Veteran QB Zach Collaros leading 'special' Blue Bombers team into Grey Cup

Zach Collaros always sees room for improvement.

Even after putting up a career-high 4,336 passing yards in regular-season action, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback thought he could have done better.

"I don't think you've ever arrived and I'm the kind of person that's never really satisfied with the way I play," he said Wednesday.

Whether he was satisfied or not, Collaros' performance powered the Bombers to the Grey Cup. Winnipeg will face the Toronto Argonauts in a battle for the championship title Sunday. The 36-year-old athlete from Steubenville, Ohio, will be making his sixth Grey Cup appearance and is looking to collect his fourth ring.

The path to Sunday's game wasn't smooth.

Winnipeg started the season 0-4 and Collaros didn't throw a touchdown pass through the winless skid.

The Bombers were"in a state of flux in a lot of different areas," said head coach Mike O'Shea, and the quarterback had to navigate the tumult.

"He's got a really good understanding of timing and, from a leadership standpoint, what needs to be said and when. And he has the ability to fire up the guys and get them working," O'Shea said.

"But I think most of it is that guys look at him and they see him laying it all on the line all the time, and the amount of work he puts in, and they naturally and very easily want to put in a great deal of work and be good for him, too."

After going 2-6 to start the campaign, the Bombers blanked the B.C. Lions 25-0 on Aug. 1 and never looked back. Winnipeg reeled off eight straight wins and finished the regular season atop the West Division with an 11-7 record.

Collaros finished second in the league in passing yards behind Bo-Levi Mitchell of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. His biggest show came on Sept. 28 when the