The word “dismay” falls short of describing the state of mind that prevailed Sunday in the locker room of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, unfortunate Gray Cup finalists for the second year in a row.
In Manitoba, many fans expected their favorite team to make up for their 1-point loss to the Toronto Argonauts a year earlier. The bookies and most observers shared this opinion: After all, head coach Mike O’Shea’s team had maintained a 14-4 record in the regular season, manhandling the Alouettes twice.
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However, the Canadian Football League Western Section champions couldn’t contain quarterback Cody Fajardo’s momentum on the Sparrows’ final offensive sequence at the end of the game, and the 28-24 loss will linger in their minds for the rest of the game. ‘Winter.
“It’s just sad and disappointing,” Bombers center Zach Collaros told the media, fighting back tears. You play to win the game, to win the last game of the year and we came up short. As a team, Montreal did better than us. I’m really sad because there are a lot of good people here and you don’t want to let people down. It’s terrible.”
The feeling of helplessness was evident in running back Brady Oliveira, who ran for 119 yards and a touchdown. The Canadian player par excellence sobbed as he expressed his dismay.
“The season I played this year was a total failure. I didn’t achieve what I wanted. I hadn’t set any individual goals for myself. I wanted to help the club and my city win a championship. “We didn’t get the job done,” he said, the Winnipeg Sun reported.
Looking for answers
There is certainly disappointment on O’Shea’s part, even though he described the game as “entertaining” for the crowd. It remains that analyzing failure requires time and more reason than emotion. “Everything still needs to be clarified. “You have to figure out what explains why you win or lose and then follow the process,” he said on TSN.
If the bomber pilot wants to identify the missing elements, he can look towards the defense. Without being mediocre, it broke down at the most inopportune moments.
“The touchdown at the start of the second half [sur un attrapé de 23 verges de Cole Spieker] and that at the end [inscrit par Tyson Philpot], these are the two plays that allowed them to win the game. We have to give them the credit they deserve,” defensive end Willie Jefferson said.