Doublezero

No it wasn't, it happened in the middle of the field and by then veltung had already picked left side and was motoring..

It was Pontbriand.

Just want to say I thought Dom Picard played a hell of a good game for us.

Have they already worked out Davis?  How can they know if he's any better than Portis?
 
Disappointed they cut Unamba, thought he looked really good playing LB with Sears the last two games of 2014.

Nick Moore made a great block for Marshall on the 2-pointer. And yes, once Cotton penetrated the LOS he was shedding tackles. Lots of complaints in Riderville about sloppy tackling by their D. But Cotton helped himself too - runs hard and he's very able at changing direction.

My guess is that we're not trading any QB and all of this is forum blah blah.

I am not as hopeful coming out of training camp as I was going into it. Most of the players I thought would impress are either gone or on the PR, and some of the weaknesses we had last year are still there or still question marks.
Quarterbacks- same as last year
Running backs- about the same
Receivers- about the same
O-line- vastly improved
D-line- marginally better
Linebackers- a big question mark and a real concern considering Sask's willingnes to run and run effectively
D-backs- about the same
Special Teams- about the same
Coaching- damned well ought to be better
 
All this said, we still should be able to beat the Riders today, and I can't imagine how devastating a lop-sided loss would be to team confidence.

Agreed. You beat me to this post.
 
I thought their D was ok last season. If they can get even average production from their offense they should be in decent shape. Mind you, they did trade away their best player on D, so who knows...

With the benefit of hindsight, the trade for Mo Price doesn't look that good anymore.  They were able to score Jackson, Ellingson and Williams in free agency so they should have been able to fill one receiver spot through scouting or with Marcus Henry or Khalil Paden... would have allowed them to keep Jasper Simmons.  Of course they didn't know if they'd get those guys in free agency so not really fair to judge.

For the 1st time, in a long time, the Bombers aren't the first team to play to start off the CFL week, and I'm good with that.
This year, we get a build up to our game. 3 games before ours. No more TSNgo BS. Just steady viewing on the tube. We'll start with the least attractive game (hairless vs ageless) and work up to a frenzy from there.
Nice.
****Just about forgot to add my source for the hairless comment (can't have that now can we?)
.@JCromp8 removed his #CFLFLow. How it will impact his play? (that's a joke, settle down) ➡ http://on.cfl.ca/OKRUA

Other than against us, Messam did virtually nothing last season. In games against teams other than us he had 160 yards on 40 carries over eight games. We could have gotten that production from Volny if we played him that much.
 
I also think Emry needs a bounce back season to be considered a really good player again.

1. Upgrading the OL by acquiring Picard, Bryant and Chungh.
2. Upgrading the Defense by hiring DC Richie Hall.
3. Upgrading the overall Canadian content thru free agency and draft.

Julian Feoli-Gudino made a beauty of a catch in traffic and then tore free and carried 2 defenders on his back for another 20 yards down field.
Kid sparked the team and the crowd with that energy and grit. Walters looking very smart to sign this kid to a 3-year extension.

This should enable them to move Randle back to weakside CB. Shell plays on the SAM. I'm good with that.

All of the other debate aside, one thing I noticed that no one has brought up yet:
 
On the one series of plays in the first quarter where Marve was brought in and did run the plays exactly the way the coaches wanted them run, it was the QB sneak at the goal line. And he struggled mightily. Not sure where the blame lies, but it was so predictable it was frustrating to watch. he doesn't take the ball and just push the pile behind centre, he likes to take it left or right for about 3-5 steps before cutting in, and the club has run the same play every time in goal line situations with him going back to last year. Teams have figured it out now (they started to last year, IMO) and rather than plunge over the centre the linebackers just hold back, read which way Marve runs and then collapse the line on that side, and he hasn't shown great strength in pushing the line forward. Hope either he changes his approach, the club disguises it better, or they just leave Willy in to give the illusion of a pass. That's one area I thought Portis looked OK in as a big QB who could surge on a QB keeper. Just my 2 cents, any other opinions?

Nick Moore (he's gotta score sometime, why not against the Riders?) 

Brohm gets no love around here. So he must've thrown for 10,000 inaccurate yards at Louisville. Ended up being nominated for a Heisman even though he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Was drafted 56th overall in the NFL draft because he was always overthrowing or underthrowing his receivers who always ran the perfect route and never dropped a catchable ball. What is it that you are seeing about Brohm's "accuracy" that the scouts and coaches at Green Bay and the Bills (and Danny McManus) missed?

Once MOS declared Willy the starter in Feb 2014 they had to design an offence suited to his strengths: 3-5 step drop. Then Brohm was signed, similar style, as Walters said, to provide competition. Marve is a different cat, and would require a change in O philosophy if they were to contemplate using him in anything more than a situational role. So yeah, Marve has to adapt to the system they've got in place here for Willy. Now, whether Drew Willy's style of drop back pocket passer is correct and successful for 3-down CFL wide-field ball is another very legit question. We might see Willy run a bit more this year which could be interesting - also gives Bellefueille & co a chance to use Marve a bit more often. 

Brohm's college stats mean he gets chances to play pro.  Other than that, they no longer mean anything.  The NFL's already decided they don't want him even as a 3rd string QB because the NFL scouts and coaches found his game wanting.  
 
Brohm's our 2nd string QB.  His accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.  No... thats not the same as 'can't hit the broadside of a barn', nor does it mean his receivers are always running perfect routes.  It means he isn't throwing on time on target enough to move up the ranks.  Willy's style is similar, but his accuracy is better.

Significant turnover in Winnipeg's Canadian depth over 2014: Picard Hurl Chungh Bastien Cronk Westerman Gibson Waggoner Morgan Rempel - 10 Canucks who didn't play a down for us last year - 11 if you count Newman who was hurt. The fact that Bastien and Morgan made it - pretty cool. I'm going to go out on a limb and say, pretty soon, sooner than later, those 2 guys will be very good adds for us.

I'm still hoping they put back Randle at weakside CB, Unamba at SAM, J.Adams/Washington at weakside HB

So barring any injuries, trades or pickups, our 46 man active roster will looks like...
 
QB: WILLY, Brohm, Marve
OL: BRYANT, GREAVES, PICARD, CHUNG, DANIELS, Goossen
WR: D.ADAMS, KOHLERT
SB: MOORE, DENMARK, FEOLI-GUDINO, Bastien, Veltung
RB: COTTON, Marshall, Pontbriand, Cronk
 
DL: WESTERMAN, ANDERSON, TURNER, PEACH, Gibson, D.Johnson, Thomas
LB: BASS, HURL, RANDLE, Newman, Waggoner, Briggs,
DB: J.ADAMS, WASHINGTON, B.JOHNSON, BUCKNOR, Unamba, Jones, Morgan
S: WRIGHT, Sherman
 
ST: Hajrullaju, Rempel
 
2 Man:
OL Tyler
LB Burnett

Keola Anatolin would be a great guy to get. Was impressive last year and runs real hard.

Couldn't agree more. How ridiculous is it going to be when the biggest story of a lot of games is how the kicker did on converts?
 
My thoughts on the game: Punt coverage was excellent by the special teams. Kickoff coverage, not so much. Robert Marve sure is exciting to watch. I have no idea if he would be an effective quarterback, but his couple drives in garbage time 2 years in a row have been thrilling.

About the missed field goal. The holder lined up only 5 yards back from the line instead of 7. Don't know what kind of difference that makes, but I feel like that may have lead to the miss a bit.