17to85

There was so much progress this season it's not even funny. Things were so bad last year it would be hard to not show progress, but this team showed lots. Yeah there's still areas to work on and some things they can do better going forward but man I tell you this season was night and day to last year and I am very excited for what may come next year.

but it is that simple. Thinking still of that game against the Riders, they got 3 points out of all those yards from Messam, the TOP wasn't tilted because of the Riders running, it was tilted because the Bombers offense didn't stay on the field. They're playing a bend but don't break idea on defense, not my ideal thing but I accept that for what it is, and they have this season for the most part been that kind of defense. The catch for that though is you need to pair it with an offense that can move the ball and eat up some TOP itself. It worked well to start the year but as the year went on the offense fell into the 2 and out routine we've seen so much and the D is simply on the field too much. So yes you're right nothing exists in a vacuum, but you have it backwards. The defense isn't limiting the offense, it was the offense limiting themselves and putting the defense in the bad spot of being on the field too much.

What might have been if they'd scored late against Hamilton and got a stop on labour day...

The first Sask game is a good example too, everyone freaked out about the rushing yards but it was the turnovers that lost them the game. The Turnovers led directly to many times the points all those rushing yards did.

But it's kind of like giving a compliment to a guy for predicting that the sun was going to rise every morning. Seeing Cotton was better than Grigsby and that Sears is a straight up play maker who makes s defense better isn't rocket surgery, anyone with a pair of eyes could see it.

We have tvs in Alberta, we can watch the games, besides that I was in Winnipeg for the first preseason game. Was easy to see that Cotton was better than Grigsby in preseason and it was easy to see that Grigsby ran like a sissy on tv.

and yet still only gave up 13 points. I understand that people want a different system but the rushing yards given up haven't translated into a lot of points on the score board most nights.

umm no.. defense was the biggest surprise this year. Special teams was more consistently bad and the way the offense fell off a cliff was much more alarming than anything the defense did.

Look this game wasn't won by the quarterbacks, it was won because the Bombers actually avoided the turnovers while Calgary had trouble holding onto the ball. They didn't move the ball much to get their points at the end but in a sloppy game when you can take care of the football good things happen. I like what Marve offers as a change of pace and Willy needs a mental break at this point, but I have no doubts that when training camp opens Willy is going to be the best qb on the field and it won't even be close. also, Mr.Perfect you should end every post with that gif, too good.

The Bombers have moved between divisions too much I simply have a deep dislike for every other team. Once the Bombers are out I will hope for one team or another simply based on which team offends me least or if there's a team that has people I at least respect. Or if they're playing a team I truly despise. This year I suppose I'll root for the Stamps just because go local sports team... but I just want to watch good football in the playoffs.

I am going to break from the group and say receivers and DL are a bigger priority. Now maybe some of the guys we've been trying lately on DL are the answer but those two areas are where I want to see improvement the most.

Hell Mike O'Shea won a game in Calgary, might as well be a Grey Cup. Last time that happened Milt Stegall broke a record for touchdown catches in a single season and Kelly Malveaux signed a ball for him to remember it by.

I can only imagine how sweet the rye will taste tonight.

#FireEtch...

7-11 and competitive in most of the games on the year.... if we'd put that as an option at the start of the year people would have absolutely taken it. Disappointing to miss the playoffs but this season was a big step forward for this team. Make some good moves in the offseason and .500 or better should absolutely be attainable next year.

Upgrade, get bigger, meaner, tougher & more physical. Not only make for a better pass rush but a better run stopping D. It'll never happen under Etch so he has to go. Sunday. You're twisting everything to fit your narrative of firing Etch. Bigger, smaller, tougher, meaner I don't give a **** about any of that, I just want better players. Vega was terrible this year for whatever reason, Peach was himself, which is a plugger, Anderson was good but got hurt, Turner was pretty decent... we need better ends at the very least and that will make the D better. Etch or no Etch this defensive line wasn't good enough to have a good defense. So, thinking a bigger & more physical DL isn't part of improvement? Why do you think we can't stop the run or don't get a pass rush? We're too small. We get pushed back 5 yards when teams run so the second level makes more tackles then our DL does. We get stood straight up when we pass rush as we have no push. We rely on our undersized linebackers to make our plays on the run & the pass & we got killed doing that all season. Don't you think coaching philosophy just as much as personnel has something to do with this? We all knew this would happen going into this season. you say it's because we're too small beause of Etchevary, I say it's because they're flat out not good enough and Walters needs to get better players in here for next year.

Upgrade, get bigger, meaner, tougher & more physical. Not only make for a better pass rush but a better run stopping D. It'll never happen under Etch so he has to go. Sunday. You're twisting everything to fit your narrative of firing Etch. Bigger, smaller, tougher, meaner I don't give a **** about any of that, I just want better players. Vega was terrible this year for whatever reason, Peach was himself, which is a plugger, Anderson was good but got hurt, Turner was pretty decent... we need better ends at the very least and that will make the D better. Etch or no Etch this defensive line wasn't good enough to have a good defense.

