With the Bombers dropping their second pre-season game, while also sitting many of their starters, some will say, "It's the pre-season. Who cares?"
In fact, as I chatted with one of the Lions' staff members - near the end of the game - he said to me, "Hey, everyone is 0-0," (meaning that the pre-season does not count for the standings). And while he is correct, I think there are some things we can takeaway from this game.
Looking back to my article before that game, 3 Things I Will Be Watching For - Bombers' Final Pre-Season Game there were things that I though this game could reveal about the 2026 Bombers.
Penalties
There were enough complaints on my previous article that I added penalties as something to watch for. It was a rather even affair in that department on Friday night. Winnipeg took 7 penalties for 55 yards, and BC took 7 penalties for 65 yards. I am sure that is more penalties than Mike O'Shea likes. But at the same time it is not as lopsided as the Bomber's previous game. So I will say that the Bombers improved in that area.
Passing Game
This one was going to be big for me. The Bombers chose to sit down Collaros, and so Elgersma and Perkins were going to get all of the playing time. While I do not have the official playing time for both quarterbacks, Elgersma had the majority of the time. Read into that what you will. Either, Elgersma is likely the number two quarterback; or the Bombers are not sure who their number two quarterback is.
However, one thing that did seem apparent to me, is that Perkins is the short yardage quarterback. A 1 yard sneak, that turned into a lot more, reminded me of Tommy Stevens (formerly with Calgary and now with Saskatchewan).
Yet, the Bombers passing game was still lack luster.
That does not look good, and it looks worse when you compare it to BC's.
Even if you take out Rourke's numbers, the Bomber's got beat bad when comparing offensive stats. So for this area I would say that the Bombers need improvement.
Rushing
Much like the receiving category, there is much to be desired. Sure, Oliveira did not play, but that makes the stats even more troubling.
If that is the best the Bombers can do, then they are in trouble if Oliveira goes down. It was nice to see that Winnipeg appears to have two quarterbacks that can move the ball with their legs, but when your two quarterbacks outperform your two running backs...that is not a recipe for long term success.
Honourable Mention
Something else that really jumped out at me was how much Winnipeg was lacking depth at receiver. I am comfortable with Winnipeg's starting group at receiver. What I find troublesome are their other receivers. If, and might I say when, Winnipeg is not able to dress a full compliment of starting receivers, I do not like their odds for long term success.
Final Thoughts
While you have to watch pre-season games and evaluate them differently the games themselves are not meaningless. Those games can tell you a lot about where your team is and where your team is not. What I saw from the Bombers is that there is a lot more not there than there. For me, that puts the Bombers in a tough spot. How are they going to win games when a receiver or two gets hurt. How are they going to win if Oliveira gets injured. And, in the worst case scenario, how are the Bombers going to win if they have a receiver or two out and Oliveira is injured. While that would be a tall task for any team, it may be more of a challenge for the Bombers as Collaros is not going to steal you games with his legs. Unless Castillo is going to hit 6 a game from 61 yards away, the Bombers better hope to stay healthy.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this. Catch all my articles here.