The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are 0-2 for the first time since 2016, after losing 23-19 to the RedBlacks.

For the second straight game to start the 2024 season, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers looked nothing like the dominant squad the league has grown to expect over the last several seasons. The Bombers lost 23-19 to the Ottawa RedBlacks, falling to 0-2 on the season for the first time since 2016. It’s also the first time they’ve lost consecutive games since the 2021 season.

The Bombers rallied from a 13-point hole to lead by one point midway through the fourth quarter, but former Bombers quarterback Dru Brown found Justin Hardy in the back of the end zone with seven minutes left to give Ottawa the lead for good. “I thought the first half we could have stayed on the field a little longer,” said head coach Mike O’Shea on the 680 CJOB postgame show. “I liked the second half. I loved how the men presented an opportunity to win it. I felt we gave ourselves a fair chance. It did not work out.”

Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros had another disappointing game, throwing for 285 yards, two interceptions, and no touchdowns. He has yet to pass for a touchdown in two games this season and was unable to complete a potential game-winning drive in the dying moments. “Obviously, we need to improve offensively,” Collaros remarked. “There’s no secret. It begins with me. I need to do a better job of finishing balls and not putting ourselves in poor circumstances. I need to find a method to get us into a groove.”

Collaros was sacked three times, and the Bombers had only 42 running yards, but O’Shea refused to blame his offensive line for the team’s offensive difficulties.

“I’m not going to be able to answer until we go through the film,” he replied. “Are you discussing protections? Are the routes the correct depth? Are the guys in the right place at the right time? All that sort of stuff. “There’s a lot that goes into it than just trying to point the finger at something, at one group really.”

Keric Wheatfall was the Bombers’ leading receiver in his debut CFL start replacing the injured Kenny Lawler. He finished with three catches for 111 yards, the most of which came in the third quarter on a 76-yard catch. “We didn’t start so fast,” Wheatfall told the 680 CJOB post-game show. “We picked it up a little bit in the second half, but we just need to play a complete game as a team and just do more.”

Winnipeg fell behind early, 10-0 after one quarter on a 12-yard Lewis Ward field goal and a one-yard Dustin Crum touchdown run. Another Ward kick, this time from 31 yards out, gave Ottawa a 13-0 lead in the second quarter, before the Bombers eventually scored on a 45-yard Sergio Castillo field goal with 7:16 remaining in the half. With little over two minutes left in the half, the Bombers finally scored, with Johnny Augustine scoring on a four-yard touchdown run to trim the advantage to 13-10.

Ottawa added another Ward field goal from 34 yards out, making the score 16-10 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Bombers took the lead for the first time in the game on a 2-yard touchdown run by Chris Streveler with 5:48 remaining, set up by a 76-yard pass to Wheatfall. But Ottawa took the lead with 7:52 left in the fourth quarter when Brown found Hardy for a two-yard touchdown. In a student-versus-teacher matchup, Brown outperformed Collaros, passing for 238 yards and a touchdown.

With Winnipeg behind 23-17 and driving down the field, the game was delayed for approximately an hour due to thunderstorms in the region. Despite the delay, the Bombers went as near as the Ottawa seven-yard line but were unable to punch it in.