The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday afternoon by a score of 28-27 at Percival Molson Stadium. Below are my thoughts on the game.
A fateful gust
Saturday’s game came to a shocking conclusion when the Alouettes were forced to punt with 17 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Montreal had just gone two-and-out after Sergio Castillo missed a 61-yard field goal attempt when a huge gust of wind erupted from Winnipeg’s end of the field, showering the turf in leaves.
Joseph Zema, who is widely viewed as one of the league’s best punters, mishit the ball seconds later as it rolled out of bounds at Montreal’s 44-yard line, netting the Alouettes only 21 yards. It’s unclear if the effect of the wind was primarily physical or psychological — I’d speculate it was a combination of both — but regardless, it’s clear Zema was rattled.
“(The wind) was blowing like crazy out of nowhere. It’s pretty neat when you see all of a sudden the entire field, leaves are blowing across and you realize if (Zema) doesn’t get a great drop and a great kick on that punt that it’s going to be in good field position. You can’t bank on that but it worked out,” head coach Mike O’Shea told 680 CJOB postgame.
“After he takes the snap and Zema goes to drop the ball, the wind probably blows it off-line and then he has to chase it with his foot. That makes it really difficult, so tough conditions for him to punt — but it worked out for us.”
Winnipeg’s offence took the field as the heavens opened, dousing the stadium in rain. Brady Oliveira rushed for two yards up the middle on first down, giving Sergio Castillo — who missed two long kicks on the night — a chance to make up for his heartbreaking miss moments before. He did exactly that, nailing a 51-yard field goal for the win with no time left on the clock.
“It kinda felt like the Wizard of Oz, if I’m not mistaken — that movie when the Wicked Witch or whoever comes in,” said quarterback Zach Collaros. “(The wind) kind of started like that, it was swirling — I mean, it was really swirling the entire day. It got really dark and there was some hail kinda coming down. It was odd.”
Head coach Mike O’Shea, who has been in and around the CFL for over 30 years, almost always takes the wind in the fourth quarter when given the choice. Moments like we saw in the late stages of Saturday’s game are the reason why.
Conspiracy theorists speculated during the recent rash of hurricanes in the southeastern United States that the government has machines that can control the weather. If such machines exist, it appears team president and CEO Wade Miller found a way to get one to Percival Molson Stadium for Saturday’s game. Or perhaps he merely operated it from his office back at Princess Auto Stadium. Who knows?
Whether natural or man-made, the weather phenomenon helped Winnipeg achieve its goal of returning home, much like the intrepid protagonist of Wizard of Oz. If memory serves, Dorothy doesn’t actually make it back to Kansas because of a gust of wind, instead relying on a pair of red shoes that she taps together at the heel. Either way, I’m sticking with this analogy because I’m on a deadline and it’s been years since I watched that movie.
The West Final will be played at Princess Auto Stadium for the fourth straight year thanks to Winnipeg’s shocking win. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, this is one of those games we’ll be talking about for years to come.
Missing the points
Kenny Lawler had a chance to score a touchdown on Winnipeg’s second drive of the game but was unable to survive contact with the ground after diving for the ball near the back of the end zone. It was far from a routine catch but we’ve watched Lawler make highlight reel grabs with ease over the past five years. The play left four points on the board as Sergio Castillo booted a 25-yard field goal on the following play.
The veteran kicker missed a 49-yard field goal attempt on the preceding drive. My colleague Pablo Herrera-Vergara, who was live on location at Percival Molson Stadium, described the weather conditions as gusty at the time of the miss.
Castillo finished the game five-of-seven but the damage was done: you can’t leave seven points off the board, especially on the road against one of the league’s best defences. Winnipeg was miserable in the red zone in their recent loss to the Toronto Argonauts and appeared destined for the same fate against the Alouettes as the offence faltered in the red zone again midway through the third quarter.
Zach Collaros scampered for four yards on second-and-seven, leading to a 15-yard field goal from Castillo. It was an awkward-looking play and, with all due respect to Collaros, the team shouldn’t be looking to him as the ball-carrier in those types of situations. Either offensive coordinator Buck Pierce called a truly baffling play or the offence did a poor job of executing whatever was called.
