voodoochylde

And the sentiments a coach expresses about a player who has helped him accomplish so much means very little to me in the grand scheme of things because it's a natural human response. As a fan, I want to win and hope whomever is leading this team will make the tough decisions when they have to but I completely understand WHY O'Shea feels the way he does. So no, it doesn't bother me at all that he expressed this. I get it. What does bother me is that we aren't protecting our QB as well as we used to .. it bothers me that our offense has become fairly predictable, pedestrian and aren't giving playmakers a chance to flash .. it bothers me that we've prioritized spending at a largely disposable position instead of doing all we can to keep our pivot from taking unnecessary shots. We all watched Khari become a shell of himself because we failed to invest in protecting him .. we are seeing that play out (to an extent) with Zach. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Zach truther. I've been critical of his play and routinely called out his performance late in the last couple of seasons. I feel he is closer to the end than not but, right now, he's the least of my worries.

Don't get me wrong, I do think he's going to ride Collaros until the wheels completely fall off and, as a fan that just wants to see us remain dominant, that's disheartening but am I "extremely bothered" that O'Shea feels the way he does about Zach? Not at all. It doesn't surprise me in the least especially when you consider the success the two have enjoyed together.

Why would I be upset about a coach who thinks highly of a quarterback that helped him win back to back Grey Cups, helped lead a team to 4 in a row and will be an integral reason why O'Shea will cement himself as the all time leader in wins by a Bomber coach?

I think that if Augustine went down in game we'd see a platoon of Demski, Mitchell and likely Streveler taking reps out of the backfield. That's less than ideal and it's why we should have an American back active on our game day roster - have him there to acclimatize to the game, spell Brady and allow us to pivot effectively if our star NI goes down for a prolonged period of time.

It's not the roster I would have fielded but I do think the roster critique has become a meme at this point. There are holes but, when you look back across O'Shea's tenure here, there have always been holes in the game day roster and there's always been a reliance on his guys. This hasn't changed. I've said it before and will say it again, it's his best and worst quality. I think the real criticism is with the practice roster and Mike has already thrown out many of my own concerns there so I won't rehash them.

Rosery is the prime example of a guy they could have called up when Brady went down. He played well in preseason. Knows the offense and *could* have come in in a pinch. The other thing that bothers me about our roster is that we are completely unable to pivot away from having a NI at RB. We've invested so heavily in that position but have NOTHING in the way of an adequate backup if something catastrophic happens.

The RedBlacks offensive line isn't particularly good and Dru is a known commodity. I fully expect the trio of WJ, Haba and Adams to be disruptive and make things hard for him. My big concern is the secondary - will we see improved chemistry / communication over last week because the Holm / Ford side struggled - Ford in particular (and don't get me wrong, I really like the kid).

A couple of thoughts: Unless they are worried about Wallace being poached off the PR or Eli is still too hurt to play more than a handful of snaps a game, then Wallace being the 7th lineman on the active roster makes absolutely zero sense. I'm not thrilled about the deletion of Woods from what was a largely effective unit last week. I'd feel more comfortable with a guy like Rosery backing up (hell starting over) Augustine vs. Chris-Ike. In an ideal world, we have a much more well rounded back step in to that role and Augustine simply rides the pine. I'm not too upset over Bighill's insertion. We have the horses there to make a change in game if he's labouring. The question is will we make the change? (the answer is likely no). Can I say I don't like Mitchell being on the roster, period? That opinion won't change until he does anything remotely productive offensively or on special teams.

Having family and friends in Calgary I appreciate the position you are all in but out of respect for Rich (and our wishes for the forum), let's not turn this into a policy / political discussion.

Then I look at a team like the Argos or Lions and envy their receiving depth .. they always seem to have someone new, each year, capable of stepping in and making an impact. I also think Buck isn't exactly an offensive mastermind (and is somewhat handicapped having cut his teeth under LaPo).

This camp and start to this year just feels like a giant cluster-**** so far.

Argos are an organization who are always looking for "the next one" .. it keeps the team competitive both on the field and from a salary cap perspective. I still think Oakman has a tonne of juice but the Boatmen have a deep defensive line.

