Potential

Well, that was exactly the point I was making - the sheer hypocrisy of the sports media to have this position when we are a pillar of stability and strength financially for the league right now, is head-scratching. I've been trying to be positive and galvanize support for the team because some were having a hard time with the loss... and then get a bunch of eye rolls. I think I'm going to take a break from this place for a while.

First thing's first, no one outside of Manitoba wants the Bombers doing well, for the same reason no one outside of Manitoba wants the Jets doing well: we're small potatoes media-wise compared to all other markets. How dare Winnipeg have success over the Torontos, Vancouvers and Montreals! The Bombers are the little guys, they're supposed to get beat down, and they're supposed to take their lumps and like it. They should consider themselves lucky to even be in this league! What does that mean? Our road to any modicum of success is always going to be longer, harder and more arduous than the other markets. We're always going to be scrutinized harder, judged harsher, never be given the benefit of the doubt, and we have to play near perfect to earn any attention or respect in this league. So to any players that read this forum: let this motivate you. How do you beat a bully? Punch them in the teeth. Make the critics eat their words by being the best. Be proud. Play professionally. Play for one another. Play as a team. That is what we do. That is Blue Bomber football.

Yeah I was thinking about that - just get it through the end zone at any cost. Oh well, hindsight and all that... I think the last miss was just nerves - he hit it with the normal power, but just was off by just a hair and made contact with the side of his boot. Feel bad for him as you want to win it for your team, and he had 2 chances. Liegghio's young though, just needs more experience in the pros and this kind of thing will go away.

Liegghio is not the problem. Any time you have a kicker with a chance to win the game you're gambling as that is way too much pressure (unless your name is Medlock). I do not blame him at all - not one bit. He's been absolutely dynamite for us this year, and I am totally cool with O'Shea trotting him out whenever. He will learn from this experience and continue to improve. The biggest issues we're dealing with right now are threefold: O-Line is really struggling right now - particularly the interior. Teams are figuring this out and blitzing us non-stop (usually multiple players to the corners), which eliminates Zach's explosiveness as he's forced to dink and dunk. Not his style. I don't know what the timeline is for Couture returning, but we are really missing him right now. Kolankowski has been improving, but still has issues on occasion, and Neufeld has really been a shadow of his normal self this year (again, most likely due to his arm injury). As a result Zach's been taking hits the past few games - this cannot happen and needs to be remedied immediately. Safety. I appreciate Hallett stepping in with injuries to both Thompson and Wilson, but it is clear that Biggie has been instructed to help cover for him and it has severely curtailed his play. Hallett's a DB, not a linebacker. He isn't great at tackling, and often cheats by going low, but doesn't wrap up. This is also a big problem. D-Line pressure isn't good enough. Jefferson is a force, but I think Jeffcoat is still injured as he hasn't been as noticeable the past couple of games, and while I love Thomas as he's been such a team player for us over the years, him and Sayles aren't getting any kind of penetration in the interior on most nights. Leaves opposition free to double-team Willie, and you can tell he is getting frustrated. Any time you leave the outcome of the game to kicking you have not done enough to win. Full stop. We have been scraping by the past few weeks, as we are exhausted and beat up. The bye week will help with some of these issues hopefully, but if we get some of our injured guys back on the defence, figure out the OL (if Couture comes back I'd move Kolankowski to Neufeld's position until he is in better shape), we'll be okay. I repeat, Liegghio is not the problem.

I would think they would contact Ray first, no? I would hope? Although who the hell knows with the circus they have going over there.

Pretty nice evasion and then touch on the pass to Lawler.

This is a lose-lose game for us - Chris Jones is a bum and a clown and I wish him nothing more than to continue reaping the chaos that he has sewn, however with a win the media is going to go completely rock hard for the Lions again and that's all we're going to hear about until they lose. Sigh. 😕

You hate to see it.

Yeah if I was TSN I would not be happy for a couple of reasons: the horns of course - they were super disruptive to the broadcast and I can't imagine advertisers were particularly happy with the quality of the game experience, and two the PBP booth - sounds like there is little/no or inadequate cooling in the there. Rod and Duane did their best yesterday but you could tell they were having a really hard time. Both items are very unprofessional and need to be addressed immediately. Also, anyone get a shot of the two dudes with the air pumps/horns? I was grabbing a drink when they showed them on screen, and I'm very curious as to what the setup was.

