OTTAWA — Dru Brown couldn’t contain his big smile as he walked off the field at TD Place Sunday night.
The 29-year-old quarterback engineered an impressive fourth quarter comeback before leading the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-2) to a 36-34 overtime victory over the winless Ottawa Redblacks.
Brown, who spent the past two seasons in Ottawa, was traded to Winnipeg last month after he was relegated to backup duties behind Jake Maier.
Brown downplayed the significance of the game all week, but admitted this particular victory felt a little sweeter.
“Yeah, definitely feels good, but I’m just happy to be where I’m at and appreciate it,” he said. “I appreciate the people here, and I loved my time here, you know, but I’m looking forward to being in Winnipeg.”
Brown started slowly on Sunday and with the Redblacks leading 26-9 heading into the fourth quarter things didn’t look great for Brown or his Blue Bombers.
Winnipeg’s comeback started with a 39-yard Sergio Castillo field goal. Brown then cut the deficit to 26-19 with 7:15 remaining when he connected with Nic Demski for an eight-yard touchdown pass.
With time winding down, Brown managed to get the Bombers down field and found Ontaria Wilson on the goal-line for a touchdown to tie the game at 32-32 with 63 seconds remaining.
“We just stay in the fight,” said Brown. “Our offence, our defence and our special teams competed all night, and the offence might have been asleep for the first half, but winning looks different every week, and I just appreciate those guys and how they competed all night and gave us a chance.”
Brown finished the game with two touchdowns and 317 yards passing.
In overtime the teams exchanged field goals on each of their first two possessions forcing them into sudden death two-point conversions under the CFL’s new overtime rules.
Ottawa’s Eugene Lewis made an impressive catch under double coverage, but Winnipeg responded with Brown finding Wilson.
Winnipeg took the lead when Brown found Gavin Cobb in nearly the exact same spot. Ottawa wasn’t able to respond and as a result the Redblacks slip to 0-6.
Maier had a solid outing for the Redblacks throwing for 344 yards and one touchdown, but he still hasn’t been able to lead Ottawa to victory and knows many will judge him by his record.
“It’s what you sign up for and you mostly ignore it,” admitted Maier. “I mean, that’s the truth. I think you mostly just don’t pay too much attention to it.”
Maier admitted the criticism bothered him more when he was younger but now understands it’s part of the game.
Strangely enough, Brown came to Maier’s defence. The two remain close and talk on a regular basis.
“He (Maier) fought his ass off,” Brown said. “He’s a really good player. He doesn’t get enough credit in my opinion. I know how that can be tough when you play that well and then you don’t get the win.”
Ottawa heads into a bye week and while he will take some personal time head coach Ryan Dinwiddie knows there’s plenty of work ahead before they face the East Division-leading Montreal Alouettes on July 31.
“We’re in a win-loss result business and we’re rebuilding it a bit,” said Dinwiddie. “I know we had high expectations in here and we built a roster we thought we could win with, and we still believe in those guys.”
There were improvements in Ottawa’s game, but once again they failed to put together a full 60-minute effort. Four dropped interceptions will be something they’ll be sure to think about. Failing to convert on three chances with the ball on the goal line was unacceptable, too.
Dinwiddie knows things won’t get any easier and players are experiencing frustration, but he’s proud of how they haven’t allowed it to fracture the group.
“They’ve stuck together,” he said. “It’s tough man. We’re going to search for some answers. We looked at some things from last week and there’s some things we’ll do differently.”
UP NEXT
Blue Bombers: Host the Calgary Stampeders on Friday.
Redblacks: Host the Montreal Alouettes on Friday, July 31.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2026.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press