The offence appeared out of sorts multiple times on Saturday as Lawler took two offside penalties and Collaros was seen screaming at rookie receiver Keric Wheatfall, who finished the game with two catches for 23 yards, after he scrambled short of the first down on second-and-ten. Based on the scenario and Collaros’ gesticulations, I’d guess Wheatfall didn’t break off his route correctly once the pocket broke down.
NIC DEMSKI. ENDZONE.#CFLGameday on CTV & RDS
: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/LpTWap5jb3
— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024
Winnipeg’s offence deserves credit for connecting on two impressive deep shots to Nic Demski and Kenny Lawler and for eventually converting for two red zone touchdowns — one on a nine-yard pass to Demski and the other on a two-yard touchdown plunge from Terry Wilson. Collaros finished the game with a solid stat line as he connected on 24-of-32 pass attempts for 331 yards and one score.
Regardless, this unit will have to be more polished come playoff time. When the run game isn’t working, the details in the passing game have to be on point.
Standing tall
Winnipeg’s defence didn’t have its best game of the year but stood tall when it mattered most, forcing Montreal to go two-and-out on three of its last four possessions. The unit came extremely close to generating two takeaways, both of which were near interceptions by Tyrell Ford, but struggled to get Montreal off the field at times as Cody Fajardo and Davis Alexander found holes in zone coverage.
Cole Spieker made a 47-yard catch up the sideline, while Tyjon Lindsey made a 39-yard catch up the middle to set up a touchdown. For all the Blue Bombers have successfully negated big gains this year, they struggled to do so in both matchups against Montreal. If these teams meet in the Grey Cup, they’ll have to find a way to force the Alouettes to keep their throws underneath.
Convenient return
Winnipeg’s best return of the season came at an opportune time as Lucky Whitehead shot 54 yards up the middle in the fourth quarter, giving his team’s offence possession at Montreal’s 18-yard line. Tanner Cadwallader, Noah Hallett, and Redha Kramdi all made key blocks to help spring Whitehead, who was caught from behind on a shoe-string tackle by Sean Thomas-Erlington.
LUCKY WHITEHEAD ALMOST GOES ALL THE WAY
The West Division is coming down to the final minutes
#CFLGameday on CTV & RDS
— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024
Terry Wilson scored a touchdown on a two-yard quarterback plunge three plays after the return, making it a two-point game near the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Winnipeg’s return game was terrible to start the year and improved once Whitehead took over the duties in mid-August, though it remained far from spectacular. Before this game, the veteran’s longest punt return of the year was 31 yards. In the fourth quarter of a critical game, Whitehead almost doubled that mark.
Chasing Rolan
Canadian cornerback Tyrell Ford made a crafty play on Montreal’s first offensive snap, stripping Austin Mack of the ball along the sideline and corraling it while trying to keep his feet in bounds. Though he and a handful of teammates petitioned the officials to award him with an interception, the play was ultimately ruled an incompletion and Mike O’Shea didn’t challenge the ruling as Ford may have bobbled the ball while heading out of bounds.
The University of Waterloo product, who was named Winnipeg’s nominee for Most Outstanding Defensive Player this past week, remains one interception shy of Rolan Milligan Jr. for the league lead. With ballots due for divisional awards on Sunday, Ford was surely looking to make a last-ditch effort to sway voters his way.
Ford came close to recording a pick-six with just over two minutes remaining as he knocked away a pass that was intended for Austin Mack. The play took place on a well-timed blitz from Jordan Younger, who rushed only three defenders for most of the game on second downs.
After Winnipeg’s win, the Roughriders announced that Milligan Jr. will not play the team’s regular season finale against Calgary, meaning he will finish the year with a league-leading eight interceptions. Ford has a shot at the nomination but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went to Milligan despite him having this week off.
