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“We just let them hang around the game,” Neufeld said. “They’re a team that believes in what they’re doing and they had the utmost trust in themselves and what they can accomplish. Hats off to them. They went out there when no one else thought they could do it and they went out and did it.

“This is a massive thing for us to learn from.”

WILLIE TAMED

Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson had just one tackle on Saturday in one of his least productive performances of the season.

Like the rest of the Bombers defensive linemen, Jefferson looked stymied as to how to deal with Alouettes quarterback Vernon Adams, Jr., who continually got out of the pocket to extend plays and make big throws downfield.

Adams finished with 488 passing yards and four touchdown tosses.

“The majority of the time we had good coverage down the field but him getting out of the pocket, it’s hard to stop him,” Jefferson said. “We’ve got to contain him and when we did contain him, we got him on the ground, made it hard for him to find receivers, knocked balls down and everything.

“But the passes he did complete were big passes.”

As for the stunning collapse and lost that prevented the Bombers from earning their 10th win of the season, Jefferson offered some perspective.

Photo by Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS

“These losses that are supposed to be wins, when we come out here and take an L the way we did … it’s tough,” Jefferson said.

“But we’re still in a good position in the West.”

At 9-4, the Bombers are tied with the Calgary Stampeders for first place in the West. They still control their own destiny as three of their remaining games are against the Stampeders and the 8-4 Saskatchewan Roughriders.