The Canadian Press
One of the weirdest, craziest, entertaining football games had both fan bases in Winnipeg and Saskatchewan asking the same age old football question.
What are we going to do at quarterback now?
The Riders are on a four game winning streak and with a 7-4 record, and Zach Collaros is 4-1 in games he started and finished. The Riders are 3-3 in games Brandon Bridge has had to start and/or finish.
The biggest word there, is ‘finished’. Injury concerns were already talked about when the Riders first acquired Collaros. He was 0-12 in his last 12 starts but on top of that, Collaros had a major knee injury and concussions.
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The latter wasn’t over looked with the amount of talk about concussions in this day and age and already this season Collaros has admitted to lying to the team about symptoms after a pre-season game and then in Week 2 a hit made Collaros finally come clean. He missed four games.
Now, after the Banjo Bowl that had a lot of Rider Nation praising the defence and their ability to score on two interception for touchdowns and add three other interceptions that didn’t end up in the end zone, we’re back to talking about Collaros’ injury history.
Bombers safety, Jeff Hecht, came free and delivered a hard, clean hit that had Collaros land on his back with his head snapping back.
That same hit was eerily similar to the one that ended Anthony Calvillo’s career when Ricky Foley of the Riders hit him.
Collaros is back in concussion protocol and while it appeared he was fine on the sideline, over the last 48 hours, who knows what Collaros has felt like.
Brandon Bridge was able to drive the team for field goals that resulted in a five point victory but the offensive drop this season between Collaros and Bridge has been noticeable. In games in which Collaros has started and finished the offence has scored over 20 points in four of five games.
In games in which Bridge started, the Riders offence has contributed over 20 points just once in those four games.
For the Riders, the conversation about the team should be whether or not they can chase down the Stamps for first place in the West. Instead, it’s whether or not Collaros is A) healthy B) can stay healthy C) if Bridge still makes the Riders a legit Grey Cup contender.
But it’s a better place to be than at the water cooler in Winnipeg this week, where fans had to watch their quarterbacks throw seven interceptions, with two of them called back, and two others returned for touchdowns.
Matt Nichols was booed again by the fans and while Chris Streveler added a bit of spark to the offence, he was also throwing interceptions.
Head Coach Mike O’Shea and offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice will have some deep conversations during the bye week about which guy gives them the best chance to win.
Because wins have been non-existent for a month. When they get back to action on Sept. 21 against the Alouettes, Winnipeg will be 42 days removed from their last victory.
A team with high hopes at the start of the season and actually, a team with high hopes after starting 5-3, is feeling the BC Lions breathing down its neck for the last playoff spot.
O’Shea is on record that he believes Matt Nichols deserves the chance to prove himself. How many chances does he get following this four-game losing streak?
One more?
How patient and loyal can O’Shea be?
BC has a chance to tie them in the standings this week, while the Bombers are at home regrouping.
Desperate isn’t a word in O’Shea’s vocabulary but everyone else thinks they are with six games left.
Whoever starts at quarterback may indicate how desperate O’Shea feels his team is in need of a win before the season slips away.
