3rdand1.5

I actually found the rotation we used on the D-line last night was really good, IMO the best I have seen this season. We gave some varying looks. It won't work on every team, but a three front with Garbut, Adams and Willy became dominant last game. Our O-line while not perfect looked much better, I think we can roll with what we put out moving forward. Nuef. may not get his spot back after he is healthy if that play continues....side bar Wallace is aggressive...I think we are going to grow to really like him as he continues to grow, he plays to line and flirts with crossing it every time.

I watched the game again....I know glutton for punishment...... Biggie had some bad plays, but some good plays.....I still think he is a good player but no longer the great player he was and not the guy who should play all snaps..... BA was in the right spot a-lot We did have both woods and Adams on at times.... Our DB's dropped a couple..... Overall sure we can rag on a few of the guys....and some are not what they once were, but our defence played well... Our punter played pretty good, our coverage was very good... Case secured the ball well and looked good, our blocking seemed better Castillo had a tough day....but the last one the snap was bad.... Zach actually didn't play bad...it just seemed like it to me on the first watch...he had no time or pocket almost all game... Brady played really good....minus the early fumble I feel he should have got the ball more The receivers were ok, but hard to fully judge as any route that took time never got to develop... Fumbleites.....yikes.... The pick 6 was not on Zach... That offensive line OMG....and it wasn't the outside...it was the middle...Nuef, Eli, Kolo, Dobson all got DOMINATED..... The reffing wasn't as bad as last week , but consistency...especially what constitutes PI.....yikes....

A question for those who follow things closer than I do....The top teams...at least record wise...where are they as far as allocation to salary.... We have the highest, paid QB, we have the highest paid running back, by a looooong shot......the number 2, number 3 and number 4 highest paid receivers.....If I am accurate that is 1.57million tied into 5 offensive "non-lineman" positions... just under 30% of the total salary cap....... I won't claim to be an expert on the topic...but to me we seem to have too much into these 5 players to effectively build other parts of the roster...my question is has anyone done a comparison between us and say the top teams?

Unless he is going to be looked at as a safety.......trying to figure this out.....perhaps his experience and some leadership qualities make him viewed as a potential upgrade at safety? I don't see him starting at half or corner and I don't think we have anyone at half or corner hurt from last week...plus as others above mentioned we seem to have some capable guys at depth... Could it be he is getting looked at LB.....maybe his experience could make him a good cover LB?? maybe a few years off he has some physicality back?? I mean I am happy we are bringing guys in and I like the Whitehead signing.....that one to me upgrades us and makes sense....but this signing puzzles me......can't wait to seeif/how he ends up being used???

BC lives and dies on the "big play" it looks great and is entertaining and often works as their record the last few years has indicated....but adverse conditions de-rails this....it has shown as such over and over...best case for BC they get enough great weather games to finish first so they can play in the dome for the Western final and potentially the Grey Cup....if they need to go into say somewhere like Sask, in November, like previous years have shown I don't believe they would have a great chance of winning as they are built for ideal or close to ideal conditions...

For many of the potential player concerns, we don't even have to bench anyone to "try" things out. Jake...give him reps but not all of them, get Woods and Adams on at the same time the ratio allows it, see if it helps, rotate Jake more.... BA...Give him reps but let a Hallet take some reps see if one of them can improve, not a ratio concern....if they don't look any good give reps back to BA Biggie...ditto let the guy start and give him reps, but gives Jones some reps/rotations and see how he looks....again no ratio concerns Zach...let Strevelor take some plays....look Zach has looked terrible, maybe a few plays off here and there helps him...just when Strev. goes in do more than just run him, get some honest reps, maybe we can do a 1a/1b..it can't be worse.. While this one will require a minor roster move, get Lucky on the roster...give him some reps..at least he has been there done that, can back-up at returner....not a ratio concern...easy to get him on These are all easy roster things to try...look veteran leadership and chemistry is important or very much overlooked many times...but what we have now isn't working try a couple easy tweaks like listed above and review it on film.....maybe some of these work, maybe they don't but at least let's try something

The defence held a team to 19 on the road....They were far from great, but holding a team to 19 SHOULD be enough to win.... The special teams gave up no huge returns, Castillo is playing fantastic and Case secured the ball and overall had really good averages...they didn't do anything to cause us to lose... The refs were bad...but bad both ways...we probably overall had worse calls, but they didn't cause us to lose.. The offence didn't score a TD, didn't even really threaten too....threw a terrible pick, and added a fumble....other than Brady no one seemed jacked up....100% this lose is on the offence.....

Yikes...but held them to three..... Will Zach come back in...

I really like Biggie, but he should be rotational if Jones can play IMO.

Hardrick was playing really well, and as mentioned above is a true leader , he was here and all indications are he was in Sask. also...I wish him nothing but the best., and hope he has a full recovery...as for Sask. that is a big loss Sask...is starting to get hit with the injury bug, I think we match up well and expect this to be great physical game.....

IF Wilson shows well again this week....never mind next year...next week we could have Woli...Wilson...Demski....Whitehead....Clercius.....and potentially the following week Woli...Wilson...Demski....Lawler....Whitehead....

With Hardrick requiring surgery and out for this upcoming game......let's hope Big Willy J is rested and ready to dominate the Sask. right tackle all day

Real bummer for Hardrick, that is a big loss for the Riders. I wish him a full and healthy recovery!