Hansen had a chance to really lay out Philpot on one of his runs but he let up at the last moment - I was so disappointed. Fine, be responsible and wrap up! 😒

Agreed. 👍

1) Linebackers and Defensive Secondary - Rose and Rutledge had themselves a game tonight, and everyone else did just enough to thwart the Alouettes game plan, which was run, run, run (as Harris is just not a good enough passer). Houston and Taylor got beat on a couple of plays yes, but honestly, they were right on their man and in great position, and the receivers just made great plays. Nothing wrong with that, and I'll take it 10 times out of 10. Hallett... um... uh... help? 2) Wolitarsky and Bailey - again some very timely catches that bailed out the offense time and time again. The OL was having a hard time tonight (probably due to the heat), which was messing up our route timing and often giving Zach little to work with what with all of the blitzing. 3) Oliveira - gotta hand it to him, he was great tonight. Still is running up the gut most plays, however he's learning about that slight hesitation that is required for the blocks to set up before making his burst, which is helping. I also saw a couple of plays where the block wasn't there and he went off tackle for more yards - more of that please! Just needs to work in some elusiveness (*cough*spins*cough*) and he could be great! If he can do this again next game I'm willing to say he may have turned the corner! HH - Grant - Amazing punt return, and had some flashes on the offence, however it's clear that he needs a ton of practice if they're going to use him regularly as a back or receiver, as some of those routes were just, yikes. Blocking is also a little bit suspect at the moment. He is a gifted man though and those things are teachable, so I'm not going to hold it against him. I don't know if anyone else caught it but on one of his sweeps Jones tackled him by the hair and ripped out one of his dreads. That must have really f'n hurt. Honorable mentions: Liegghio had another great night - keep it up! Collaros had an off night by his standards, but it was more the OL that was struggling, so I don't blame him - wouldn't have won the game without him willing us to win. Again.

Well that tracks, doesn't it? 😂

I dunno my man, methinks Forde may have been horizontal for about a good 15 minutes in the 4th quarter there. 😂 Either that or he was in line buying a helmet poutine... Jk Duane we love you!

LOL. And half of our f'n team is nicked up or on the injured list, yet we're still winning anyway - can't wait to see the crow eaten once they start healing up and coming back. "Hey, you know what I miss? Vuvuzelas. Man those were great. I wish someone brought those back again." Said no one, anywhere, ever. Incredible! 😁

1) Collaros - Another night where he willed us to win. The man just has a cannon of an arm, as he so often is throwing in motion, yet he is still accurate! It's nuts! 2) Demski - Some great blocks, some even better runs after the catch, and 2 touchdowns. Welcome back Nic! We really missed you. 3) O-Line - Fantastic protection and movement from the big guys up front! Opened up some great holes for Oliveira, as well as gave Zach the time he needed for plays to develop. Did you see Bryant hustle down the field on that Grant sweep? Even more impressive when you consider that everyone save for Gray and Kolankowski are really banged up. Huge kudos to these guys for what they were able to do against a formidable opponent. HH - Wolitarsky - two very important catches at critical points in the game to preserve drives. Without those catches we may not have won this game. Other observations: -The D had a (comparative to normal) hard time tonight - Willie was routinely getting double-teamed, and you could tell everyone in coverage was cheating a bit so as to help Hallett out on his first night as safety. We bent but didn't break though, and that's all that counts. -Legghio had a pretty good game. It is good to see him rebound as he's had some rough misses the past few games. -I'm still on the fence on Oliveira - he still just ran straight into the trenches as he always has all season. I see nothing different from him, skill/play-wise, and I need to see more before I change my mind. I think Calgary's D-Line was having a rough night more than anything. I still don't think he has the skills needed for the position unfortunately. -Schoen with another great game. Man, the guy's a burner with great hands! Another toy for Zach! Can't wait for Ellingson to return from injury as we're going to give the rest of the league fits! -Bailey starting to heat up - he had a great game and made some timely catches with YAC. -Hallett... made that critical play yes, but he was otherwise standing around an awful lot. When Carey busted through at the goal line he was just sitting there, when he could have jumped forward to make the tackle. He seemed not to want to make arm tackles at all tonight and would often just dive for the legs, which completely exposes you if someone spins off or jumps over you. I hope O'Shea or Biggie goes over proper arm tackling with him because that can't continue - we will get torched. All in all though a great effort from the guys, particularly so as we are really beat up right now. Hang in there guys, we're almost at the bye!

