Another thrilling victory for Big Blue Bombers emerge victorious in back-and-forth battle with Stampeders By: Jeff Hamilton Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 26, 2022

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This article was published 25/08/2022 (755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While Thursday’s thrilling affair between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders was must-watch TV from start to finish, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of disappointment waking up Friday morning.

It has nothing to do with the end result — a narrow 31-29 win for the Blue and Gold — and everything to do with the fact that we’ll have to wait until the playoffs, at the earliest, to see these two West Division rivals do battle again. All three games between the Bombers and Stampeders this season have been classics, each decided by a single score, in bouts where shots were traded back and forth throughout.

Thursday was certainly no exception, with a combined 60 points, more than 800 yards of offence and several lead changes, before the Bombers incredibly drained the last couple of minutes with a balance of run and pass plays.

“It’s the two best teams fighting for position in the standings. I love battling with Calgary,” Bombers receiver Nic Demski said after the game. “I know they’re always a team that’s going to bring it. They’re going to play fast; they’re going to play physical and they’re a very smart team as well. It was a very good game for the fans, and I hope they enjoyed it.”

The Bombers will spend the next couple of days going over the game film and focusing on rest and recovery, before hitting the field early next week to prepare for the annual Labour Day weekend clash with the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium on Sept. 4. But before we look too far ahead, let’s take a look back at the Bombers victory over the Stampeders in the latest edition of 5 Takeaways.

1) There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers seemed to need a near miracle to beat the Calgary Stampeders. Oh, how the tables have turned.

Just consider that heading into the 2019 season, Winnipeg had won just two of its previous 20 games against Calgary, a dismal run that started after the Bombers were victorious in Week 2 during the 2009 campaign. And one of those victories came late into the 2017 season, with the Stampeders benching several of their starters after having already clinched the West.

Fast-forward to Thursday night and the Bombers completed their first three-game, season-series sweep against the Stampeders since 1987, a span of 35 years. In the last three seasons, Winnipeg is 7-2 against Calgary, including a victory in the 2019 West semi-final, with one of the losses — a 2021 defeat in Week 16 — coming while, this time, a majority of the Bombers starters were sidelined to stay healthy for a second Grey Cup run.

2) Every game is important in the standings, but this one carried a significant amount of weight when it comes to jockeying for top spot in the West.

The win gives the Bombers a 10-1 mark, while the Stampeders dropped to 6-4 with the loss. Excuse me while I play Captain Obvious for a moment, but that’s a much better gap than Winnipeg being 9-2 and Calgary at 7-3.

With the Bombers having already claimed the season-series and therefore the tiebreaker against the Stampeders, it will be a tough task for Calgary to make up ground by season’s end. And with the B.C. Lions losing star quarterback Nathan Rourke for the remainder of the season, there’s now an even clearer path for the Bombers to claim the West.

3) Bombers offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce put together a masterful game plan against the Stampeders, with six of the club’s first eight drives resulting in points, with the 10th and final series perhaps the most impressive, as the Bombers bullied the Stampeders in the final 2:18 of the game.

The Bombers came out firing with back-to-back touchdown drives, ending with passes from Zach Collaros to Greg McCrae (5 catches, 95 yards, 1 TD) and Nic Demski (8, 117, 1), both of whom also factored in the run game, combining for five carries and 48 yards. In fact, there were five rushers in the game, totalling 171 yards, led by starting tailback Brady Oliveira, who registered eight carries for 60 yards in just two quarters of play.

Oliveira didn’t play in the second half owing to injury, and was scheduled for an x-ray on Friday, with the hope he’s OK.

Pierce opted to keep short-yardage QB Dakota Prukop in the game after rushing for a first down, and he was rewarded as Prukop hit Rasheed Bailey for a 10-yard score on the very next play. Collaros racked up 294 passing yards, completing 73 per cent of his throws, and the two touchdowns. The game likely wouldn’t have been as close had Collaros not thrown two interceptions in the end zone, both of which were picked off by Calgary’s Brad Muhammed.

It was also a nice rebound for Winnipeg’s offensive line, a group that had allowed the Montreal Alouettes eight sacks over the previous two games. The Stampeders registered just one sack, which was only counted after Calgary challenged an incomplete pass, believing Collaros had fumbled the ball. They would win the challenge, but the officials returned the ball to the Bombers because they deemed the whistle had blown before Mike Rose picked it up, resulting in a dead ball.

4) Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson took a slight risk in benching Bo Levi Mitchell to give an opportunity to second-year pivot Jake Maier and it proved to be the right one, despite the end result.

Maier was simply spectacular, especially when you consider the Stampeders were on a short week, practising just once and playing on the road, while the Bombers defence was fresh off the bye week. Maier went 15-for-16 passing in the first half, finishing the night 23-for-28 (82 per cent) for 294 passing yards and three touchdowns, for a passer rating of 150.

Maier, who is just 25 years old, carved up the Bombers defence for much of the night, with his clear favourite target being Malik Henry. Henry accounted for all three of Calgary’s touchdowns, finishing the game with game-high seven catches for 122 yards to go with the trio of scores.

A special acknowledgement is in order to sideline official Ron Barss. Barss was on the sideline to call Henry’s second touchdown and was run over in the process, only to raise the upper half of his body while on the turf to signal the score. Not even the Bomber faithful could resist cheering the moment.

Expect Maier to be the Stampeders No. 1 quarterback moving forward as they make a run in the West, marking a potential end to the Mitchell era in Cowtown.

5) The Bombers defence wasn’t exactly its dominant self against the Stampeders. Calgary’s 403 net yards of offence was the second most allowed by the defence this season and the most since the Jeremiah-Masoli run Ottawa offence put up 431 yards against Winnipeg in Week 1.

There will be plenty of players unhappy with the game film, but it wasn’t all bad. Especially given how beat up the defence has been this year, with linebacker Kyrie Wilson, safety Brandon Alexander, as well as Malcolm Thompson, Alexander’s replacement, all on the shelf.

It didn’t help that defensive back Demerio Houston exited the game with what appeared to be a leg injury early in the first quarter. And then Patrice Rene, who was playing his first CFL game and was Houston’s backup, needing to be carted off the field a short time later.

I’m hearing that Houston’s injury isn’t looking good at first glance, but we’ll find out more next week. No word on Rene, but the fact he couldn’t leave the game on his own is also a bad sign.

The defence did come up big when it mattered, a Shayne Gauthier sack forcing the Stampeders to punt on third-and-12 near midfield with fewer than three minutes remaining. The offence took over from there, draining the final minutes of the fourth quarter, with Collaros kneeling twice to seal the win.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

After a slew of injuries playing hockey that included breaks to the wrist, arm, and collar bone; a tear of the medial collateral ligament in both knees; as well as a collapsed lung, Jeff figured it was a good idea to take his interest in sports off the ice and in to the classroom.

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