‘We let it slip away’

MONTREAL — The locker room is always eerily quiet after a playoff loss.

You’ll see players sitting in their stalls in disbelief, some with tears building up in their eyes.

But on Saturday night at Percival Molson Stadium, you could tell it stung a little more than usual for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Nobody outside the organization expected them to beat the Montreal Alouettes. But for a brief moment, it looked like they were going to pull off one of the most improbable upsets in franchise history and punch their ticket to the Grey Cup.

Instead, it all came crashing down, and the mighty, ever-dangerous Alouettes will play for the CFL’s top prize next week in Calgary after all.

Despite a valiant effort, the Bombers fell 33-23 in the East Division final.

“We had them right where we wanted them and we let it slip away,” said running back Brady Oliveira.

Down 26-23 with less than four minutes to go, the Bombers were marching down the field and appeared poised to take their first lead of the game.

And then …

“You string together some success and then you shoot yourself in the foot at the worst possible time,” said quarterback Zach Collaros.

That’s exactly what happened. Als linebacker Tyrice Beverette strip-sacked Collaros and recovered the loose ball at Montreal’s 34-yard line.

Beverette slipped past receiver Nic Demski before coming up behind Collaros and forcing the pivotal turnover.

“I had to be more stout and he made a good play,” said Demski.

“It just sucks.”

The Als managed just six points on their previous five possessions, but they came to life at the most inopportune time for Winnipeg. Quarterback Davis Alexander orchestrated an eight-play, 76-yard drive, capped by a 21-yard touchdown strike to Tyler Snead with 1:16 remaining.

Alexander and running back Stevie Scott III accounted for 37 rushing yards on the drive to set up the game-clinching score.

“Montreal did exactly what they needed to do to keep the sticks moving,” said defensive end Willie Jefferson.

“Just to see the way it ended, that’s the only thing that makes it hurt so much.”

Before kickoff, the Bombers were listed as 10.5-point underdogs. Had they defied the odds and advanced, they would have made history as the first crossover team to reach Grey Cup Sunday.

“I was fantasizing, for sure. Just thinking about how good it would be for us to cross over and make it through,” said Jefferson.

“But you know, it came to a halt after the turnover.”

The story all week was whether Collaros (ribs) would even be able to play. Thirty minutes before kickoff, it was officially announced that the 38-year-old would get the start after all.

He declined to provide further details afterward about the nature of his injury.

Collaros finished 21-for-27 for 228 yards and no touchdowns.

“He’s a warrior. I have nothing but love and respect for that man and his play showed it tonight,” said Demski. “He hung in there and was delivering dimes. It’s just an unfortunate way for it to end.”

Collaros is in the final year of his contract. There’s a possibility Saturday was his last game as a Bomber — and potentially as a professional football player. The same could be said for several of his veteran teammates.

“It’s tough to talk about that kind of stuff right now,” said an emotional Collaros. “There’s some guys that have played a lot of football together.”

The Als weren’t phased by Collaros being activated at the last minute whatsoever.

“To be honest with you, I called that earlier in the week,” said Als head coach Jason Maas.

“There wasn’t a chance in hell I thought Zach wasn’t going to play.”

Oliveira was brilliant, rushing 14 times for 105 yards on the evening, but the passing attack was virtually non-existent through the first two quarters with Collaros managing just 63 yards through the air. Demski, Dorian Singer and Ontaria Wilson had combined for just one receiving yard on two targets at that point.

And yet, the Bombers remained within striking distance, trailing 23-10 at the break.

“At halftime, I really thought we had them,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “The guys battled and clawed and got us close, but against a very good football team, we just gotta be better.”

The defence kept Winnipeg in the game by forcing Montreal to settle for four field goals in the opening 30 minutes, including one following an Oliveira fumble at midfield.

“Obviously, I think we’ve made it hard on ourselves quite a few times this season and today we saw it. Offensively, we made it hard on ourselves in the first half,” said Oliveira.

“I thought our defence was great, special teams unit was great, but offensively, we’ve gotta do more. I want to be a high-scoring, exciting offence and I just think we weren’t.”

The defence could only limit Alexander for so long. The CFL’s Most Outstanding Player went 23-for-35 for 373 yards and two touchdowns. The CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian, Tyson Philpot, hauled in nine catches on 15 targets for 129 yards.

The Bombers trailed 20-3 with 2:30 remaining in the first half but managed to stay in the fight thanks to a 37-yard return by Trey Vaval. Four plays later, short-yardage quarterback Bryce Perkins plunged into the end zone to make it 20-10.

Perkins scored again in the fourth quarter, followed by a 30-yard Sergio Castillo field goal —after Collaros just missed Demski in the end zone — to pull the Bombers within three at 26-23.

On numerous occasions this season — including last week’s East Division semifinal in Toronto — the Bombers found ways to win despite failing to put together a complete performance over four quarters.

But against a 14-4 Alouettes team that hasn’t lost at home all season, that’s not going to cut it.

“We believed as soon as we beat Toronto that we were going to come in here and win,” said Demski.

“You can see the vibe in the locker room, I think we still believe that, but we let it get away from us and it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

The Bombers will hold their end-of-season media availability Sunday.

The Alouettes will meet the Edmonton Elks next Sunday for the Grey Cup in Calgary.

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