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Also Mills is a damn good running back. Bias aside you could easily make a case for him being the most dangerous running back in the game. He was no more effective than Oliveria was against Calgary. But if you’re going to keep Adams under 250 yards passing I think you can live with 115 yards from Mills. It’s not like he torched us for 200. Obviously we want to see improvements from the D but I thought they did a much better job in the second half. Didn’t he have 90 plus yards at half? Some things to work on and get better for sure but I don’t think I’m worried yet. Obviously when you concentrate on getting more pressure to the quarterback it’s harder to fill those gaps in the run game so it’s a fine line of picking your poison.

Dinwiddie is a moron. Benching Dru Brown for check-down Maier and benching your RB1 big free agent signing? Genius! Im beginning to think his success in Toronto was a fluke.

If you have an "inspirational leader" shaped hole, you don't fill it with McCheese.

Ryan Dinwiddie...... Disappointing bomber fans since 2007

Two points I forgot: Perkins looks like a natural in short yardage. For CFL rookies, short yardage can sometimes be an adventure. When we went for it around our own 20 or 25 with a full yard and he was able to convert, that to me indicated the coaches have all the trust in the world in him to be able to convert. Long snapping: Two snaps on field goals were less than ideal. Kudos to our holder for being able to dig it out of the turf and get it pinned for Sergio without interrupting his rhythm of the kick.

Took a few hours for the hangover to go away from yesterday, but after re-watching the game, I feel there's lots to feel good about, especially considering the standard quirks that typically come with a week 1 game. Some random thoughts in no particular order... Half time adjustments. It was clear as day that adjustments were made on both sides of the ball. Half time adjustments, specifically, lack thereof has killed us in years past. Pass protection was significantly better in the 2nd half. Run defence was significantly better too. Tommy Condell vs Jason Hogan. For those that haven't heard, I'd encourage you to listen to Zach on the post-game show. He was beaming when asked about the offence after the game. Also, Strevvy was live-tweeting during the game yesterday and made a comment about how our receivers were wide open in the intermediate game. That was sorely missing last year, as was just a solid flowing offensive game plan. The wind - as mentioned by Noeller (also Zach on the post game), this was not a consistent wind throughout the game. I know people on this forum think Osh is an idiot (you're telling on yourself for thinking this, just for the record) but the wind was unpredictable and the team still found a way. The times Osh has in the past decided to kick twice in favour for a fourth quarter wind has usually worked well in our favour. While we didn't have the wind in the fourth, we still found a way. No one bats 1.000 Tommy Nield - Despite the one drop, looked very solid. Nice to have another capable National receiver. I look forward to seeing what he does as he gets more reps in the offence. Looking ahead - Very much Looking forward to Thursday against Hamilton. I would imagine Tim White has a chip on his shoulder. If we can keep Kenny to a respectable number receiving, I like our chances. Hopefully the forecast changes as it looks like crap for the end of the week, Thursday included.

Shitty weather in May and June is also so much worse in this part of the world. It's humid and bone-chilling when cold. Or pouring rain. Weather in May-June is crazy volatile. Literally the time of year when all the storm chasers are hanging out in MB/SK and the Dakotas waiting for rotation. Speaking as someone who has had involvement in spring and fall football my entire life. Fall is far more manageable.

Edm above .500 for the first time since 2019.

Benching Dru Brown for McCheese is one of the dumbest decisions in the league over the last number of years. Inexplicable.

Surely Dru Brown could give Ottawa a better shot than Maier, Jake blows.

How patient will Dinwiddie be with JM if he continues to struggle? What a weird set-up with their qb situation especially with the big contract given to JM.

Mills was 95 rushing in the first but 17 in the second.

Dude thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room, it was telling seeing his former players almost getting into a fight with him in that Edmonton and Toronto game last season. Say what you want about O’Shea but that kind of crap would never happen. If he really believes Jake Maier is a better quarterback than Dru Brown his stint in Ottawa might not be a long one.

Condell did every thing i hoped he would. It’s early and the pass game has a lot to work on, but the play call was a massive improvement. The wind was crazy, which isn’t un common there (or here) Picking the wind in the 4th is a gamble. One that has paid off big at times and missed several other times. Personally I hate giving up possessions. but that was a strong wind. nailed it. Rust is real. We’ve got a bunch of changes on D, and that makes it hard as well. but with modest contact at best in camp, you need to use the pre season to get what you used to get from camp.

wow is Ottawa bad, stunningly bad

Good comments! I especially agree about Nield. We were missing that steady big target in the middle of the field last season. Despite the drop I think he was everything and more what we would expect of him in Blue and Gold. Good guy to have when you need a first down in a throwing situation.

hahah...i carry no grudge with anyone who is a Bomber fan....But also stand by my opinions and experience...etc...and will retort to anyone...I'd cross check my mom to get the puck if I was a hockey player to get the win hahaha....So hopefully no one is thinks anything is personal...I'm wired from the late 90's and early 2000'S era where we did what needed to be done and called and held no punches verbally regardless of who got their panties in a twist...back when men were men I guess and snowflakes only showed up dec thru March We aint the same dude tho lol....but we do think similarly

We don't have a ton of insight on how the game roster comes together, but my gut says: a) Younger has fallen in love with too many role players. Most of whom have the wrong passport. We shouldn't need more than one of Wilson/Jones/Ayers really with the D we play. Two is already pushing it. Griffin is basically an every down guy now. Jones and Wilson almost never play 2nd and 5 together. Woodbey/Griffin we shouldn't need more than one. Woodbey/Ayers, shouldn't need more than one. Those Canadians need to become our role players. Smith, Shay, Stuart. b) Miller/O'Shea are in love with the same guys for their utility on special teams. Based on how we used guys last night we basically have Vaval, Ayers and Castillo as Americans who only play special teams. When we needed an extra guy on D, ******* Jake Kelly was the guy, not Vaval. If we sort out the guys in part A, we could dress a guy like Singer who maybe takes on kickoff returns and gives us cover for Vaval, plus some utility on O. Then we can use Vaval on D....because he's a guy who is also poised to breakout and is a playmaker in general. Getting him some D reps would be a major positive because we don't have a lot of DB's making plays on the ball. We have a lot of DB's making tackles. There's an opportunity cost to all these decisions. And as we saw, our D ******* blew for 2.75 quarters of that game anyways. For special teams, Brody Clark already looks like a ******* beast. First guy down there most kicks for us last night, think he had 2 tackles. You got Clark, Kelly, Shay, Smith, Hallett, Corcoran/Cobb, Chris-Ike, Cadwallader who are primarily cover guys. That should be more than enough combined with the starters. Ultimately, going into next week, seeing how that game played out. I'd turn Woodbey into Reese. Gatkuoth barely played, only came in when Ceresna pulled himself on the last drive and a few other reps sprinkled in. He's not a guy who is going to give us a lot of burst out there anytime soon. He needs some time. Hamilton doesn't run much. Against a different team I might consider Fletcher, but against Hamilton we need guys who can fly off the line in pass reps. DL of Ceresna, Lawson, Jefferson, Jenkins, Dixon, Reese, Gatkuoth is pretty solid IMO, especially for pass rush. Get Jenkins and Reese used to some 3 tec reps too. I'd sit Ayers for Singer. Give us some more options on O and in return game to make Vaval somewhat of a player on D too. Longer term if we really want some big bodies it would be nice to see a real TE style receiver on the team. Tons of American guys who are solid receivers at 230-260 lbs and can block a little bit too. Daniels is basically a 7th OL IMO. Very few routes he's going to win in this league.

I think a lot of problems stemmed from preseason not being used at all to get the starting units in sync.

1 nu jake. boy he brought it and the 4 man pressure was good 2 brady, carried the offence tonight. 3 vaval. letting the ball go through for no single and getting us the ball at the 40, busted a huge one and great all night hh the completion to wilson when we needed it bad crunch of the game to smith on kick cover awe thats dirty goes to tsn for making us relive the 01 gc honorable mentions, white, nield, perkins short yardage, and wj.

One of the things I appreciated was that Elsbury played better than initially feared, and even Pat Neufeld played better without having to cover for Kolankowski. Elsbury is not an all-star (yet) and I wonder why Eli was good enough to come in for several plays (and did well) but not good enough to start at center. We do need to upgrade the linebacking, though.

You're not wrong. 3DN went off the original depth chart which had Bell on the reserve list (not the 1 game injured list). Ottawa then put out an updated depth chart which led to 3DN having to edit their article. https://3downnation.com/2026/06/05/ottawa-redblacks-healthy-scratch-greg-bell-against-edmonton-elks/

Very excited to see how Younger and company adjust and improve.....we saw a huge improvement after half, I am very curious to see if we continue to improve or regress back to how we looked at the beginning of last game.... Is BLM as good as early season VAJ? Starting 2 and 0 would be a HUGE psychological boost for us ....

Probably because they had him on the reserve roster and not the injury list and he wasn’t listed on any official injury reports during the week

Here's something to get ready for on Thursday:

I've said it in the past, I'll say it again. Dru Brown exudes leadership like a turtle sunning himself on a rock. It just ain't there. I think that is part of the problem with the guy & Dinwiddie sees that. The RedBlacks would be better to swing a trade with the Argos for Arbuckle. Dinwiddie knows & trusts him. I don't think Maier was the whole problem yesterday. That team has a lot of holes to fill.

