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Tim White in action when the Blue Bombers and Elks met earlier this year in Winnipeg There’s a long-running British documentary series titled ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Roads’ where a pair of celebrities hop in a 4×4 and then traverse nasty stretches ranging from Siberia to Vietnam, the Italian Alps to Zambia and many points in between. The concept is straightforward, but it is one of those rabbit holes a viewer can tumble into for hours while watching. And what in tarnation does this have to do with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, you ask? Well, bear with us here as we weave in our clever little segue… We’re not supposed to do this in these parts — this, being gazing too far ahead beyond what’s there on the horizon — but the Blue Bombers are about to open the second half of the Canadian Football League season with a nasty stretch of games that could define this club’s fortunes. It begins this Friday in Edmonton against the Elks — 7-3 and in first place in the West Division — followed by a home date with the top team in the East in the 8-1 Montreal Alouettes and then the annual Labour Day Classic/Banjo Bowl back-to-back with the defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders, who sit at 6-3. That’s a run which features the CFL’s three best teams with a combined won-lost record of 21-7 for a .750 winning percentage. Hello. So, call the next month the Blue Bombers very own series of Most Dangerous Roads as they venture into a nasty gauntlet of games. “The next four games — this one, Montreal and then back-to-back against Sask — are big,” said veteran defensive end Willie Jefferson in a chat with bluebombers.com on Wednesday. “Yes, we want to go 1-0 each week but if we can win these it would put us back up in the top in the West. We want it to snowball into a positive direction. “It’s not about looking too far into the future but the best teams are the ones that get hot going into the playoffs. This would be the perfect time to start doing that.” The Blue Bombers second half schedule features two more games against the Roughriders, Elks and Alouettes with single meetings against Calgary, B.C. and Toronto. Winnipeg’s final three games are also against three West opponents in Calgary, Edmonton and B.C. Critical now is to start making some inroads to set up those end of season contests. “We’re right where we need to be — not where we want to be, but we can still get to where we want to be,” said cornerback Jonathan Moxey. “We’ve still got to play every team in the West, some of them multiple times, so we’ve got to go out and win games. “Having said that, if you look too far ahead, you can forget what’s right in front of you. You want to lock in and right now we’ve got a divisional opponent, and this is our most important game of the schedule.” Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, not surprisingly, stiff-armed the notion of Friday being a ‘measuring stick game’ for the club — even as much as that might be the flavour-of-the-week narrative in these parts. “We would always measure ourselves against ourselves,” he said. “We’ve never looked at a stretch of upcoming games. If you overlook your next opponent, you’re going to be in trouble.” “Every single week when you put on that tape, it’s a measuring stick game,” added Moxey. “You see who you are this week. Last week doesn’t matter. You can have a great game last week and then this week have a horrible game. “Every week is an opportunity.” JAKE SAYS: Blue Bombers defensive tackle Jake Ceresna spoke today about returning to face his old club, the resurgence of the Elks and other topics. Check that interview with the media out here: OUCH UPDATE: Practice was closed to the media on Wednesday, but the daily injury report indicates that RB Brady Oliveira and OL Tui Eli did not participate. Both are listed as questionable, as is SB Nic Demski and TE Dante Daniels, both of whom did practice. The same scenario unfolded last week before Oliveira and Demski authored solid efforts in the win over Ottawa. Asked specifically about Oliveira’s availability, O’Shea said: “I expect him to play. Nothing’s changed.” The news isn’t as good for second-year DB Ethan Ball, who left last week’s game after suffering an Achilles injury. “It’s going to be tough to see him again the rest of the season, for sure,” said O’Shea. “He was another key piece, extremely smart, gifted athletically, hyper-competitive, so that certainly hurts.” Injury Report: August 19, 2026#ForTheW | @DoctorsManitoba pic.twitter.com/AYu0oJzQn5 — Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) August 19, 2026 UPDATE TO THE UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: We told you earlier this week a couple of times about Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo being the new CFL record holder for most 50-plus yards field goals in league history with 41. Check that. The league issued the following explanation in its Game Notes today: