17to85

I think the international defensive backs are on a completely different level than the national ones that that is the biggest difference going. Hell the entire defensive unit for the internationals is probably too good compared to the nationals. Offensively I agree (qb aside) that it's closer than people might think, but defensively I think it's a huge edge to the internationals.

You sure can, and when you add them up you can plainly see that the defense is responsible for less losses than any of the other facets of the team.

Are you kidding? That's started a long time ago. Actually it goes away and comes back in regular intervals the way "Fire Hall !" used to. All the while Chamblin somehow is blameless. When Rider fans have it in their head somebody is untouchable (chamblin) gawd help you if you're not on that list.(cortez) Which is hilarious because to my eyes Chamblin cost them 2 wins early in the season with his ridiculousness regarding his running backs and god knows how many games he cost them with his quarterback yo-yo in the last half of the season. Chamblin has his share of warts for what happened to that team this year without question.

You love to characterize folks who disagree with you as anti-Etch haters. I'm anti-losing and the reality is that Etch is a big part of the Bombers losing so often this year. In your fantasy world, Etch will suddenly become a better DC who suddenly produces an above average defense when he hasn't done it in the past. That's not likely to ever happen. No in my world the defense was good enough to win with and some improvements to the roster (notably defensive line and maybe not using a weakness like Sherman at linebacker) can improve the underlying stats and it is a much bigger priority to address the problems on the offense. You though would ***** and moan about anything that wasn't best in the league. I am simply arguing against this idea that the defense is a big reason for this team losing games. It isn't, plain and simply they gave the team chances to win more nights than not and if you can't see that then yes, you are just a blind Etch hater.

You can use stats to prove anything, 14% of people know that. Some people though are just so anti-Etch they're willing to ignore reality and live in their own little fantasy world where the guy is literally Hitler

Are you kidding? That's started a long time ago. Him and Dyce would have been fired after the first quarter if the fan base had their way. I hope the Riders do wind up doing something stupid like that, I'd make room on the Bombers coaching staff for either guy.

but it's not irrelevant because it shows the mentality of Putin and Russia on the matter. It might be a bold faced lie but it's not irrelevant

Yeah he went on about how it was Durant that put the Riders in a bad position. I rolled my eyes pretty hard, my assessment of the situation based on what I read was that Durant pushed himself hard this week and found out that he wasn't ready to play, nothing out of the ordinary there, guy tried and wasn't ready. The Riders should have known that was a possibility. Just a complete assclown Lawless is trying to create controversy out of nothing. Durant is the Riders MVP and this last half of the season by them proves it. Without him they're nothing.

Lies. They stopped teams plenty only to have the offense send them right back on the field.

and how you develop them.

A lot of those stats CAN be attributed to the offense forcing them on the field longer though. Look no one is claiming it was a perfect defense, but some of the talent issues didn't help them but by far the biggest problem was the fact that they were left on the field too many times by an inept offense. When you run a bend but don't break defense you need the offense to spell them off time to time. In the last half of the season they utterly failed to do that.

Yeah they could have lived with the growing pains from Sunshine and maybe he would have eventually gotten comfortable, instead they brought in a retread to sewer what could have been valuable development snaps for their young qbs. Fools. Now they have no trust in their young guys and they'll likely scramble to try and get a different backup next year, wouldn't it be wonderful if Taman brought in someone like Jyles to back up?

But this team has a weak group of starters on defense as well, and the one receiver who is a multidimensional threat can't stay healthy... they need help everywhere.

A lot of Lawless type stuff where he takes his opinion and states it as fact. Threw Durant under the bus pretty good saying he was physically ready to play but chickened out and screwed the riders over in the process. I didn't pay too much attention but it was something like that. Guy is in love with his own bizarre ideas.

and against BC at home the defense gave the team chance after chance after chance but the offense failed to capitalize. Against Hamilton at home the defense kept them in the entire game and the offense pissed the chance to win away at the end of the game. The D did more to keep the team in games in the back half of the season than the offense did and that's just a fact.

It's OK, Durant is back next week, turnaround starts next week...

First I heard that. Do you have a link? Love to read it. He was blathering on about it in the TSN pregame show.

Maybe Walters should as their GM about getting some defensive linemen

Your post makes no sense. How do you get 7 good NI starters if you don't take the best player available (with consideration to availability around the NFL factored in)? Having a bunch of OL who might be ready to play in 2-3 years won't help us. Gotta draft and develop those mid-round guys into being players. How many 1st round picks on Calgary's OL or Saskatchewan's? We desperately need players who can play now regardless of position. Draft 1 OL with the first overall and pencil him in as a 2nd year starter. Draft 1 OL later in the draft and HOPE he will eventually turn into something down the line. Use the mid-rounds to bolster the rest of the NI roster. Gotta use your top picks to upgrade where you need to and for the Bombers, that's O lineman. So in 2011 we take MItchell first overall and Swiston later and hope he turns out.... how would that have worked out for this teams offensive line? Your idea is ridiculous as JBR has explained. When you are weak in all areas when it comes to NI depth you don't get picky. You take the best guy available.

Someone is going to pay the price for this for BC, just no way a team can so completely get its ass kicked in the playoffs like that and now have someone made an example of. Total team pants shitting there.

Because next season the Bombers are going to still be looking at 2 americans 3 canadians on the offensive line, for that group to get better it's primarily the americans who need to be better. So take the best NI in the draft so we can get another starter somewhere. Hell if we're picking by need for NIs I say we need a defensive lineman more than we need an offensive lineman given the current configuration of the team and where NIs play.

one leads to the other. When the offense can't stay on the field and put some points up you leave the defense in the position where they get worn down being on the field too much and momentum just builds and builds and builds against you. Any team that has an offense playing that badly is going to look poor on D because they just get worn down.

when bad Glenn shows up it's a long day for your team no doubt about it.

should you not build a base by taking the most talent and then building around them? If for example this team uses 3 NIs at receiver then we can play 3 americans on the OL quite easily. This idea that you MUST have 4 or 5 canadians on the OL is outdated thinking and needs to end.

you know I think I'd be more worried about Rider win today if they had lost the last game against Edmonton. It serves as a good wake up call to the esks that they can't take them lightly. Unless you're the Bombers it's not likely to lose back to back games to the same team. I'd heavily favour BC in the east except for the fact that crossover teams don't often seem to win.