How can you say that, really? Diedrick Mills may be the second best pure running back behind Brady. (Elks Justin Rankin is more of an all urpose back than Mills or Brady). If teams can't stop the Stamps run game, what makes you think we can stop them? They work on it as hard as we do offensively. Especially first game of the season when players are still trying to remember their teammates names? If Mills stays healthy, he'll be a 1200-1400 yard rusher like Oliveira. We won yet you sound unhappy & so damned impatient.

The games mean in October mean something. Fans have been following their teams all year. End of season playoff & standing races are going on. Things have played out so we have more invested in our teams. It means something to go to games in cooler weather. We also don't get the bone chilling cold we used to 30 yeatrs ago anymore.

I could have sworn I read something online (possibly 3DN which explains a lot, if untrue...) about Bell being a healthy scratch and there was some mild shock about that...

I'm confused why people think Greg Bell was a healthy scratch? It was reported he had a neck injury

yeah...rust and not up to game speed from lack of playing until that game...I expect it to look a lot better Thursday...The one where Ayers got faked right out...Uncharacteristic and result of no reps..Same with the one Bryant goofed....on ZC big pass to Pokey on last drive..Bryant had key block to keep ZC clean and had his guy locked down We have seen it before...guys looking useless at times from way we run camp...No alarm bells for me yet...Other than we need to abolish the 3rd Canadian receiver as it does nothing for us

that doesn’t mean it’s scheme, it’s not like we had an empty run fit or some thing. The problem with the run stop was execution in the assigned gaps and tackling. Which will suffer when you don’t have contact reps at game speed.

But his eyes! His wolf eyes!

Good to hear in 2026 we have "Happy Zach" after 2025 unhappy Zach. I prefer happy Zach.

Blasphemy!

As I’m pushing my glasses up, Nield had two drops . . . :)

Leroux to Sheehan... Hoping that gets cleaned up.

Jake Ceresna. Pretty quiet on the first few series. Absolute animal the rest of the way. Really opened things up for Willie and I'm sure as they get more comfortable with each other it will open up more as the year goes on. Trey Vaval. His return helped flip the game and him letting the ball go over his head and out of the back of the endzone before the final drive was a premier example of knowing the rules and great special teams coaching. Brady. Just rock solid. Also loved the usage by Condell given his pass first tendencies on first down historically. HH: Offensive line. Pretty underwhelming first half. Second half pass protection was a night and day difference and a TREMENDOUS blitz pick-up on the deep pass to Pokey to start the final drive.

Great to get the win but lots of warts. It is also the CFL where it is not how you start but how you play after labor day!

He could have given up a point because a FG would still win the game and we'd start at the 40 yard line anyway.

Coukdnt agree more about roster construct..redundant guys..wasted spots on guys who are limited..plagued us for yrs now..as have said before for all osh's positives he brings..he is not good at creating best game day rosters..and values things in some guys over talent and actual overall usefulness...and this isnt just a last night's game thing...its been a decade long issue

100% lots of negative Nellys reading through this thread, especially during that last drive. They gave up a drive, but CGYs O was executing at an extremely high level. Bombers weren't going to give up the big play quick score. If Cgy wanted a TD they'd have to do it via a long drive and no mistakes.....and they did. Welcome to ******* football. It happens. Would I bet on that happening more than 2 or 3 times in a season...no I would not. Thats a big ask for any offense. Dave Dickenson isnt a rookie and Vaj is a good qb. The hyperbole here around coaching during the game while we watch on our couch is hilarious on many levels. As soon as Vaj ran that ball in for a TD at the end, I had instant hope. Once ZC hit wilson I knew it was over! Saying all of that, it wasnt a perfect game but game 1's never are. Get stuff cleaned up and this team can make a lot of noise.

I'll say I was less worried about the dbs than the linebackers.... Offense about what you'd expect. Some hits, some misses. Think the OL will wind up being good this year. Receivers dropped way too many balls. Collaros was OK given his lack of arm. Could have used some more help. Defensive line can actually get after a qb again, nice to see. Now play contain too.

I got to say. Zach threw a dart for 28 yards to Wilson In a brutal wind. He had a few balls come short but I thought he was fine. His stats were pretty much identical to Vernon MVP in June and July Adam’s Jr

One more positive- I don’t ever have to see Kolo on the ground playing nightcrawlers in a Bomber uniform ever again.

Half full?? That's very optimistic. I was on social media. I guess Regina isn;t the only CFL city who hates Thursday night games. I think TNF is a failure. Get rid of it. Play two games Friday night. Them two games on Saturday.