BattleLevel

Odell Willis and Adarius Bowman had some  kind words about Coach Harris....
 
"And one former coach, in particular, stands out above the rest from their days there.
Five years ago Tuesday, Bombers assistant head coach and defensive line coach Richard Harris died from a heart attack at age 63 after collapsing in the team’s office.
“It wasn’t just a defensive thing, man,” said Bowman, who spent two seasons in Winnipeg before joining the Eskimos the same year it happened. “For most of us, he was almost like a father figure, especially in my case. And I know he touched Odell a lot from being around him.
“We used to go for lunches and do a lot of things. Most of his talk wasn’t even about ball, it was about becoming a man. We were so young then, 22-23, and what’s crazy is it felt like all his words sunk in on me after I left there. But he definitely took the time to do that.”
Not every coach does. Especially with a player from across the line of scrimmage. But suffice it to say that the 260-pound retired NFL defensive lineman recognized the unbridled potential in this pair of up-and-comers who might not have had the squeakiest of clean images early on in their football careers.
“We didn’t understand the impact we could have off the field. He used to tell me, ‘Someone’s always watching, even when they’re not watching, A.D.,’ ” Bowman recalled. “And at the time, I’m like, ‘That sounds stupid.’ But I understand what he meant now. So that’s a coach that will always be with me.
“I know that hurt a lot of us when that occurred. I remember when it was first announced, it just didn’t seem real. Coach Harris was a huge man that had a bigger heart. Some of the things he said is stuff I’m still learning now. He wasn’t my coach, but I felt like I’d do anything he said.”
Willis doesn’t need any sort of anniversary to remember his former position coach.
“He was one of the best, one of my favourites,” said Willis, whose Swaggerville teammates were always anchored in reality by Harris, regardless of how big their on-field persona would get. “I’ve never paid attention to how many years it’s been, when I think about him I just think about all the positive things and all the good stuff he did for us.
“For a guy who didn’t have it easy to having almost everything in the NFL, he’d seen it from both sides. The older you get, the wiser you get, and that was just him. He could relate to everybody, whether you came off of the streets or came from a good family.”
Regardless of the problem, Harris could always relate to it.
“He knew one day we were going to become men,” Bowman said. “We’ve matured so much. And back then, I thought I was the coolest person walkin’. I hope I’m able to get older and have that smile and heart that he had. But also that fight.”
http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/football/cfl/edmonton-eskimos/eskimos-veterans-remember-coach-richard-harris-ahead-of-showdown-vs-winnipeg?__lsa=06a5-9936

- Did you hear that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers no longer have a website? They can't string 3 w's together.
- Why doesn't Brandon MB have a CFL team? Because then Winnipeg would want one too.
- How do you stop a Blue Bomber player from masterbating? Paint his *^#% Stamp colours and they'll never beat it.
- Did you hear the joke Drew Willy told his receivers? It went over their heads.
- Whats the best part about dating a girl who's a Bomber fan? They'll never expect a ring.
- How do you know the Winnipeg City Police are getting tough on speeding? First offence they give you two Blue Bomber tickets, and the second, they make you use them.
- Did you hear about the blonde burglar? They tried to break into the Blue Bomber's trophy room.
- Why shouldn't a person buy their child a Blue Bomber jersey? They are a chocking hazard.
 

So you're telling me that we're due?

So you're telling me that we're due?

The elephant in the room is the almost complete lack of a vertical passing game.  Teams are stacking the LOS, which is why Harris has had so little success.  If they can't force the Esks D to back off, we will see more of the same.
 

What game do the Bombers have a high chance of winning right now?   Hamilton the week after?   Toronto the week after that?   Then we are into our bye and that is the most likely week O'Shea gets fired.

At this point, we HAVE to try throwing a pile of money at an experienced person to turn it around. Are we desperate enough to let Eric Tillman try and rejuvinate his career? Will Huff ever leave Calgary? Is Trestman really a genius or was he sheltered by ACs greatness? We need someone with legitimate CFL experience to turn this around, and not another rookie with potential.

