Win to get in is where it begins — and ends — for Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Nic Demski (centre) said Monday the scenario for Friday's game in Vancouver sets up like a playoff game, and the team needs to 'put it all together.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
IT’S now or never for the 2026 edition of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
For weeks, if not months, they’ve been talking about what they need to do to become a consistently good football team.
We’ve heard endless clichés — things like, “We just gotta look ourselves in the mirror” and “We just have to execute better” — but time and time again, nothing has changed. Now, the clock is about to hit zero, and they find themselves at serious risk of watching the playoffs from the couch.
“I didn’t think, obviously, we’d be in a situation like this,” admitted quarterback Zach Collaros after Monday’s practice at Fort Garry Lions Field. “But we are.”
The 8-9 Bombers blew an opportunity to clinch a post-season berth on the weekend in Edmonton. Now, it all comes down to Friday’s regular-season finale in Vancouver.
If the Bombers knock off the B.C. Lions (10-7), they’re in. If they lose, they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015 and the Calgary Stampeders will take their spot.
It’s quite the predicament for a team that entered the season with such high expectations.
If the Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders (who play Saturday vs. Edmonton) both win this week, Winnipeg will finish fourth in the West and cross over to face the Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Semifinal. The Bombers need a win and a Riders loss to finish third and face B.C. in the Western Semifinal.
At this point, beggars can’t be choosers.
“I don’t know if (a season) ever goes how you envision it,” said defensive tackle Jake Ceresna.
“There’s always going to be challenges... To think otherwise is to just be kind of ignorant of the future. The great news is we’re in position to get to the playoffs. Win and we’re in, I mean, I’ll take that every year.”
With such a large sample size, this might simply be who the Bombers are: a team capable of impressing in stretches but not nearly consistent enough to compete with the league’s best and win on a weekly basis.
“For sure, that is the tale of this year so far,” said receiver Nic Demski.
“But I think that’s the key thing: so far. When the playoffs start, it’s a whole brand new season. Right now, even though it’s the regular season, our mindset is this is the playoffs, this is a must-win game. We gotta put it all together. And when you have that type of opportunity, you can still grab the bull by the horns and create your own destiny.”
Their latest loss followed a familiar script. The Bombers stormed out to a 21-10 lead over Edmonton in the first half, only to falter after the break and lose 35-27.
“I’m tired of it, I’m pretty sure everybody else on the team is tired of it as well — coaches included,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson.
“We go out there and we (play well) for the first half, then we come back for the second half and we’re not able to duplicate it or finish up on it.”
The hourglass is down to the last few grains of sand, but Jefferson insists it’s not too late to turn things around.
“Nobody wants to go home early,” he said. “I feel like once we get the win this week and get into the playoffs, things will start clicking. We get the monkey off the back from the season, and we flush the regular season, then we can just focus on playoffs.”
The Bombers are catching a significant break this week.
The Lions have locked up the No. 2 seed in the West and are expected to rest key starters, including quarterback Nathan Rourke.
However, Winnipeg learned the hard way that B.C. can still be dangerous without Rourke. Led by rookie quarterback Kaidon Salter in his first career start, the Lions embarrassed the Bombers 35-19 in Winnipeg in Week 9.
But Salter did play the final two quarters of B.C.’s 32-13 loss in Calgary on the weekend and struggled, completing just six-of-14 passes for 113 yards and an interception.
“That was one of the most sour tastes we had in our mouth throughout one of the games this year,” said linebacker Tony Jones.
“We want to go out there and not let these things get out of hand again and go out there and put a beating on those boys and go into the playoffs with some mojo.”
But even if the Bombers do squeak in, do they really have what it takes to go on a run?
“We’re a better team than we were at the beginning of the season,” said head coach Mike O’Shea.
“Have we strung together a full 60 minutes? Ah, you know, a few times this year, but we’ve strung together a whole hell of a lot of good halves, and then some not-so-good halves. And this is the time where we have to do it. You just believe in the amount of work these guys do that this is going to happen.”