To play devil's advocate just a little here, Biggie, BA, and Thomas are well seasoned vets. They have leadership abilities and experience. Sure they are not as fast/strong/agile as they were at least Biggie and BA. Taking one two or all out takes some of that away, and we already have a lot of inexperience on defence already. Those guys have been there seen that and have the shirt.... Let's see how it goes, but...... Along the d-line some young guys are getting great reps and experience.....hopefully at some point as guys get healthier and a bit more seasoned, Jake takes a few less reps and the new guys take a few steps forward...this would be best to get guys some seasoning and get them up to game speed and ready to transition into bigger roles In the backend BA hasn't seem to get back to full form from injuries, but we seem to have some really good young guys.... as guys get healthy perhaps a young guy can share some reps at safety, we seem to have enough talent Biggie is the toughest for me, however we did bring on Jones for this week, maybe just maybe we will start to see a bit or rotation with Biggie...I am just not sure if we let MLB slip a bit too long already to be doing this Definitely some assumptions above but if you step back and look at it like this perhaps they do have a plan, it's just playing the long game.....

I also agree that we have done really well in regards to defensive positions.......Ford has grown, Bonds looks pretty good, we still have Parker...BA has lost a step post injury but he outside a few plays hasn't looked really bad....a couple guys looked good when rotated in also.....I think we are good on the back end. As Booch said we actually appear to have some very good D-lineman, we brought in some legit talent. My surprise of the year has been Hubert, IMO he has shown me more already then Bennet did all last year....add in Schmekle being serviceable, and Jake (who yes get's too many reps currently IMO) and add in a healthy Lawson, that is actually pretty good CDN D-line depth with a quality starter in Lawson as long as he recovers...Adams has to me looked great, I thought Fox was looking good, Woods to me has been a bit up and down when in, but not enough to fairly judge, and as mentioned Garbutt and Habba when healthy both showed very high potential. A line of ........ Willy J.... Adams....Lawson.....Habba..... listed starters >>>Hubert>>>Fox>>>Jake>>>Garbutt>>>listed B/U If we rostered those 8 together and rotated closer to "normal" I see that as a really good line LB, is a tough one for me...I thought Kramdi was growing well last year, but he hasn't shown that, this year. I really like Wilson, but since injuries he hasn't looked dominant and Biggie is one of the best ever but c'mon man his leadership is unquestioned but he really should be a rotational piece this year and it shows, heck it showed last year if we are being real.....the issue is do we actually have guys like we appear to on ethe D-line and the backfield to on the roster somewhere? Is Ayers any good, Cole etc.

As other have mentioned, that is a thin D-line.....If I'm Calgary I'm attacking the right early and often until/if the Bombers show they can stop it..... The game will literally go through Zach....we should know pretty quickly if he is "back" or not.....If he looks like he did in the first few games it's over as he doesn't present the escapability threat....but if he comes back and plays P'OD and on point, and is able to push the ball, we should prevail

Pretty sure the league has and is doing everything in it's power to have Lemon finished...but he is protected by his union and processes that have to play out...sometimes the protections Unions provide seem questionable but it's the process that is required, all indications are based on the leagues stance and that of the independent arbitrator that Lemon is on borrowed time, but he is well within his rights to do what he is doing. Ethics can be questioned but Mtrl. does not have to release or discipline him, similar to Kelly the team must feel he is worth the risk...

Our roster management is at times curious, and probably could be improved...but dang some people are like the Katy Perry song you're hot, then you're cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out.......... They won't make changes, they made changes, the changes are wrong, the changes are right, its not enough, it's too much, he bad and he's good......... We don't develop guys is a theme, but when we play unknowns it's bad, when a guy with a shiny resume comes on we don't give them a fair chance, but when they get released no one else does either but only we are the bad team for not...... I am not saying we are great in all aspects, or that I understand or agree with every move they make....or heck that I am even remotely correct, but for one reason or another Fayad was not kept and Ogbevoen is getting a shot...maybe he will fall flat, or maybe he is our next Hanson....Heck who on here guessed Hubert would actually look good??

Something more than just BLM is off in Hammy......they just look unorganized, broken willed and beat...something is not responding well at Timmy's Feild

I was rough on Ford after his first game and preseason, but he is rounding into a nice fit. We actually again have put together a pretty darn good secondary. I think once all the dust settles, we may actually have a pretty decent D-line, if we get some better play from our LB's we could have a really strong defence going into the second half of the season.

Tui, must be hurt, he has not been able to go all year so far. He has shown so much potential, it must be a lingering injury keeping him from more than spot duty. I really like the Lucky signing, he is a very high energy guy, I think we lost a lot of that with Hardrick and Baily moving on in that department. I don't love his full skillset as a receiver, but as Booch mentioned he knows what's going on, and don't underestimate his speed, teams will have it in the back of their heads his reputation. Fayad, I get it, he looked good, but not great, we need to be better across the d-line, Willy woke up last game, Mair is about as mobile as Joe Biden, so hopefully Willy keeps up the play.

I thought our o-line and d-line played better....not great but better, our LB's are weak, and I thought or backfield on defence played well. On defence I think we are close..... It was great to see Brady and Strev. playing emotional, high tempo, I think we are missing that this year

Keys for me as many have mentioned is; Strevelor and the game plan he is given.

It was mostly entertaining, but did have a few boring patches. Both young QB's looked decent, made mistakes Dukes has film on him now and both Mtrl. and Sask. game planned him well. Patterson will also get figured out better expect him to look worse by week three, but both showed potential. Coaxie had a baaaad game..... Both Sask. and T.O have better d-lines and way more athletic and better LB's. than us Grant is still good, hope he has a healthy season!

Makes you wonder that all the success we have had and all the next man up....helped create the mess we are in....as an example Buck has been able to plan a certain way consistently...but now we don't have the level of talent we did, and he has appeared to keep trying to plan consistently but all of a sudden it's not working, the next man up can't do it.....and we falter trying the same.....now it's time to see how well he can adapt and change and figure out how to use the actual talent we have and hide the actual weaknesses we have, we do still have playmakers on offence... I get this is a very simplified description, but I believe the root of it is accurate.