The Winnipeg Blue Bombers should get a big boost for a critical game with the return of their most important player.
Whether it's enough to extend the CFL's longest active playoff streak remains to be seen.
Quarterback Zach Collaros, a two-time winner of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player award, has been cleared to return from a head injury and will start Saturday against the visiting Calgary Stampeders (8-8) after missing the past two games.
It could wind up being an elimination contest. The winner gets the all-important tiebreaker in the standings. The loser will be last in the five-team West, the only spot that will miss the playoffs in the division due to the crossover rule.
Winnipeg (7-8) has reached the playoffs the past nine seasons, including a five-season run of appearances in Grey Cup games with Collaros, 38, at the helm from 2019-24.
"It's not over yet. We're where we need to be right now ... Everything we want to accomplish is still right in front of us, so this week is a big one," Collaros told reporters Thursday.
"We can still accomplish the goal and the goal is winning the Grey Cup. We still have the ability to do that. I think you can't really judge the entire season until the end."
But there's no doubt this is an unusual position for the Blue Bombers, who never have been in much danger of missing the playoffs in the final few weeks of a season this decade. Winnipeg's minus-36 point differential is better than only CFL bottom-feeders Hamilton and Ottawa.
The Blue Bombers went 0-2 with Dru Brown replacing Collaros the last two weeks and 2-2 with Brown earlier this year when Collaros was sidelined with a neck injury.
Winnipeg is 5-4 with Collaros starting, so he clearly makes a difference, even if he isn't putting up the numbers he did in his 2021 and '22 MOP campaigns.
"He's been obviously very, very good in this league for a long time," Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea said. "That kind of experience, nothing's too big for him ... When guys are in the huddle with him, he gives them confidence."
But while the Bombers have to be thrilled Collaros is returning, there is concern among some fans because of his history of head injuries.
It was a head injury suffered in the 2019 season opener with the Saskatchewan Roughriders that ultimately ended his time with that team, leading to him ending up with Winnipeg later that year and capturing an improbable Grey Cup.
"I appreciate peoples' concern and care, especially our fans, but when you've dealt with some of the things I've had to deal with, you don't make the decision lightly. I feel very comfortable with the decision I made to play this week and we have as an organization," said Collaros, who added he wants to keep playing in 2027.
The Blue Bombers defence, meanwhile, has to figure out how to slow down red-hot Stamps quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who has back-to-back CFL player-of-the-week honours and has guided the team to three wins in a row. Calgary is averaging a league-best 35.75 points per game.
The Blue Bombers had no answer for the high-powered Montreal Alouettes offence last week in a 37-10 loss. If the Winnipeg defence doesn't improve, the team's playoff hopes will be toast.
"Their offence is humming along, they're scoring a lot of points," O'Shea said. "Vernon is taking care of the football, distributing it well.
"Every time I've watched Calgary, even if they've lost, I've thought there is a good football team there. That part hasn't changed."
Winless watch
The Ottawa Redblacks are three losses away from the first 0-18 season in CFL history.
They're heavy underdogs Friday in B.C., where the surging Lions have won their past seven home games against the Redblacks.
However, the remainder of the schedule does offer a glimmer of hope for an elusive victory.
Ottawa's home finale is next week against a Toronto Argonauts team that is locked into second in the East.
The Redblacks' final game is in Hamilton against a Tiger-Cats team that has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson stays as starting QB against B.C., but head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said this week that rookie Bryson Barnes likely will be the main man for the final two games. The Redblacks, who have lost 21 in a row dating back to last season, need to see what they have in the little-used Barnes before the quarterback carousel starts to whirl.
Collaros, Trevor Harris of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Cody Fajardo of the Edmonton Elks and Chad Kelly of the Toronto Argonauts are playing on expiring contracts.
Week 19 schedule
Edmonton Elks (11-4) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-11), Friday, 7 p.m. ET
The Elks can clinch a home playoff game with a win. An Edmonton victory and B.C. loss would lock up first place in the West for the Elks, who are heading to the post-season for the first time since 2019.
Ottawa Redblacks (0-15) at B.C. Lions (9-6), Friday, 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
The Lions can wrap up a playoff berth with a win. B.C. has won eight of its last nine following a 1-5 start.
Calgary Stampeders (8-8) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-8), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
The Stampeders can book a post-season ticket with a win. They're trying to become the first host team to win the Grey Cup since the 2013 Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-7) at Montreal Alouettes (12-3), Monday, 1 p.m. ET
The Als already have clinched first in the East heading into a home-and-home series with Saskatchewan. The reigning Grey Cup champion Roughriders have lost three in a row, all but falling out of the race for first in the West.