Zach is our starter .. no doubt about it. But .... As I alluded to in the game day thread, you can't make Streveler just a gadget guy. He's an athlete and god yes, take advantage of that athleticism but he's needs to execute in passing situations as well - if for no other reason than to keep teams honest when he's on the field.

McInnis

I'm not willing to point the finger at Kyle, he brought in guys .. a lot of them .. some of whom looked really good. Last week was on the coaches - full stop. They needed to make evaluations quicker, allow people realistic chances to show what they have (or not have) and then get the team ready to play week one. And I completely agree with JBR on this, cutting Rosery was a mistake (based on the way our roster is made up).

The only solace that I take from this is that it's not how you start a season but how you finish it. I'd rather us limp out of the gate and be healthy down the home stretch. The thing that concerns me is the lack of drive and hunger. It's a team that looks "fat and lazy" right now.

Veterans.

Just a fun thread for people to give their completely subjective and superficial rankings of the teams so far. Montreal - in order to be the man you have to beat the man and, for this week at least, Montreal stays on top. Toronto - as much as it pains me to see these boys in blue getting it done, they did and did so against a quality opponent in BC BC - offense looking as potent as ever with VAJ making plays in and out of the pocket. Calgary - Offensive play calling keeping Maier in a safe place and they put up 32. Riders - earned a come from behind win against an Elks team that continues to find ways to lose. Hamilton - you can't convince me that the redneck Johnny Lawrence isn't cooked. Edmonton - Chris Jones just can't get out of his own way and help the team succeed Winnipeg - in a league where offense is king, the offense looked abysmal and disinterested. Ottawa - in the cellar by virtue of the fact they didn't play this week and I have nothing to judge them on.

I can honestly see them moving on from him after this year, especially if production doesn't match the salary. That said, it's not like the Bombers have brought in many receivers who look like they can take the step and be the next Lawler, Demski or Schoen (and it's not like they've given guys many chances to show they can be).

Came away shaking his hand on that last drive.

Dukes and the Argos offence looking infinitely better than what the Bombers trotted out Thursday. Happy for Bailey and Grant - both standup guys.

BOLO looks good out there.

I agree, wind wasn't much of a factor last night. I've seen that team, in worse conditions, perform much much better.

I'm going to simply say there's a lot of over-reaction going on but also some very valid and warranted concerns. I think Montreal, at least defensively, is one of those teams we don't match up well with. Noel Thorpe has done a pretty damn good job of making our "stars" look very pedestrian. That said, it didn't help that our starting offense didn't play a single rep in the preseason. That's on our coaching staff and, to a lesser extent, the players for not advocating for themselves. The organization has enjoyed so much success the last half decade that complacency may be setting in - I don't see the hunger or urgency any longer. Montreal on the other hand looks like they want it. That goes back to last year and their Grey Cup run. Three turds for this one: Zach Collaros - I'm not going to jump on the Zach is cooked bandwagon but last night was a continuation of what we've seen at various points over the last couple of years. In the game day thread I asked what QB will we see and sadly we got the guy who looks like a deer in headlights. Sergio Castillo - even recognizing that the chipped ball may have played a role in what happened last night, he's paid to do one job and do it well. I think he would recognize that wasn't his best effort. Mitchell - another guy I called out in the game day thread and a guy I've never been sold on. He sort of demonstrated why last night but will acknowledge that he's never been asked to return kicks in a game (up here) before last night. Even with some of the defensive struggles last night (which I think largely stems from guys not playing together a whole lot), they did enough to win the game had the offense showed up. I didn't think BA looked terrible, he's still a physical presence but he doesn't have the range he used to. WJ was invisible - still has to be accounted for but was hoping for more last night. The secondary, in general, will play better the more they play together and I sort of figured that chemistry and communication would be an issue early. Overall though, this side of the ball wasn't the issue. Three stars: Chris Streveler - guy played with more heart and emotion than anyone else on our offense - he's hungry, he still has the dawg in him, he still has a sense of urgency. Devin Adams - for a guy still playing his way into game shape, he was disruptive and made his presence felt. Terrell Bonds - got tested a few times and was solid, really happy with his addition to the backfield.

I thought Bonds had a tremendous game at corner. Interior of the offensive line was an issue, at least early in the game. Neufeld in particular struggled. We got late 2023 Zach tonight. Strevy played with more heart and emotion than anyone tonight.