17to85

No an offense losing the game is when a qb tosses a couple dumb ints like Cato did. The offense was fine, the Montreal D is good. Now the Bombers D on the other hand, that damn near lost them the game if not for a pick 6 and the blocked kick TD. I didn't think that Bellefeuille called the best game last night and his game planning (from week to week) is inconsistent at best but I will say that the offense didn't do anything to lose us the game. They took what was given to them and didn't back down when things got physical .. guys responded when they got "punched in the mouth" so to speak. The offense still has a long way to go. To me, it's not going to be able to play consistently like they did in Regina until that interior OL gets fixed. How many times did Cotton have to fight through contact just to get back to the LOS? That's ridiculous. We know what guys like Willy and Cotton can do when that interior OL plays well, but when they struggle plays are over before they even really begin. It's nice to win games, but clearly not sustainable at 400+ yards against and an offense that can't protect/control the inside gaps. Hopefully we're one of the teams that gets better this year instead of falling off the map after Labour Day. Noeller and I have talked about this a lot, when was the last time this team had a better fall than they did summer? Too often it's been a better summer and then falling apart at the end of the season. Would kill to see the team be one of the hottest teams in the league down the stretch for a change.

Is this to mean that you don't like the 4 guys on the DL right now or that you're upset that Walters hasn't replaced the three guys left over from Mack? Same with LBs are you not happy with the guys you have? It's a different defense than what they ran when LaPolice was in charge, more of a 4-2 front with a hybrid of Dime defense with Randle playing as a rover at times. I don't mean to single out just you 17to85 but would like to know what parts of the roster folks don't like here. You'd think it'd be happier around here with the Bombers holding down first place in the West, having a 1-0 record in the division and beat Saskatchewan once already this year. Plus you could still have this roster - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Winnipeg_Blue_Bombers_season#Roster I don't like it when Peach is the best player on the defensive line and I've said that for a long time. He's a depth guy but if he's your best you are in trouble. So yes I expect a CFL GM should be able to find an end that is better than Peach. Walters hasn't done that yet. The tackles are struggling this year too, if they're not playing well why don't we have someone who can step in and up the play of the line? The linebackers have been lacking as well. We lost Ian Wild in the offseason and he has not been even close to replaced. I'm thrilled that they are 2-1 on the year, absolutely pleased, but when your defense is struggling as much as the Bombers is this year you are playing with fire.

That's exactly it. The turnover battle in the CFL is so key and the Bombers avoided the turnovers so the offense might not have out and out won the game, but they avoided losing the game and the turnovers by the Als won the game for the Bombers in the end. Pretty text book way to do it. Protect the ball on O, generate turnovers on D and special teams = win the game.

Though he and Washington need to work on how they communicate back there and be more disciplined in their coverage. I'm not ready to even use "all-star" and Adams in the same sentence but he's shown a lot of promise and it speaks volumes that a rookie can step into the lineup and have the success that he's had so far. 2 picks in 3 games including one of them for a TD and his only problem is that as a rookie the communication isn't quite up to par? Yeah I'll say he's got star potential. Communication will come in time. ,He's a player plain and simple.

I really hate trying to pass this game off as luck. Yeah it wasn't pretty but they worked hard for that win and I don't think it was luck at all. The Adam int was a good defensive play. He read the pass and made a break on it. The Randle INT was just a bad decision by Cato, but bad decisions happen in football all the time. The punt block was a hard work play by the special teams. They brought some heat and it paid off. The D still has issues but they gutted it out and did make some stops when they had to. I would call this a character win more than a lucky win.

Really impressed with Randle last night obviously. Can tell the guy is a skilled veteran. The DL also stepped up and played much better too, Turner especially I think took last week to heart and stepped up his game. Still some problems on D though. I haven't been overly critical of Hurl but there was one play last night, short yardage play for the Als and Hurl only hits the rb 6 yards past the LOS. Coulda stepped up and hit him right in the hole but nope hung back and let him get 6 yards before contact.

No an offense losing the game is when a qb tosses a couple dumb ints like Cato did. The offense was fine, the Montreal D is good. Now the Bombers D on the other hand, that damn near lost them the game if not for a pick 6 and the blocked kick TD.

It's worth comparing this regime to the regime they are replacing. A lot of people seem to like to give Walters a pass because he talks a lot about the importance of the draft and makes a splash in free agency but this team has holes on it that he needs to be able to fill through his recruiting.

..... really???? ,,,, I don't want to live in this world anymore. GO WATCH THE SHOW NOW!!!!!!

That's OK, we'll counter with this guy...

Walters has done well with dbs and rbs but the LB and DL he's been terrible. Receivers he hasn't found a starter and has relied on CFL free agents. Guy needs to step up his game. Mack found dbs and rbs too, but he also found DL and LB and receivers.

Based on the hype I can only assume that this is the Als shiny new qb

Ottawa looked like a team that was pretty satisfied with themselves for winning their first 2 games and got spanked cause they didn't have the intensity or focus that Edmonton had. Looks good on them.

I don't get the point of this post. What does the composition of the current imports on the roster have to do with evaluating Mack's regime vs Walters' regime ability to find impactful imports? Given how quickly imports cycle through the league it's meaningless. I have the same problems with it. Too much turnover on all teams to really focus on the raw numbers, especially give we're 2 years removed from Mack being in charge. Not even taking into account that players that Walters brought in like Peach and Darvin Adams and Stanley Bryant and Chris Randle, and Drew Willy and maybe there's more I'm not thinking of all came from other teams initially anyway and shouldn't be in a discussion about a GMs ability to find guys down south to start with. I thought we were discussing player scouting? Walters or his scouts didn't discover any of the players that you listed. So you just stopped reading or what?

