The problem I have with the call is that it just seems like O'Shea wasn't reading the game well. Yes, he's called for punts with the Bombers deep in their own end in other games but in those games the defence was shutting the opposition down, not getting run over like they were that game (and the one before). Yes, the Bombers have struggled in short yardage in other games but they had been doing very well all that game. Based on how the game was going I still think the low-risk call was gambling, not expecting the defence the stop an offence whose strength plays to the Bomber's weakness.

 

The call makes a little more sense, though I still don't agree with it, if it put the Riders in a position to have to score a touchdown to win but all they needed was a field goal. Based on the evidence staring him in the face, I just don't see how O'Shea expects the Riders not to move the ball enough for at least a field goal.

And I'll say it again for the even slower people. Giving up a high % play for a small lead with ample time left is what put a sloppy defence on the field. They failed and we're in a position to fail because oshea didn't have the jam to to for it in a near sure conversion situation.

Considering that the team was pretty good on D all game and has been decent throughout the year and the teams biggest weakness is being able to get the hard yards when they're in short yardage I think you are assigning too high a % for success. Remember this team has failed to convert 3rd and 1 multiple times against worse defenses than the Riders. Nothing is guaranteed in football, all you can do is make plays when you are put in a position to do so and the defense utterly failed at the end of the game.

I would have gone for the 3rd down gamble personally, but that's just my attitude, I didn't have a problem with O'Shea taking the lead and trusting his defense to win the game for him. They had many chances to make it happen and didn't c'est la vie.

Except that Messam already had multiple double digit runs so it was pretty clear the run game, in particular Messam, was not going to be stopped.

And though 3rd and shorts have been an adventure this season today the Bombers executed very well and got good pushes on their gambles.

Finally, O'Shea has done a great job reading games and trusting in the D when they are stopping the opposition. Today he simply had too much, unfounded, faith in the D.

They should have went for it. Even if they don't get the touchdown they leave far less time on the clock.

I'm not about to defend his entire body of work but I don't see why there is such a backlash about this article.

 

What I took away from it is that despite the recent success of the Bombers a long term vision is needed for long term success, which may mean trading a valuable International for a decent National on the OL (which is clearly not impossible, despite the opinions of some posters, given that, as Lawless points out, Hall and a pick were recently traded for Neufeld).

 

Gordon and Stoddard...was just ridiculous how good they were. Still *tried* to get Simon back, but it didn't work out...

stoddard... The best adequate canadian receiever ever!

hands of glue no doubt but otherwise...?

 

 

Haha yeah, I was thinking the same thing. A reliable receiver no doubt, but I'd say there's just a slight drop off from Gordon to Stoddard.

I'm sorry but I can't help but chuckle at the people enamoured with a big arm QB. Is it nice to have? Sure of course. But until you've shown that you can read a defence at a professional level (far more important than any one skill, including a big arm) you haven't done squat. Lets wait until the exhibition games before we start getting a little chubby in the pants shall we?

Bah. Nothing against you personally but this response always frustrates me. I get the point, that somebody can look good in practise and crap the bed in a real game, but I say a large part of the fun of being a fan is pondering the "what if" questions and enjoying the potential. So what if sometimes you're left disappointed? Enjoy the ride and look forward to the potential of the next player.

 

 

Salary cap is 4.4 million as of right now.

 

You have to pay 46 guys + a practice roster. Once you factor in your ~10% for injuries and wiggle room + the practice roster money, I'd say you get left with around 3.75 to play with for salaries. Close enough to get a working idea anyways.

 

Even at 3.75, you could afford to pay your starter + backup QB a total of probably about 500k. Leaves you 3.25 for 44 spots, that's still an average of almost 75k a player.

 

I mean really, let's try and figure it out

 

Starting QB - 350k

Backup QB - 150k

7 starting Canadians - Average of 125k

 

Then you consider how many guys on the roster are guys who make minimum money (a backup RB, Canadian special teamers, etc) and it's easy to see how you can spend big money on more than one or two or even a handful of guys.

Great post. That being said I still believe paying a soon to be 39 year old wildly inconsistent quarterback is extremely short sighted even if it doesn't handcuff us financially. I just don't see the point in investing money in a QB that by the time he is ready to ride off into retirement, the team will be in a position to compete for a championship. I think it also delays the development of whoever will be #2 on the depth chart for the season whether that be Willy or someone else.

 

 

Because in addition to making this franchise consistently competitive long term, Walters, O'Shea and co. are tasked with making this team respectable NOW - like, for this upcoming season. 

 

I know some will disagree, but we just can't be okay with another 3 win season. To even try and make this team consistently competitive and challenging for the Cup, we need to gain some ounce (sorry, litre) of RESPECT from around the league - and we're not doing that until we win some damn football games. Burris needs to be brought in because he's the best available right now - Willy or any other QB is a non-factor at this point b/c they're still FA. Not getting Burris, and potentially not getting Willy would be an absolute disaster for this team - going in with some sort of Hall, Goltz and newbie combo? Puh-leaze!

 

I don't think you'll find anyone who thinks Burris will win us a Cup, or that he's the long term solution - but he absolutely makes us a FAR better team the second we sign him.

 

 

Exactly. While unearthing and developing talent via scouting and drafting is important, keeping the talent you have and attracting new talent is also very important. And so, someone like Burris is like putting a new coat of paint on a house when you're trying to sell it; if we're going to draw interest, we need to the optics to change now. Winnipeg needs to become a more attractive destination for both established free agent vets - both ours and those from other teams - and for players new to the CFL.

 

Success will breed success and the developmental project players we bring in will benefit from it, not be victims of it.

Nah, to mass troll would be classless & stupid. Just goes to show that the split was long overdue. People wanted a new place & this is it. Bluto no doubt remembers 13thman & just how huge that CFL site was 10 years ago & how **** mods killed it through their arrogance, being  bullies & idiocy. It had to have a couple of thousand members at its height around 2004.

It was THE place to hang out as a CFL fan on the internet in the first decade of this century. It was a great place if you liked get togethers & socializing. Especially the fans down east. Little harder out west but fans hung together at Grey Cups at Meet & Greets.

If you were an insider you were treated like gold. If you weren't then the mods targeted you. I remember being threatened by a mod over there named lerriuqs in a private message saying he was out to get me permanently banned. My crime? I posted too much in the senior mods opinion & I didn't like the Riders as lerriuqs is from Regina.

The day that most if not all Eskimo fans quit en masse in & around 2007 after a pissing war with Rider fans was the actual end of that place although it took a few more years for it to die off. It is a ghost town now. At some point, members will abandon a site after realizing that place is no fun anymore & they leave.

 

Man I miss 13thman. It was so good to have a place where all fans went so you could keep up with all the teams in one place.