Is it becoming bad luck to host the Grey Cup game?
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers sure hope not.
After making five consecutive appearances in the title tilt, the Blue Bombers are faltering early in a year in which they’re slated to host the Grey Cup for the first time since 2015.
Just one Grey Cup host — Hamilton in 2021 — has played in the game in the past 10 seasons, and those Tiger-Cats lost to the Blue Bombers. You have to go back to 2013 for a Grey Cup winner at home, the Saskatchewan Roughriders accomplished the feat that year, capping a run of three consecutive championship wins for the host team.
The 2025 Blue Bombers have dropped to 3-3 after losing three in a row, all by double digits, including a 31-17 decision last week in Toronto against a struggling Argos team in a 2024 Grey Cup rematch.
The Argos (2-5) carry the momentum into Friday’s return date in Winnipeg, where the Blue Bombers won’t have star quarterback Zach Collaros after he was removed at halftime last week because of a neck injury.
The two-time CFL most outstanding player also left the team’s previous game because of a neck injury, which has to raise concerns about the 36-year-old, even though coach Mike O’Shea said this week he doesn’t expect Collaros to be out for long. Veteran Chris Streveler is expected to start in Collaros’ absence.
With or without Collaros, the Blue Bombers just haven’t been good enough.
“Once again, I see an entire team that has taken turns making mistakes,” O’Shea told reporters this week when asked about the struggles of Collaros, who has seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions this year.
“I think the QB is … given too much credit for losses and wins possibly. There’s lots that goes in to any football play. The best part about our game is 12 guys have to be doing the right thing all the time.”
Twelve guys have not been doing the right thing much of the time for the Bombers, who are third in the West and looking well up at the Roughriders (6-1) and Calgary Stampeders (5-2).
The Bombers have key injuries — Collaros, receiver Dalton Schoen and offensive lineman Stanley Bryant, to name a few — but most teams have had similar health woes.
Winnipeg simply has to take better care of the football after committing a league-high 22 turnovers this season. Defensively, the Blue Bombers rank in the middle of the league in many key categories, which makes sense for a .500 team.
“We’re not happy with these results the last couple of weeks,” star running back Brady Oliveira said. “It’s super uncharacteristic of this organization, this locker room.”
But it’s not like the Blue Bombers are in uncharted territory.
Last year, the team was 0-4 and 2-6 before surging to the finish line to capture first in the West at 11-7.
“It’s such a long season,” Oliveira said. “Right now is not the time to panic and not the time to start freaking out or worrying about the three losses in a row. There’s still so much time left. We’re going to start clicking, it’s just a matter of time. Once we start clicking, who says we can’t go on a nice little run, a nice little heater.”
It’s very important, though, for that run to start Friday night against an Argos team still missing injured star quarterback Chad Kelly.
After this game, five of Winnipeg’s next six contests are against teams in the top four in the league standings.
The Blue Bombers need to re-establish their usual home dominance on Friday to give them a spark heading into a difficult stretch.
“There’s not really been any concern in this locker room that I feel,” Oliveira said. “There’s still so much belief. And guys are excited to come to work.”
Speaking of daunting schedules, the league-leading Roughriders are about to find out just how good they actually are.
Saturday’s game in Montreal starts a stretch of six consecutive games in which the Roughriders don’t face a team with a losing record.
“I think every coach has their own process and how they do things and being able to break down opponents going forward,” Roughriders coach Corey Mace said. “On a personal level, my brain, we’re just so locked in on the task at hand. We try not to get too full ahead of ourselves because we need all our attention focused on the (next opponent).”
The Week 9 finale definitely is the marquee duel of the week.
Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris, 39, goes back to Montreal to face his former team, which counters with fellow veteran pivot McLeod Bethel-Thompson, 37, with starter Davis Alexander on the IL.
Bethel-Thompson faces a Roughriders team that notched eight sacks last week in a win over the Edmonton Elks. What’s more, the Roughriders also held the Elks to 25 rushing yards.
NFL veteran QB P.J. Walker makes his first career CFL start on Thursday night for the Calgary Stampeders in Ottawa after Vernon Adams Jr. went out with a head injury.
Walker’s last start came as a Cleveland Brown on Oct. 29, 2023. He completed 15-of-31 passes for 248 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in a 24-20 loss at Seattle.
Walker, 30, is 5-4 as a starter in his NFL career.
Thursday, July 31: Calgary Stampeders (5-2) at Ottawa Redblacks (1-6), 7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 1: Toronto Argonauts (2-5) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3-3), 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, Aug. 2: Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-2) at Edmonton Elks (1-5), 3 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. MT
Saturday, Aug. 2: Saskatchewan Roughriders (6-1) at Montreal Alouettes (5-2), 7 p.m. ET