Agreed. Peach can stay but he should be playing a much smaller role than he did this year. If Peach is the first guy off the bench as depth I got no problems with that, as an every day starter though? No dice. You can do much better.

I don't mind if someone who actually knows sports talks ****, but when it's just douchebags with no knowledge jumping on that bandwagon I despise it.

A win in 2001, 2007 or 2011 would have done great things for the team because it would have cleared a lot of the angst away from some people and there wouldn't be that pressure heaped on the team because of it. In your words that's bullshit. So we should be happy because we night have won three times in 24 years? We did lose a cup to a lesser team but guess what? We played in the game. I just can't get my head around the position of some who feel not having been in the cup for 24 years is no big deal. So why do we play the game? and I said that where? I said a win in one of those games would have relieved a lot of angst and there would be less pressure on the organization because it wouldn't have been 24 years since the last championship! That's all. Stop trying to read more into a comment than is there. Honestly, some people... I appears you might have a problem reading? I know what you said and what I wrote was whether we should be happy with that followed by a ""?"" That hardly meant I was reading anything else in you opinion. Than after stating a fact about loosing to Calgary I then posted an opinion about what I feel is a strange reaction of some to the last 24 years. Your obligation in this case would have been either ignore the post or to answer the question instead of assuming it was an attack on your statement. I'm sure you know what a ? stands for, right? You might be just too hung up on one thing. Did you ever think of going to diner, going to the theater, volunteering, visiting friends on a football night or going on a trip to where the Bombers don't even exist during the season? All that can be a whole lot of fun. You would find out being a fan should not become an obsession. With PVR you would not miss a thing and if you did so what? you could still make up facts. The big point is that winning a cup when they had the opportunities would have saved the team from a lot of the bad decisions they made. Particularly in 2007. Win a cup there and Berry and Glenn have more rope and we avoid the whole Mike Kelly debacle and everything that came after it.

remember when people here flipped their **** cause Maher was cut?

If you have some DL who can get pressure without needing to send 3 or 4 extra blitzers your team is better off. With Anderson injured and Vega playing hurt all year and having a crappy season and Peach being not so great to start with it really put this defense in a bad spot. It is critical that they upgrade the defensive line or it won't matter who is calling the defense.

Even worse was one of the ******* on CJAY, one of those "rah rah local sports team!" types who doesn't know a thing about sports was talking about the stamps before the last game against the Bombers and how the stamps were on the bye but they have the Bombers next week so it's basically 2 weeks off. Too many egos in that city. They act like the Flames aren't a joke of a team too.

A win in 2001, 2007 or 2011 would have done great things for the team because it would have cleared a lot of the angst away from some people and there wouldn't be that pressure heaped on the team because of it. In your words that's bullshit. So we should be happy because we night have won three times in 24 years? We did lose a cup to a lesser team but guess what? We played in the game. I just can't get my head around the position of some who feel not having been in the cup for 24 years is no big deal. So why do we play the game? and I said that where? I said a win in one of those games would have relieved a lot of angst and there would be less pressure on the organization because it wouldn't have been 24 years since the last championship! That's all. Stop trying to read more into a comment than is there. Honestly, some people...

I like what you're saying overall in this post, I really do. But remarkably coming from a person like me who coaches Atom football players where 100% effort and focus is everything, this statement imho is blinding some Bomber decision-makers from corrececly evaluating players and making some tough decisions. The tough reality being that regardless of 100% effort every play every down and being a loyal team member to a fault is unfortunately not good enough to guarantee a roster spot/starting position. We aren't in Atom, Peewee or Bantam anymore. When I really think about it, that's how Wade Miller was able to be a Bomber for so long . He was simply not talented enough to warrant taking up a roster spot but boy was he loyal, focussed and a hard worker. Probably why he got into private business. Now that he's leading this organization with a head coach who seems to be molded quite similarly, this color blindedness of seeing effort/loyalty as the end all be all of who deserves to be a Bomber concerns me. Bullshit. Wade Miller may not have been the most talented guy but there was a time when he was one of the teams best special teams players and he clearly had the talent to be a CFLer. Thanks for your opinion, but to use your well used quote on other people, your opinion is not based on fact. Wade Miller was not a very good football player, that's a fact. He was also the same guy who came out and said he would quit the team if a very bad coach was fired which would suggest not the best judgement of talent as well. Do love his loyalty and commitment though, misguided at times. It's based on a hell of a lot more facts than your erroneous claims that he wasn't a very good football player. Guys who aren't good football players simply don't have the kind of careers that Miller had. What facts are you willing to bring to this argument other than "I watched him good and he sucked!!!11!"? "Herp derp he kept going offside!11!!!! rabble rabble" can you work in a fat joke somewhere?