Playoffs On the Line

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will spend their bye week waiting and then watching.

And when they return to work, the football club will know exactly where it stands.

There might be a slim chance to qualify for the playoffs or game 18 in Toronto will be absolutely meaningless.

As of today, the Blue Bombers quest to play in the 103rd Grey Cup at home is totally out of their hands.

Henry Burris' one-yard touchdown plunge with 45 seconds left lifted the Ottawa RedBlacks to a 27-20 victory over Winnipeg Saturday at Investors Group Field.

“We're living in a world of hope now,” said Winnipeg head coach Mike O'Shea. “It's a tough place to be but we've got to wait and see. I have no doubt in my mind that our guys are going to work hard and play this last game we've got hard. Hopefully it's a meaningful game.”

Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols, who was sacked six times, tossed touchdown passes to Darvin Adams and Nick Moore.

The difference was the time of possession battle which went to the RedBlacks.

Ottawa's offense was on the field for 38:06.

That's going to happen when you gain 128 yards on the ground compared to just 19 for Winnipeg.

“You've got to tip your hats to them,” said Bombers linebacker Jamaal Westerman. “They're a very good team. They battled, they were down and they kept battling. We just didn't play good enough. It's on us. It's on the players. We were good enough to win this game and we just didn't do it.”

Once again Winnipeg's offense struggled in the first quarter.

“We started off a little better than last week,” said running back Cameron Marshall. “We still got to finish drives offensively. Our defensive gave us a lot of opportunities today creating turnovers. We just got to not have turnovers of our own, finish drives and just be better.”

The bottom line - Winnipeg is 5-12 and B.C. and Montreal are both 6 and 10.

The Blue Bombers, who are heading into the bye week, need help.

The Lions will meet the Argonauts in Toronto next Friday and two days later the Alouettes face the Eskimos in Edmonton.

If B.C. or Montreal win – Winnipeg's playoff aspirations are over.

Simply put the Blue Bombers need the Lions and Alouettes to end the season with two-game losing streaks.