That is the role Danny Mac was supposed to play, but you have to wonder if he's been paying attention to the changes in the game in the last 20 years or just relying on what worked for him in his day.  His track record for QB's is not good.

After week 4:
From week 3, and something for Our HC to think about:
- Buono says if the offense struggles again he will have no hesitation to pull Jennings again. Believes he hung onto the ball too long at times - Farhan Lalji    Wally, "I didn't pull Jonathan to damage him, I did it to help him. The offense was getting stagnant, I wanted to take the pressure off him" - Farhan Lalji
 
I think Buono was pretty close to pulling Jennings in this last game too. 
Still on Buono ..Buono strolls out, pretty well to midfield, to get the attention of the ref and gets a penalty for his troubles. I wonder if he was trying to one-up Jim Popp for throwing his hat to get the ref's attention? It was a deserved penalty, which spawned a caller to the Rider post-game show to comment: 
“Wally Buono had more yards on the field than the Riders running backs.”                               
Speaking after the Bomber game, Walby says he's surprised O'Shea didn't use ex-Edmonton Nichols in a one or two series scenario. He admits O'Shea is a loyal guy.
Drew Willy just 7-14 in the red zone...- Jeff Hamilton (Hamilton game)
"You don't want to be known as a league that doesn't pay it's assistant coaches as per their contracts." - @scratchingpost #CFL #Esks CFLNews 
GREGORY HIRED: John Gregory has a new football post.
The former Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach was recently named the first commissioner of the Arena Development League, an indoor football circuit that has no affiliation with either Arena Football League or Indoor Football 
Some of us conspiracy theorists believe Durant — as good as he is — might not be the Riders’ long-term quarterback, that Jones instead has his eyes on free-agent-to-be James Franklin, an aspiring star who Jones coached last year with the Edmonton Eskimos. And all these other guys are simply short-term backup plans. - Posted on July 12, 2016 by Darrell Davis 
@BlueBomberTalk
Source indicates the #Bombers sold just over 800 new jerseys on preorders alone. That's ~$160,000 in revenue. Not bad. 
CFL News –  @CFL_News
#Riders get rights to QB Vad Lee in deal with Eskimos http://3downnation.com/2016/07/12/riders-get-rights-to-qb-vad-lee-in-deal-with-eskimos … #CFL #Esks via @JDunk12- 
My question is - why in hell does Hervey keep feeding Jones players?
The number of rushing yards per game, according to league stats guru Steve Daniel, has never been as few as this year. Through three weeks, there has been an average of 166 rushing yards per game, which is down 23% from only two seasons ago.  
Through three weeks, teams have combined to rush the ball only 34.7 times per game, which are the fewest in league history. Edmonton’s John White and Calgary’s Jerome Messam are the only two rushers on pace to crack the 1,000-yard mark in the early going.  Kirk Penton, Toronto Sun
The “eye in the sky” video reviewer appears to be working so far. One thing he should be able to fix in the future, however, is plays like Hamilton’s touchdown last week against Winnipeg. Andy Fantuz was clearly offside on Chad Owens’ TD grab, and here’s hoping the league will allow the eye in the sky to fix the mistakes that hundreds of thousands of viewers can see plain as day. KPenton
I'm not as sure as Kirk Penton about the "eye in the sky" working so far. I've seen it work, maybe a few times, but, shouldn't it be preventing at least, some of those challenges?
Insider stuff from Penton: 
Chris Williams and his dropsies from years gone by. He says "Chris Williams is simply catching the football. He had the second-most drops last year, which worked out to more than 300 yards worth. A lot of his drops last year were touchdowns, so his concentration has improved. If he cuts his drops in half, he’s a 100 catch guy every year .." 
I too, was wondering about Williams' drops from years gone by. That's a huge difference.
CFL News - Accepted penalties at a 23 per cent decrease from the same point last season. - @garylawless #CFL  
'Accepted' as opposed to called?
@ArashMadani
So @JDunk12 just came on @timandsid and said Jim Barker/the Argos did not offer the same money as Ottawa to Trevor Harris in the off-season.  -  
This counters the Argos claim that they did.
Coach Jones...
“Just for y’all’s information, Cover Zero is when you don’t play with a free safety and you blitz everybody. It has been 86-per-cent successful over my career for a 3.3-yard average, so that’s why we run it.” - leaderpost.com
Reflecting back on it now, making the convert harder to get, has made the convert....harder to get. - Mr Dee
I suggest that somebody in the bomber employ, phone Marcel Desjardins, and ask him who he thinks is the next 'can't miss' QB for the CFL . Why Marcel? Well, he seems to know what he's doing. 
Then I suggest we go after said QB. Now. Before now. Pre-now, if you will. ASAP. Never mind the repercussions of such move. Just do it.
Only half-kidding.
2 of the 3 must see moments in the CFL involved 2 receivers that made incredible catches in the game this year. Against. Us.
