I was going to be critical of the Bombers even though they won, but after further reflections I will not be terribly harsh. Did they play a great game? No. But they played a good game; good enough to win.

Unlike previous weeks, I did have my doubts in the game that the Bombers would pull out the win. They started the game off being down 6-7, were up 23-13 at the half, and then slumped in the 3rd quarter allowing Edmonton to tie it up at 23-23. That is when the doubt started to creep into my mind. But in true Bomber fashion, they shut down the opposition in the 4th quarter, got back to running the ball and won the game.

The Great
Nic Demski.
In the post-game interview, Zach Collaros conformed that Nic Demski was in fact a game time decision…well it looks like they made the right decision. Demski was targeted 7 times, and caught 6 for 97 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns. And one of those touchdowns was absolutely a thing of beauty! Going long down the field, Collaros finds Demski with an absolute dime of a pass! While watching that play I thought there was no way Demski would catch it, let alone run away from the defender for a TD…but that is exactly what he did. Watching the replay, I saw that the defender turned the wrong way, away from Demski as opposed to towards him, but that was still an amazing catch in stride for a score from a guy who had some ankle soreness coming into the game.

The Good
Zach Collaros.
While the Bombers were not moving the ball in the 3rd quarter, I put most of that blame on the fact that they got away from their identity. The Bombers are known for running the ball on first down to set up a second and manageable. But in this game they found themselves going two and out multiple times in the 3rd quarter. Zach Collaros threw for almost 300 yards at the half, and if they had not slumped in the 3rd quarter his throwing yards would be jaw dropping. However, he threw for 3 TDs, 0 INTs, and rushed for 1 TD. I said that Zach would need to do a better job protecting the football if they were going to continue to win. Collaros also found Schoen who caught 6 passes on 6 targets for 75 yards. I am sure the Bombers are happy that they retained Schoen.

Limiting Tre Ford
This was a massive key of mine for the Bombers to win. In my lead up to this game I said, “They have to either make Ford a pocket passer – which he does not want to be – or they need to flush him from the pocket while maintaining down field coverage and containing Ford himself. It is not good enough simply to make him scramble. If those other parts are not in place and Ford scrambles…it will be a long night for the Bombers.” And they did just that.

I recall twice where Tre Ford scrambled, and was not able to take off for a run himself (in fact he only had 1 rush for 16 yards. Instead the Bombers made him throw the ball down field. Both times he found a receiver, and both times the Bombers were all over that receiver making sure he did not catch the ball in bounds.

The Bad
Vaval fumbles again.
In past years the Bombers have been resolute in not keeping a guy in the return position if he shows a penchant for dropping balls. Last game was the third time that Vaval dropped a kick return – in one instance he jumped back on top of it. However, 2 out of 3 times it resulted in a fumble and instant field position for their opponent. I see two reasons why the Bombers are still keeping him back their. So far, the potential reward outweighs the potential risk. The Bombers have lacked a returner for a while and Vaval looks like a viable option. The second reason likely plays into the discussion more. The Bombers picked up a legitimate returner from the Stampeders – Petyon Logan. But a thigh injury has so far kept him on the shelf. If Vaval hopes to have a chance at returning kicks when Logan gets healthy, Vaval needs to start showing that he can secure the ball each and every time. The Bombers do not mess around with returners dropping balls. It should be noted that kick/punt returns are the only places on the depth chart that Vaval appears.

The Ugly
Busted coverage.
The Elks scored quick in the 3rd quarter due to busted coverage by the Bombers. The Elks ran a formation where two receivers crossed in the middle of the field, and the Bombers secondary left one of them wide open. Watching it on television it may look like the Bombers trail defender was the guy out of position, but that is not so. He had a man that he was covering but after Ford made the throw to the open receiver, that Bomber player was trying to make a play. The fault may actually land on Parker. Whichever player is at fault, someone was certainly out of position while 4 Bomber defenders covered 2 Elks’ receivers…and left 1 wide open for the touchdown.

The Ugly – Honourable Mentions
Poor onfield call.
No, I am not talking about the interception that was called off, I believe that was the correct call. I am talking about the accidental pass interference call against the Bombers. In his post game interview, Bombers’ Head Coach Mike O’Shea said that Holm told him that there was no pass interference but that they would not win the challenge. So if you are wondering why O’Shea did not throw the challenge flag, that is why. But watching it, as soon as the penalty the flag came out and before the replay, I told my son, “That is not pass interference, their feet never touched.” And I was right, they did not. Holm did have his hand on the receiver…which is legal as he never pushed the receiver. I still wonder, what is the point of the “eye in the sky”?

The Humorous
Zach Collaros throws the ball and it hits him in the head.
I caught this as it happened, but maybe you missed it, and the commentators never mentioned it. After Collaros rolled back the clock and rushed for a 13 yard touchdown he went to throw the ball into the stands. However, Cooley runs up to Zach to congratulate him, and Zach’s throw – intended for the crowd – goes straight up in the air and as it comes down hit Collaros in the helmet. Not being phased at all, Collaros gets the ball back and throws it into the stands -which he is reminded in the post game interview actually results in a fine. Had Collaros not made a second attempt to throw the ball into the stands he would have saved himself some money.

Final Thoughts
All in all the Bombers played a good enough game to win. However, if they play that way against a better team they are going to find themselves chasing the game and the outcome will be far less certain. Even Bryant got spun around and he rolled up on Collaros. Bomber fans are fortunate that Collaros escaped that unscathed. Sure this was only Week 3 under a new offensive coordinator, but the Bombers’ offence simply cannot fall asleep for a whole quarter and expect to continue to win games. Yet when they needed it, the defense shut down the Elks and the Bomber offence found a way to run the ball, drain the clock and put up points.

If you want to catch all the highlights of another Bomber win, here they are!

What did you think of the game? let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this.

Catch all my articles here.