Brown gets crack at former club

There’s no such thing as a free space on the bingo card in the CFL.

Brown gets crack at former club Bombers head into nation’s capital to face a must-win Ottawa team To continue reading, please subscribe: Digital Subscription One year of digital access for only $205* - Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com - Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper - Access News Break, our award-winning app - Play interactive puzzles To continue reading, please subscribe: Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional $1 for the first 4 weeks* There’s no such thing as a free space on the bingo card in the CFL.

Yes, the Ottawa Redblacks have been a complete mess this season, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers can’t afford to take them lightly when they visit TD Place on Sunday (6 p.m. kickoff). The Redblacks dropped to 0-5 last week after getting smacked 40-17 on the road by the Edmonton Elks. Meanwhile, the Bombers are riding high on a two-game winning streak after outlasting the Toronto Argonauts 30-21 at home.

“I think 0-5 teams are dangerous. They’re desperate for a win, they’re hungry for a win, and they’re a good team,” said Bombers defensive lineman Jake Ceresna. “They’ve lost a bunch of close games and their record doesn’t really show who they are.

So, you’ve got to be careful and come in with a mindset that they’re a great team because they are. Just be ready to execute or else you’re gonna end up with a loss. “You can never underestimate an opponent like that.”

To get you ready for the weekend, here’s the latest edition of 5 Storylines. Revenge game No offence to Zach Collaros, but everyone is dying to see Dru Brown get a crack at his former team — and that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Head coach Mike O’Shea officially ruled Collaros (neck) out on Friday, which means the keys to the offence will be handed to Brown for the second week in a row.

You couldn’t ask for a better storyline than this. Brown, who was the starter in Ottawa the past two seasons, had his gig ripped away from him by Ryan Dinwiddie, who was hired in the off-season to take over at head coach and general manager. He battled several injuries and had bouts of inconsistent play during his time in the nation’s capital, so, Dinwiddie wasn’t in the wrong for exploring different options, but Brown wasn’t even given a chance to fight for his job.

The 29-year-old didn’t take a single pre-season snap and Dinwiddie named journeyman Jake Maier — who he signed — the starting pivot a week and a half before the club’s opening game. Ottawa traded a disgruntled Brown to Winnipeg, and after pulling the trigger on the deal, Dinwiddie claimed Brown was a “distraction” and cited a lack of arm strength as the reason why he made Maier the guy over him. Brown chose his words very carefully at the start of the week and downplayed the situation, but you’d have to imagine he’s itching to make Dinwiddie’s decision look silly.

Considering how well Brown played last week — completing 80 per cent of his attempts for 339 yards, one touchdown, and one interception — in his first start since returning to Winnipeg, you could argue he already has. Maier day To be blunt, Jake Maier has been dreadful. The Redblacks rank last in net offence (324.6) and points per game (23.8) and Maier’s fingerprints are all over that.

He’s near the bottom of most quarterback stats and he’s coming off his worst showing of the year, where he threw four interceptions in Edmonton. Ottawa has a veteran in the bullpen in McLeod Bethel-Thompson, but Dinwiddie revealed earlier in the week that he’s sticking with Maier. Maier is completing 66.8 per cent of his passes for 1,372 passing yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.

“We still believe in Jake,” said Dinwiddie on Tuesday. “I have a responsibility that if we feel like there’s a quarterback change that needs to be made to give us a spark, we’ll obviously look into that. I’m not going to put the pressure on Jake and say he’s got a short leash, but if I feel like McLeod is going to give us an opportunity to win the football game, we’ll do that.”

Must win It feels silly to label a game in July as “must-win,” but that’s the situation Ottawa finds themselves in. Four clubs have gone on to qualify for the post-season after stumbling to an 0-5 start (the 2011 B.C. Lions were the last to do it), but to find an 0-6 team that has successfully bounced back, you have to rewind to the 1969 Lions, who went on to squeak into the playoffs with an underwhelming 5-11 record. The Redblacks have obviously struggled, but they did only lose by one score to a pair of contenders this season in Montreal and Saskatchewan.

The Bombers and Redblacks have split the last four meetings in Ottawa. Receiver battle You can expect to see a lot of Ontaria Wilson and Justin Hardy in this one. Last week, Ottawa targeted Hardy a whopping 17 times — a mark that’s been hit only six times dating back to 2018.

The 34-year-old finished with 10 grabs for 114 yards and has now had three consecutive games with 90-plus. Wilson is also coming off a monstrous 10-catch performance with 133 receiving yards against Toronto. He showed immediate chemistry with Brown to end with the second-highest single-receiving total of his career.

The door is also open for Bombers running back Brady Oliveira to steal some of Wilson’s thunder. Ottawa’s defence is surrendering a league-high 135.8 ground yards per game. The Redblacks’ rushing attack has been nonexistent at 57.2 rushing yards per game.

Redblacks starting tailback Greg Bell had just seven carries for 19 yards against the Elks and only has 133 in four games played. ‘Vaval Place’ The last time the Bombers visited Ottawa it ended up being one of the most bizarre games in franchise history. It was Sept. 20, 2025, and the Bombers somehow, someway prevailed 26-18 even though their starting QB that week, Chris Streveler, completed just three passes for 54 yards.

Returner Trey Vaval helped Winnipeg overcome an inept showing by the offence by returning a missed field goal 128 yards for a touchdown at TD Place. That was the franchise record, until, guess who, Vaval broke it against the Argos with a sizzling 129-yarder that got everyone at Princess Auto Stadium on their feet. Winnipeg rolls into Week 6 with the No. 1-ranked special teams unit and it would surprise no one if Vaval made another game-changing play.

For all their flaws, however, Ottawa does boast an impressive special teams squad of their own as they’re currently ranked third in the nine-team loop. They also have a standout returner in Kalil Pimpleton who leads the league in kickoff return yards with 642. He’s on pace for 2,311, which would break Ian Smart’s record from 2008 with the Lions where he had 1,805.

winnipegfreepress.com/taylorallen 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.

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