Hearing SJ Green is about a month away from the procedure to repair is ACL, MCL & PCL #Alouettes #CFL - Matthew Scianitti
Willy had 13 incompletions on 38 attempts. In breaking down each of his errant throws, there were eight where Willy was simply off the mark; either too high, too low, behind or too far ahead. Two were intercepted in heavy coverage, a third should have been picked off, one he threw away because of pressure, and it appeared Willy was upset with Darvin Adams for making a mistake on another.
- Kirk Penton
Ed Tait -
The Bombers had 33 first down plays against the Eskimos and, factoring in penalties, sacks and losses, netted just 77 yards offence. Willy was 12 of 19 for 184 yards with a TD and an interception on first down, but the Bombers rushed nine times for only 27 yards, Willy was sacked once, and there were four penalties.
of the 22 second-down plays the Bombers ran, a whopping 13 of them needed 10 or more yards to be converted and only four were second-and-five or less.
Kent Austin speaks his Mind. Mike O'Shea hides his feelings. 2 Complete opposites. #bombers #cfl #ticats - Steve Morley
Hamilton 8 sacks Montreal 4 sacks Not much to say about this game. This was not the same Montreal team the Bombers played.
TSN had been reporting how good their numbers were for CFL games this year. Then came this ugly Hamilton -Montreal affair...GULP ? 
Mack, who took over as general manager in January 2010, produced a 21-39 mark before getting the pink slip in August 2013, which works out to a .350 winning percentage. Since then the Bombers are 15-37, which represents a .288 winning percentage over eight fewer games than Mack lasted. - Kirk penton
In the "news to me" category - Miller, who appears 2 B involved in personnel matters, & Walters will celebrate 3rd anniversary w/ #Bombers in few weeks. - @PentonKirk #CFL
Quebec pouring it on now..Gregoire Martin runs it in from 13 yards and it's Que 25, Sask 8 w/1:06 left.   - Football Manitoba  
Ha! Anything to do with Sask losing at football....I'll post it.
The CFL headline read that Hamilton dominated the Alouettes. More proof that the reality behind the headline is completely different.
Who said this? 
We f—in’ suck,” he said, quite candidly. Until the motherf—ers take control and look in the mirror, it will continue to be no good,”  “Everyone in the locker room has got to be accountable. It’s not about character. We didn’t play very well.”
Nic Lewis
And as the writer says (Herb Zerkowsky - Montreal Gazette) "the Als were coming off a bye week in the schedule, having not played since June 30. The coaching staff had plenty of time to prepare. Instead, they made a Ticats team that had lost two straight at home look magnificent."
Don't know how much of this true... Chris Carter was on the sidelines watching his son Duron perform. At least one spectator sitting in the south-side stands indicated "it appeared the elder Carter was coaching Montreal’s receivers."
Heh, heh. I bet you Duron Carter is sorry he didn't sit out the Hamilton game on suspension...?
Chris Jones - 1st time as a HC - loses 3 games in a row. So sad.
#Riders injuries were a big factor, but @JJ_Jennings10 came of age in 2nd half against heavy blitz, was able to beat man coverage. @CFLonTSN - Farhan Lalji
Durant x-rays were negative for a broken bone. Would like league to look at hit. #Riders Lee Jones
"I'll let the league answer to that." - Jones on whether hit on Durant was dirty. #CFL
-Warren Woods - "Jones not buying the notion Brooks " accidentally" rolled into Durants ankle"..#postgame
-didn't look like an 'intent to roll to me', but he did get 3 roughing-the-passer penalties. Let's just say he didn't try to stop from rolling into Durant. Durant, himself, believes it was 'borderline dirty'......."Durant calls Michael Brooks hit that injured his ankle "borderlne dirty" leaderpost.com/sports/footbal… #CFL" #Riders #BCLions via @murraylp
Does Justin Capicciotti miss Hopkins, Shologan, and Lemon from the RedBlack D?
I thought it was a head's up play when A. Allen, in the grasp of defenders, spotted Jennings, and tossed him the ball for a BC TD.
The hitch screen -  They threw it four times to Weston Dressler and picked up a grand total of zero yards before finally deciding to ditch it. - Penton.
Is this really why we got this guy? - Dee.
Also, Penton reports Sophomore right guard Sukh Chungh was beaten on two of the 3 sacks, and he also took a holding penalty on Winnipeg's drive in the game's final minute.
The kicking curse lives on in Winnipeg? 
"New Bombers placekicker Justin Medlock, who failed to convert from 49 yards against the Eskimos, has missed four of 12 field goal attempts through four games. Last year in Hamilton he missed only five kicks in 47 tries" ..- Penton
You have to ask yourself - do you think the Bombers could have responded the same way the Lions did under all that pressure? Even with that horrid Sask.secondary? .......I thought not.
The #Bombers are running fundamental blocking and positional-tackling drills in practice today. So there's that. - Darrin Bauming
Which brings up the question, "are the bombers physically able to move the opponents off the ball?" MOS brought this up and it's worth pondering.
The Eskimos have a record of 2-1 at this stage of the season. They could easily be 0-3.
 