Milestones
Ontaria Wilson made eight receptions for 83 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark on the season, finishing the year with 71 catches for 1,026 yards and three touchdowns. He’s a legitimate candidate to win Most Outstanding Rookie, though Edmonton linebacker Nick Anderson and Toronto receiver Makai Polk will also receive strong consideration.
Nic Demski surpasses 1000 receiving yards on the season in style.
Congratulations to @Demski9!#CFL pic.twitter.com/i4BDznwLci
— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024
Nic Demski also surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on Saturday, making an incredible 54-yard catch midway through the third quarter to finish the year with 76 receptions for 1,045 yards and five touchdowns. Fellow Winnipeg native Brady Oliveira had a quiet day, managing only 46 yards from scrimmage on 14 touches to finish the year with 1,353 rushing yards, 476 receiving yards, and four touchdowns.
Zach Collaros set a new career high with 4,336 yards on the season, which he chalked up to staying healthy and playing a lot of games. He threw 17 touchdown passes on the year — 16 fewer than last year — while matching last season’s total of 15 interceptions.
Rookie blocker
The Alouettes made a late change to their lineup as Donny Ventrelli started at right tackle in place of Jamar McGloster, who was limited in practice on Thursday due to a hand injury. McGloster was only supposed to be in the starting lineup because Joshua Donovan, who started Montreal’s first 17 regular season games at right tackle, suffered a serious knee injury during last week’s loss to B.C.
Teams typically look to take advantage of inexperienced opponents and Ventrelli, a college teammate of Saskatchewan Roughriders’ first-round 2024 CFL Draft pick Kyle Hergel, had never started a CFL game before Saturday. Winnipeg didn’t generate much pressure off Montreal’s right side with TyJuan Garbutt making the team’s lone sack after beating left tackle Nick Callender one-on-one early in the fourth quarter.
OMG @KenzieTSN
@DuaneFordeTSN #CFLGameday on CTV & RDS
— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024
Happy Halloween
TSN sideline reporter Kenzie Lalonde did a hit during the second quarter dressed as Duane Forde, harkening back to his days as a member of the Blue Bombers in 1993. Her costume was extremely detailed as she was dressed from head to toe in team-issued regalia, including a blue No. 37 Forde uniform.
Lalonde credited Winnipeg equipment manager Brad Fotty for his help putting the outfit together and he deserved it. Equipment managers work tirelessly — particularly for away games — so it says a lot about Fotty that he was willing to go above and beyond to help Lalonde with her Halloween costume. Kudos all around.
Walking wounded
Brian Cole II left the game midway through the first quarter but returned without missing much time. Given how many injuries Winnipeg has suffered in their linebacking corps this season, I’m sure his coaches breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear he was ready to go back in the game after receiving attention from trainers.
Rookie defensive tackle Jamal Woods went down near the end of the first quarter, though he also returned to the game before long. He left the game again in the third quarter, however, as he appeared to favour his left hamstring. If he returned, I didn’t see him out there.
Ontaria Wilson went down on Winnipeg’s final offensive drive, appearing to favour his midsection. TSN commentator Duane Forde speculated that Wilson had been struck in a sensitive area, which was likely the case as he returned to the game moments later appearing no worse for wear.
Horns up
The Manitoba Bisons have finished atop the Canada West standings following a 51-38 win over the UBC Thunderbirds for the first time since 2007, which also happens to be the last time the team won the Vanier Cup. The Herd will host the Regina Rams next weekend for a chance to advance to the Hardy Cup, which the team hasn’t won since 2014.
Manitoba beat Regina at Princess Auto Stadium earlier this year by a score of 22-13 as Stephen Adamopoulos made a game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter. This weekend’s playoff game will take place on Friday, Nov. 1 or Saturday, Nov. 2, so stay tuned to the team’s website for scheduling details.
Next up
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers (11-7) will host the West Final for the fourth straight season on Saturday, Nov. 9 with kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m. EDT. The visiting team will be the winner of the West Semi-Final between the B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders, who will play Saturday, Nov. 2 in Regina.
The post Winnipeg Blue Bombers channel Dorothy, ride wind home for West Final (& 11 other thoughts) appeared first on 3DownNation.
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