Friday’s win against Saskatchewan was about as ugly as they come! Giving up a fumble on the opening kickoff for a scoop and score by the Riders sure did not help things start well.

If there were any bright spot in the Bombers offence it was that they came back and scored a touchdown themselves on their first drive to tie to game 7-7. After that, it was all down hill for the offence.

That is not good enough to win, and the Bombers proved that by barley beating Saskatchwean’s second and third string players. However, I am not surprised…you heard that right. Leading up to the game, in my article I said, “the Bombers do not have the receiver power to win consistently without Schoen and Demski. So, even if the Riders do rest a bunch of payers the Bombers are going to be in it tough.”

I also said, “The real problem is that the Bombers are too inconsistent. The Bombers could go on the road in the playoffs and win the necessary two games to get back to the Grey Cup. However, based on their last game, and not knowing which Bombers’ team is going to show up week to week, I would say it is highly unlikely.”

So it is no surprise how Zach Collaros sounded after the game.

It is very clear to everyone that play-calling is an issue, and Jeff Hamilton is correct.

And there should be a lot of disagreement with the play-calling. The play-calling has been bad all year long. Also, recall last week. The Bombers are losing against Edmonton. The Bombers are deep in their own end and have one play left… and they do what?

Well let us relive what I said last week, “With one last play to try and find a miraculous way to win, the Bombers do what? They run the ball with Oliveira. Now, even I who has been on the Bombers all year for not running enough thinks that is a terrible play call. What you do in that situation is you toss up a long bomb and hope for a pass interference penalty. If that occurs, you get one more play at the spot of the foul, because the game cannot end on a penalty. Sure, the odds of that working are slim…but they are better than a run play. We might have to start calling these plays, ‘Hogan head scratchers.”

Do you think that I hit that nail on the head…because I do. While the Bombers were talking about needing to work harder, back in July and August, I pointed out what the real issues with the team are. July 29, 2025 Reflections – Here Is What Is Wrong With The Bombers. August 12, 2025 Hot Take – The Bombers Are Unaware Of Their Problems Or Are Addressing Them Quietly

But it is not like the offence was the only issue. Yes, the Bomber’s defense played well but they were playing against a lot of backups. If you take the scoop and score for Saskatchewan off the board, the Bombers defense only allowed 9 points…all field goals. Yet, Mitchell Picton was too wide open too many times. Even when the Bombers kicked the field goal with about 46 seconds left in the game, fans were unsettled.

I was at the game with my son and a buddy of mine. As the Bombers lined up to kick that field goal my friend said to me, “I don’t like this call.” I had to remind him that it was the right call regardless of how the game ends and that the Bombers already made the mistake of going for it on third down as opposed to kicking a field goal. But the concern was with the Bombers’ defense, even though it had played well, it has been leaky at times this season. And based on how ugly a game it had been it would have been a gut punch to see Winnipeg make the field goal…only to have Saskatchewan win the game in the last 40 seconds.

As Milt Stegall said, “This win was so ugly the scoreboard tried to look away.”

As for Mike O’Shea, he seemed to be trying to tempter player’s emotions from the podium.

If you want to watch the highs, the lows, and the oh oh no’s…here they are.

The Bombers won, secured a playoff spot with Edmonton losing later that night, and everyone is irate! Imagine if the Bombers would have lost. There is bigger issues though brewing in Winnipeg, and I will touch on them in a later article.

What did you think? Let me know in the comments section wherever you are reading this. Catch all my articles here.