He's had 3 documented concussions in the CFL plus one in college. But the article I read suggested he's had many more. http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Football/CFL/Winnipeg/2012/10/01/20247596.html This article from 2012 says anywhere from 2-6 concussions since College. 10 seems high. 4-6 is likely. May have had more or less depending what they consider a concussion. And in his playing days when they didn't really care much about them he could have had more! You would think with Buck being a coach for us now he would be one of the guys helping out in determining if Willy is A-OK to play. I think he may know a thing or 2....or 6 about these types of things 10 would be about one a year throughout his pro and college days. It's unlikely, but I bet in his time as a Bomber he had about 5 so who knows lol this kind of statement is ridiculous. He took more head shots in BC than he did as a Bomber. As a Bomber it was always other things. His elbow, his legs his shoulders.

I don't get the point of this post. What does the composition of the current imports on the roster have to do with evaluating Mack's regime vs Walters' regime ability to find impactful imports? Given how quickly imports cycle through the league it's meaningless. I have the same problems with it. Too much turnover on all teams to really focus on the raw numbers, especially give we're 2 years removed from Mack being in charge. Not even taking into account that players that Walters brought in like Peach and Darvin Adams and Stanley Bryant and Chris Randle, and Drew Willy and maybe there's more I'm not thinking of all came from other teams initially anyway and shouldn't be in a discussion about a GMs ability to find guys down south to start with.

Drooling on himself is your definition of too many concussions? Thanks Dr. Spuds. Great work there. I don't know how this forum would function without your insight but I'd kinda like to find out. Yup... I think they brought Buck back too early too many times and he was never the same again. I know what you're believing in every case.... whatever the Bombers say. Nope... I don't believe in the infallibility of concussion protocol, doctors, coaches, or players, but I hope they've got it right this time. I would like some specific examples please.

But give that it's been 2 offseasons as well as that partial year for Walters and how much turnover there is regularly on a CFL roster is there really any meaning to how many americans are left from Macks time? I mean really 2 offseasons with a new regime in place you naturally expect a lot of turnover regardless of anything else. I just don't see these numbers being all that relevant in the context of this discussion.

and I think the biggest thing O'Shea took issue with would be the word urgency. I have this suspicion that he goes into every week wanting his guys to protect his quarterback so there's no more urgency it's just par for the course. They bring pressure the team does what it's supposed to in order to make the play.

It's always gotta be a black and white issue, eh? Always about the polar extremes... Don't forget the persecution complex

Because I know more about concussions than doctors and I saw him get hit! He's one hit away from being a vegetable for life!!11!!!!

because if you get his head wrecked again too soon there starts to be a law of diminishing returns on this sort of thing. and if you've got a potential long-term #1 in Willy (i think he can be), you use the kid gloves on him... ...or you wander through another long desert of Max Halls, Joey Elliots, Steven Jyleses, Alex Brinks, Justin Goltzes and who knows how many more false dawns until you get your next legit heir to Dieter. A completely healthy player could get his head wrecked too. It's playing scared and you don't need to do it. If the doctors have said Willy is healthy to play let him play.

And Walters record is 8-12 so far and there's still holes on the team. I get liking this group better but don't use the record to justify that. I'll stand by the claims that Mack left the team in better shape than Kelly did as well. Not to mention I already acknowledged that Mack was not a player in free agency and didn't have as much success drafting as he needed 2. When talking strictly about recruiting american players Mack blows Walters and co. out of the water whether people liked the guy or not. as to the second point, does depth matter if your starters aren't good enough?

Good stuff. Every scout has areas where they are better at recruiting/assessing than others. It's part of the reason you have multiple scouts. Can't blame McManus for all the teams shortcomings in recruitment, he is only one of many. On top of that assessing talent is only half the battle. Getting them to come to Canada and sign a contract can be just as daunting a task as finding them. Who is to say that McManus hasn't turned up some gems at DE, or R only to have them walk away from the 45k a year we offered them. Joe Mack didn't have trouble getting DEs to come to Canada. Just excuses. There are areas our scouting and recruiting is lacking and it needs to get better. No excuses. People complained about what Mack brought to Canada and they'll complain about what Walters brings to camp and they'll complain about what the next GM brings in as well. Winning solves all issues. How long is the leash for this front office? 2 years? 3 years? The CFL routinely has 33% turnover from year to year so it's a constant rebuild/reload scenario for most teams. Many on this board have stated that they can see an improvement in the National depth which is harder to develop than airmailing in players from the US. The biggest issues surrounding bringing in players through the tryout camps is guys that do not have a passport and the length of the contract. For some players (especially those that are looking to use the CFL as a stepping stone back to the NFL) the 2+1 contract makes them return to beating the bushes looking for a sniff at an NFL. People only ever complained about Macks drafting and lack of interest in free agency. I don't recall anyone seriously complaining about his ability to find american players because he always brought in guys who could play. He just didn't have the draft success needed or hire the coaches required. Honestly I want to like this group we have, they do a lot of good things, but you can't deny there are areas in their recruitment that are lacking thus far that needs to get better. Right now I've got Walters about the same level as Taman was when he was here. Can find some good players but not consistent enough in his ability to bring guys up north. Cares more about the draft that Taman though and that'll be the difference between the two.

If he's healthy he's healthy why rest him? He had a chance to sit and watch the offense last year when he was hurt so that's not even a consideration to me. You can't play scared.