There is an old adage in sports that says ‘They don’t ask how, they ask how many.’ And that is a really good thing for the Bombers as it was an ugly win against Toronto. The Bombers almost looked like they were trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in that game.
Look, I want to be fair, and at half time the Bombers looked to be in a good spot to secure the win. Being up 31-15 at the half the Bombers were in good shape, but the second half would leave fans nervous as Toronto was able to march up the field on two consecutive drives and score points – a touchdown and a field goal. Had it not been for the Bombers playing exceptionally good defense at the end of the game (not something that they had done for the whole game) , this game would have gone in favour of Toronto.
Leading up to the game I wrote that the “This Bomber team is not poised to play bend but don’t break football…so they better not even bend.” And even though the Bombers did come away with a win, I still stand by those remarks. It was clear when Toronto was able to march down the field that the Bombers’ defense still did not have an answer for stopping long plays and drives.
So what happened? When we see teams in the CFL get big leads – as the Bombers had at the half – we often see the trailing team come back and make a game of it. Why? Because the team that is leading moves to a safer style of play and it is really hard to keep the intensity up when you have garnered a big lead. But I do not buy for a second that is what happened with the Bombers.
Rather, I believe that at half time both teams made adjustments – Toronto doing it consciously while Winnipeg made unconscious changes. Here is what I mean by that. I am convinced that at half time the Toronto staff gathered the players together in some fashion and told them, ‘We know how to beat this team. We just have to go back to doing what we did the week before.’ And we saw that! Toronto was able to move the ball at will in the third quarter.
As for Winnipeg, the change that they made was to go back to playing poor football. I have blamed this on the fact that I believe that the Bombers lack an identity…and that showed itself again. If Winnipeg had an identity, as poor as many of the phases played in this game were, Winnipeg would have put up a 50 Burger! Instead they let Toronto – not just scratch and claw their way back into the game – but take over the game at the beginning of the second half.
It was going to be a team loss or a team win
In the second half of the game it was clear. This was either going to be a team loss by Winnipeg, or a team win. About the only bright spot was the Bombers’ return game with Vaval retuning 2 for touchdowns. But not the whole return game. Remember that ‘sky kick’ that none of the Bombers thought to catch? As for the offence, they were clearly not going to get a win on their own.
Chris Streveler had no passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and 3 interceptions! I asked which Streveler would we see in this game…and it was glaringly apparent. We saw the Streveler that cannot run the ball to the outside and beat defenders like he used to – in large part due to the knee brace and reconstructive surgery. Again, I want to be fair. It is an absolute miracle that he is even playing football as soon as he is. But as amazing as that is, that does not win football games. We saw a Streveler that has trouble throwing a consistent ball. Sometimes he dropped a beauty of a dime. Other times he was off. We even saw him throw a pass right to Judge for a pick 6 in the first quarter. And everyone thought, ‘Oh boy! Here we go again.’ You may not like what I am saying, but tell me when I am telling lies.
We saw a game plan that had Oliveira get 17 touches and only 50 yards! When your number one quarterback is out, run the ball with Oliveira…even more so when your backup is struggling. Bomber fans were hoping that with the departure of Buck Pierce to BC, and after losing the 2024 Grey Cup where they flat out refused to run that ball, that Winnipeg would have learned some lessons. But apparently they did not. In fact the third interception is not on Streveler…that one is on the offensive coordinator. What are we doing here? Just run the ball!
Fans are likely going to point to the great defense by the Bombers late in the game and the Willie Jefferson knockdowns and forget how badly the Bombers’ defense played at times. Toronto outscored Winnipeg in both the 3rd and 4th quarter. And Nick Arbuckle threw for over 300 yards.
Do not forget about the Bombers’ kicking…it was not great! Sure, Castillo went 4/5 but missed an easy one that would have given the Bombers more breathing room. Castillo also botched a kickoff at the end of the first quarter which game Toronto the ball on their own 50 yard line.
If you think I am being over critical of a Bomber team that won the game that is your prerogative. However, I think I am being fair and honest. Maybe you saw the game differently than I did, but here are the highlights and the condensed game.
What did you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this.
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