods.

This is a testament to how much younger Winnipeg has gotten over the past nine months or so, which was probably necessary given how old the roster had started to become.

With 16 games now in the books, here’s who I’d pick for Winnipeg’s team awards. Votes are limited, so I generally don’t get one at the team level, though I am a voter at the division and national levels.

Most Outstanding Player — Brady Oliveira
Most Outstanding Defensive Player — Tyrell Ford
Most Outstanding Canadian — Brady Oliveira
Most Outstanding Special Teams Player — Sergio Castillo
Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman — Stanley Bryant
Most Outstanding Rookie — Ontaria Wilson

Oliveira has a good chance to repeat as the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian this year — assuming he receives Winnipeg’s nomination, of course — and could also win Most Outstanding Player. Wilson is a front-runner for Most Outstanding Rookie, while Ford — who is now tied for the league lead in interceptions with seven — has an outside shot to become only the second defensive back ever to win Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

As I’ve written in past years, it’s a crime that multiple players from the same team can’t be finalists for league awards. One could argue that Oliveira and Ford have been the two best Canadian players in the CFL all season, though only one can advance to even the division level because they’re teammates.

Home sweet home

Winnipeg will host a playoff game once again after clinching at least second place in the West Division with Friday’s win. If the Saskatchewan Roughriders lose to the Edmonton Elks on Saturday, the Blue Bombers will host the West Final for a fourth straight year.

Next up

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (10-6) will host the Toronto Argonauts (8-7) at Princess Auto Stadium on Friday, Oct. 11 with kickoff slated for 8:30 p.m. EDT. The teams have met only once this season with Toronto winning 16-14 at BMO Field thanks to a controversial pick-six by Tarvarus McFadden, a play many believe should have been negated by a pass interference penalty on DaShaun Amos.

This will mark Chad Kelly’s first-ever start in Winnipeg as he was a healthy scratch for last season’s regular-season meeting between the two teams in the Manitoba capital. The embattled passer played at two major college programs, so he’s used to competing in front of raucous crowds. Time will tell whether or not that’s still the case as the Blue Bombers might be fighting for the right to host the West Final.