Don't mind Nielson, he is articulate and (for the most part) accurately reads and describes the unfolding plays. I'm willing to let occasional name gaffes go, as the game is fast, and players are constantly being shifted on and off the field. It happens. Suitor is mostly okay, however occasionally he'll go full Rider-homer which is an instant turn-off, or start rambling about plays he obviously doesn't know enough about. Could be worse I suppose. Stegall can be the same for us, as he'll occasionally go full Bomber-homer as well, and it can be embarrassing at times. It's not as bad as it used to be, however I'm hoping he continues to become more objective with time as he is a good face for the league. Similar situation to Sanchez as well - when he first started he was almost unwatchable, however with time he's mellowed out a lot and is more tolerable. Not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer though. Forde is pretty consistent - I appreciate that he tries to inject as much Canadian college content into a broadcast, however sometimes this borders into rambling and as a result we'll miss a play which can be pretty frustrating. Rod Smith is pretty even keel, he'll stay focused on the play, and is also very articulate. Occasionally he and Forde will get caught up in an anecdote and start rambling though, and I feel this has been getting worse the past couple of years. What I find so interesting about this season is that I'm sensing Beirness really doesn't want to be involved with the CFL show any longer - that she comes across as a reluctant participant. There was that incident the other week where all of the panelists were trying to talk over one another and she said 'I don't want to do this anymore' or something to that effect, and it seemed genuine. That would be a significant loss to the show as Kate's a great host. Sarah is Sarah. Occasionally fumbles her words (probably nerves), however she's always professional and consistent. Lastly, Dunnigan. I love the guy, and obviously he was a special player for us, and is such a likeable personality, but he struggles with the panel and commentary more often than not. It's so obvious he has severe CTE and struggles so much with articulating his thoughts as his brain is so damaged. Whenever I hear him call a game or if he's having a bad day on the panel it makes me feel terrible, because he has sacrificed too much for the game, and football is the only reason as to why this is happening to him. I don't know if the crew or the players ever read these forums, but if they do, I want them to know that I am sorry for every player that has had to deal with CTE as a result of football. That is a price that is simply too high for anyone to ever have to pay. As for radio... Bob - there will never ever be anyone like him. We were lucky to have him, and I personally consider myself so lucky to have had the pleasure of listening to him call the game for so many years. Enjoy your so well-earned retirement! We miss you!

You can tell he desperately wants to be the new Harris, but unfortunately he doesn't seem to have the same arsenal of tools at his disposal. I'm going to reserve judgment until our OL is a little more healed up though, as that may be a large part of the problem right now. We'll see!

Yeah, I took a look at the injured list yesterday and good lord, so many impact players are nicked right now. If we get them back we're going to be even more of a handful.

I am just so eternally thankful that Rod Black retired before we signed him as we wouldn't hear the end of his mancrush this season. 🤦‍♂️

Yeah I was specifically watching Neufeld and he wasn't grabbing any opposing players' pads with his right hand at all - he must not have any grip strength in that hand right now, which would severely limit his effectiveness as an OL. Kolankowski is also doing the best he can, but compared to most centres in the league he is undersized and is getting pushed around. Combine that with Neufeld's injury and we have a game like tonight. We can offset this somewhat by running more sweeps, especially with a burner like Grant, however with both Hardrick and Bryant also nicked, getting them to hustle laterally may not be the greatest idea either. We're lucky Zach is such a great scrambler, because we'd be toast otherwise. Hopefully Neufeld's, Hardrick's and Bryant's injuries are minimal and they're able to heal up somewhat during the bye week. I think that will shore up our offence quite a bit if they are able to do so.

Yep! Amazing win! 1 - Collaros - played unreal and willed the team to win. 2 - Ellingson - caught almost everything sent his way. 3 - Agudosi - amazing route running and two critical touchdown receptions. HH - Defence - bent but didn't break - we could have potentially been blown out if Calgary scores on those red zone posessions. Take a much needed break boys! You've certainly earned it! Six and 0 baby!

Our DL interior needs some work. Thomas and Sayles aren't getting enough push and Jefferson and Jeffcoat are getting double-teamed. Really missing Stove these days...

Yeah and we had two short weeks in a row. That's a shame. 🤷‍♀️

That was a slugfest! Kudos for our banged up OL guys hanging in there! 👍