This one will hurt for a long time

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This article was published 20/11/2022 (668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — It was supposed to be a storybook ending, a chance to make history and cement themselves as a rare dynasty in the modern sports era.

A win Sunday would have put the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the same conversation as one of the franchise’s best outfits and as among the top clubs in CFL history. Instead, the Bombers’ bid for a third straight Grey Cup ended in heartbreak, falling to the Toronto Argonauts by the slimmest of margins, 24-23, in the 109th edition of the championship game at Mosaic Stadium.

The Bombers locker room afterwards looked exactly how one would expect for a team that believed they were going to win, only to see it slip through their fingers in the final moments. There was shock as grown men were reduced to tears trying to come to grips with what played out in the final stages, including a blocked 47-yard field goal attempt by Marc Liegghio that sealed a Toronto win, mixed with the pain of knowing there was nothing they could do to change it.

“We put so much work in and when you come up short in sucks,” Bombers running back Brady Oliveira said through tears, taking breaks to compose himself. “This one hurts. I just really wanted to bring another Grey Cup back to Winnipeg.”

Fullback and special teams guru Mike Miller glanced across the locker room and the tears started to roll down his cheeks. He knew this was a special group and that it will be different next season. That’s the reality of playing professional football, where turnover is inevitable.

Like many of his teammates, Miller played through injury all season and was kept out of practice for much of the year in order to play his punishing style come game day. He watched as his team battled to a franchise-best 15 wins and understood how much effort it took to get back to the championship game for a third time.

“I just feel bad for everyone. I really do love all of these guys in the locker room, and I just hate this was the outcome of the game,” said Miller, the lump in his throat getting bigger with each word. “These guys have sacrificed a lot all season and it’s just a devastating outcome that we couldn’t bring it home.”

At first glance, the Bombers seemed to coast through the 2022 regular season. They were far and away the best team in the CFL and major favourites to knock off an Argonauts club that seemed to lack discipline and poise.

But unlike the 2021 campaign, where the Bombers dominated week to week, with their average margin of victory by more than 17 points, this year was a much different story. Seven of Winnipeg’s victories this season were decided by no more than seven points, with four of those wins by two points or fewer.

The Bombers had an incredible streak of good luck when it came to injuries last year, but this season they were decimated by them. Even when it looked like they might be at their healthiest heading into Grey Cup week, star quarterback and back-to-back CFL most outstanding player, Zach Collaros, was forced to play with a serious ankle injury suffered in the second-last series of a Western Final win over B.C.

“We prevailed through a lot of things this year and we had a lot of guys step up,” said safety Brandon Alexander, who only returned in Week 15 after tearing his ACL on the final play of last year’s Grey Cup win over Hamilton. “We had three different safeties. We had about 16 different defensive backs. D-linemen were constantly switching in and out and different receivers every week. This win definitely stings.”

Collaros’ health dominated headlines all week as he worked to get back into the lineup.

While his teammates practised in the frigid prairie temperatures, Collaros underwent rehab sessions in the pool at the team’s hotel. He had one final test on Saturday, pushing his ankle in a private workout on a piece of artificial turf near the home dressing room at Mosaic, and then had the team doctor administer a needle in his ankle to help manage the pain.

Mercy Maston, Demerio Houston, Nick Taylor and Kyrie Wilson all suffered season-ending injuries, forcing newcomers to step up and putting added responsibility on veterans Winston Rose, Deatrick Nichols and Alexander.

The Bombers were without running back Andrew Harris, opting to move on from the aging local product to give fellow Winnipeg native Oliveira his turn to shine. Harris got his redemption on Sunday, returning from surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle just in time to help Toronto go on an improbable Grey Cup run and upset his former team.

The Bombers held a 23-14 lead early in the fourth quarter after Janarion Grant returned a punt 102 yards for a touchdown, which included a missed one-point convert by Liegghio that proved costly. Toronto clawed its way back with a 36-yard field goal from Boris Bede and a five-yard touchdown run by A.J. Ouellette.

“It was a hard-fought battle and it was a one-point difference. We put ourselves in a position to win it at the end and they made a play. We had our chance and they made a big one to win them the game,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “They took the ball away from us. We made some plays too. We got down on the doorstep and punched in some touchdowns. But when they needed that one at the end, they got it.”

Kenny Lawler, the CFL’s leading receiver in 2021, chased big money in Edmonton. Winnipeg’s success led to NFL opportunities for all-star offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais and defensive end Jonathan Kongbo, both of whom are Canadian, as well as defensive back DeAundre Alford, another CFL all-star no longer on the roster.

Assistant general managers Danny McManus and Ted Goveia went to work scouting for new talent and unearthed players like receiver Dalton Schoen, who, as a rookie, led the CFL in receiving yards and touchdowns.

“I’m extremely proud of these guys because I see what they bring every single day and that’s why I’m sad it didn’t happen tonight because the guys worked for it,” said Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill. “All three phases need to look at what we could have done better and it’s tough to say without seeing the film exactly what, but there will be something positive that comes out of it, you just don’t know what it is just yet.”

It’s unclear what the future holds. The Bombers have several players that will need a new contract for next season and a head coach in Mike O’Shea who is also not signed for 2023.

What is evident is that Sunday’s loss will hurt for the coming days, weeks and months. The hope will be that they can use this adversity, like they have with all the hurdles they needed to clear this season, as motivation to come back better and stronger in 2023.

“I’m sure we can look back at the season as a positive. We play football to win championships,” said receiver Nic Demski. “You learn from mistakes and we’re going to learn from mistakes and we’re going to come back next year with a vengeance. Obviously, this wasn’t the result that we were looking for and you’re not going to see it as a positive right now. Once the emotions leave, there’s definitely some things that we can take away that we did good in the game, but there’s also some things that we did bad. As long as you learn from this then we can turn it into a positive, but I don’t think this game is going to be a positive memory.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton