Look any day is a good day when your football team beats their opponent. Previous to the game, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were 4-4 and the Ottawa RedBlacks were 0-8.
Looking at those standings one might expect that the Bombers were going to make easy work out of the RedBlacks. Some may even have been concerned that this could have been a trap game for Winnipeg.
But as I mentioned before the game, there was no way this was going to be a trap game!
What This Game Really Meant
Much of the chatter after the Bombers' win was around how much confidence you have in this team based on what you saw in their game against Ottawa.
As I sat in the stands before the game and talk to other fans around me, I said this, "This game will determine the direction Winnipeg’s season goes. If they lose forget about it, the Bombers will continue to trend downward. But if they win, this could be the turnaround that they need to be competitive in the playoffs.”
And while I still believe that to be true, even after the Bombers did win, there were a couple of concerning trends that continued in the game.
But before I get to those trends here is what Jeff Reinebold's thoughts were before the game.
Jeff Reinebold's Thoughts
If you were not aware Ottawa fired their defensive coordinator and gave Jeff Reinebold that position. Before the game I had a nice conversation with Reinebold. he asked me how I doing and I told him we are in trouble. He leaned in wanting to know more. I told him that although Winnipeg has a better record than Ottawa, Winnipeg seems to do a great job of letting teams stay in games. Then I said to Jeff Reinebold, "Ottawa will will games this year...and it might start tonight." His only reply to that was this, "If 8 is in (referring to Collaros) you have a chance." With that he told me that he had to go upstairs to get ready to call the defensive plays.
And that leads me right into my first trend that cannot continue.
Trends That Cannot Continue
1) Zach Getting Hit
The sack that Zach Callaros took was huge! It was literally bone-rattling! And while many may want to blame the offensive line, the reality was that Ottawa just sent an extra blitzer and not every blitzer could be blocked. But Zach simply has to stop getting hit if he wants to be productive.
After I saw that hit, I thought that was it for Zach in the game and maybe even for the rest of the season. However, after only sitting out four plays, three plays are the minimum that a player must sit out after attended to because of an injury, Zach was back in. I was shocked! While he got back into the game vs Ottawa, if he keeps taking hit like that he will be watching games from the sidelines.
2) Zach Holding Onto The Ball Too Long
This trend is related to the first one.
Look I get at the Bombers have had tons of interceptions and turnovers and they sure need to cut that down if they’re hoping to turn around their season.
But the answer to that is not having Zach hold the ball for so long that he gets hit more often than necessary. I am also not a fan of throwing the ball up into traffic where it could be picked off. But it is not like those are the only two options available.
Zach can and should scramble and throw the ball out of bounds when there is no open receiver. Be a game manager and embrace that role...there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe Zach thinks he has to make a play every time. But I tell you what. From my seat, most of the fans are complaining that he does not throw the ball away and protect himself.
3) Letting Opponents Hang Around
This was an issue again for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, though the final score may not indicate it Ottawa was able to hang around, or rather Winnipeg let them hang around. The 2026. Bombers seemed to be lacking the killer instinct or they just put their foot on the throat of opponents and break their will to compete against Winnipeg.
Final Thoughts
For Bombers' and their fans 5-4 is far better than 4-5. And while they do not ask you how, they ask you how many, sometimes the how actually matters. If how the team wins is not sustainable, or at very least has some fatal flaws in it then the how becomes very important.
Near the beginning of this article I mentioned that many people are asking question, "How much confidence (do) you have in this team based on what you saw in their game against Ottawa?"
While Winnipeg does have some good teams that they still have to play this year, I do not want to make too much of that at this point. Why? Because the teams ahead of the Bombers in the standings, still have to play each other. To work through the permutations at this stage of the season is premature.
So here is what I will say, I am convinced that the floor is not falling apart right under the Bombers' feet. What I am less convinced of is if the Bombers can play with any degree of consistency from game to game for the rest of the season.
However, what will help the Bombers play consistently is if they decide to commit to the run game the way that they did vs Ottawa.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this. Catch all my articles here.