Bombers leaving latest loss in the past

Winnipeg Free Press

5 days ago

Who had the Winnipeg Blue Bombers going 0-3 against the Calgary Stampeders on their 2025 bingo card?
'It happened. It is what it is,' said receiver Nic Demski after Tuesday's closed practice.
'At the end of the day, you just gotta look at yourself in the mirror, watch the film, be critcial and move on. There's a lot of football left to be played. There's another half to the season to be played, so, we just got to lock in and play our brand of football.'
Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Bombers receiver Nic Demski (right) says the team has to 'lock in and play our brand of football.'
Their most recent shortcoming against their West Division foe was the most heartbreaking of them all as they allowed Calgary to prevail 28-27 on Saturday at McMahon Stadium.
Before the Stamps sent their fans home happy, it looked like the visitors were going to have their arms raised in victory thanks to the heroics of kicker Sergio Castillo. With just over a minute remaining, Castillo booted a CFL record-tying 63-yard field goal to give the Bombers a 26-25 edge.
'Well, I gotta credit my mother-in-law because she's here now taking care of my (son). I ate about 25 flour tortillas last week so that's probably what all the extra weight came from cause I usually weigh 203 and I was weighing 207 in pregame,' joked Castillo. 'So, credit to her for making all those tortillas. I wake up at five, six in the morning and there's fresh homemade tortillas and I come back home from practice, and I pound another five or six.'
The elation Castillo felt – although he didn't know he tied Paul McCallum's 2001 record until he saw all the messages on his phone in the locker room — didn't last for long. He hoofed the ensuing kickoff into the end zone which allowed Calgary to give Winnipeg a point in exchange for starting their game-winning drive at their 40-yard line.
Four plays later, the Stamps trotted out René Paredes to drill a 40-yarder for the win.
'I just didn't come through at the end with the kickoff how I would've liked. It kind of dampers a bit on the field goal. I think maybe later on, as time goes by, I'll be able to embrace it,' said Castillo.
'(On the kickoff) I went with the mindset I'm just going to tap it, and if you look at my follow through, I barely even hurdle through, but I connected it so pure, just like I did with the field goal as well, but the intention was to tap it and get it to the 10, but it took off and that's on me.'
The Bombers (4-4) don't have much time to dwell on what happened as they're on a quick turnaround. They host their old pal Dru Brown and the Ottawa Redblacks (3-6) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
It's not a lot of time for this Bombers' offence to find the answers to their problems. They rank dead last in passing yards, last in QB efficiency rating (89.1), eighth in second-down conversion rate (46.1 per cent), sixth in explosive plays, and first in turnovers committed.
Inconsistent quarterback play and a lack of receiving threats with Dalton Schoen injured have played a role, but that doesn't give first-year offensive co-ordinator Jason Hogan a pass. Hogan had his troops rolling through the first three weeks, but it's been a different story now that they've lost four of their last five.
The Bombers were held to 62 yards of net offence in the final two quarters on Saturday.
'I got full confidence in him still,' said running back Brady Oliveira.
'There's been great glimpses of him as a playcaller, and maybe some that aren't so great. But there's going to be ups and downs and we all need to be there to support him and have his back and understand that we'll be OK. He'll get through this.'
The defence is facing adversity as well. Two weeks ago, strong-side corner Jamal Parker went down with a leg injury, and he won't be ready to play against Ottawa. Then there's weak-side corner Terrell Bonds who was carted off on the weekend with a knee injury. Head coach Mike O'Shea said Tuesday they expect Bonds to be out for a while.
'Obviously, you feel for Terrell Bonds… It's just sad for him,' said safety Redha Kramdi. 'I know he'll attack recovery hard and try and get back as fast as possible and be as healthy as he can, but there's nothing we can do about it.'
Before the injuries, the secondary was already having issues as they're coughing up the third most passing yards per game, have been exploited 18 times on passing plays that have equalled 30 yards or more, and rank eighth in interceptions with just six.
'It's a numbers game. Sometimes they look good, and sometimes they look bad,' said halfback Deatrick Nichols.
'Everybody's gonna get beat or give up a play, it's just all about the timing and everything like that. The numbers can say what they say, but we just have to work on when those plays happen for us. We just got to learn how to make them plays.'
Making plays this week won't be easy considering Brown is coming in hot after tossing five touchdowns in Saturday's 46-42 shootout win over Toronto.
'That's one thing about this sport, you have to prove who you are each and every week,' said Nichols. 'And that's one thing we're trying to do this week is prove who we are, bounce back, and get a win.'
Bombers cut veteran
Thursdays
Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.
Winnipegger
The Bombers released long snapper Mike Benson on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old from Winnipeg suffered an injury in the season opener which put him on the injured list for five contests. He's been a healthy scratch the last two games as rookie Ian Leroux out of Laval has run away with the job.
Benson, who joined his hometown Bombers in 2021, has played 158 career games with stops in Edmonton, B.C., and Ottawa since arriving in the CFL in 2012.
[e-mail]
Taylor AllenReporter
Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.
Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.