By Sam Cortes, Communications Coordinator
The artifacts pictured above are game-worn jerseys from the Blue Bombers’ 2019 season.
At the end of the regular season, the Blue Bombers knew they had the unenviable task of trying to win on the road in Calgary, and then Saskatchewan – known as a graveyard for past Blue Bombers teams.
It’s easy to see how doubt could have crept into the minds of fans, myself included, and that our optimism about our chances to win the Grey Cup was not at an all-time high.
The Road Less Travelled
It was a cold, brisk day in Calgary when the whistle blew, to signal kickoff and the start of the game.
The Blue and Gold started off as the slower of the two teams and was trailing at the end of the first half 14-8.
The start of the second half though, the Bombers hunkered down and played excellent defense, shutting out the Stampeders. Mixing in splash plays in the run and pass allowed the Bombers to cruise to the Western Finals with a 35-14 win.
In the Western Finals, the Blue Bombers came out firing on all cylinders, playing hard-nosed defense and taking their opportunities on offense. They carried an 11-4 lead going into the second half of the game.
They did what they had to do for the majority of the second half, but got a little complacent in the fourth quarter.
Saskatchewan managed to get a couple very fortunate bounces as they tried to orchestrate a fourth quarter comeback.
They marched down the field in the last minute of the game to potentially tie it.
Alas, the day belonged to the Blue Bombers as they stymied Saskatchewan inside the 10-yard line and punched their ticket to the Grey Cup finals with a 20-13 win.
Grey Cup Champions
There seemed to be a bit of destiny riding on the shoulders of this team after winning their last two playoff games on the road.
Could they be the team that stopped the 29-year Grey Cup drought in Winnipeg and started the next dynasty decade?
They were up against a formidable opponent, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. That didn’t intimidate them, though. Once the game started, it was all business and they were building up capital right from the start.
By the end of the first half, the Bombers stunned the Tiger-Cats to the tune of a 21-6 lead. One more dominant half of football and the Bombers broke a 29-year drought.
The second half was anti-climatic, but not because there weren’t any great plays. The Bombers played so well, that Hamilton was never really in the game and by the time the final whistle blew, the Bombers had built up a 33-12 lead, becoming Grey Cup champions once again.