Have you ever heard the expression "behind the sticks" being used as much as it this year?
And finally, does it ever do any good to rush only 3 men in any kind of defence?
Names who stood out Week 4:
Kenny Shaw - 7-94 yds. Great good route runner and yac getter. Don't much like his haircut though.
T. Harris (28-31, 392 YDS)
G. Ellingson (9 REC, 218 YDS) Nissan player of the game.
Jaime Elizondo - Ottawa OC - brilliant game plan and mix. racking up 455 yards of offence while averaging 8.3 yards per play.
Mike Reilly - 32-45 465
Adarius Bowman - 10-185
D.Walker - 7-154
B. Banks - 86 yd punt return TD
Adrian Tracy - 11 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 deflection
B Maher - 5 FGs including a 56 yarder.
J. Jennings 25-40 429 yds - career high
S. Gore 6-109 yds
N. Roosevelt 8-132 yds

Burris would trip over his pouty bottom lip if he tried to deal with the **** Willy goes through. Burris is a great team mate when things go well but when things don't go well he's the biggest suck out there. 

You need to watch more Jets if you think that Pavlec is even somewhat okay.

You know what I would honestly do? When Willy gets the shell shocked look, and you can tell when it happens, I'd put Nichols in for a series or two just to give Willy a break and let him watch from the sidelines for a bit and then put him back in. The reluctance for coaches to use a 2 qb system these days is kind of silly when you don't have the superstar guy so why not for the sake of his mental game give Willy a break. Things snowball on this team, give them a chance to recover maybe. 

Westerman was all CFL last year. Shologan has been a very good player for many years. Cummings was great last year. Harris has been an all CFL rb. Dressler has been very good for many years. Chris Randle is a great db. Medlock is the most accurate kicker in CFL history. Bass stood out at lb last year and was among the tackle leaders. Bryant has been an all star tackle. Ryan Smith was very good last season. Ian Wild has been an above average lb.
Is it really all on a lack of talent? Don't get me wrong, I think Walters is an issue but MOS is too. How do so many players all of the sudden go off the cliff?

Ya know, there is only one Messam in the league and the Bombers could have picked him up at least twice in the last 3 years for a song plus a nickel.  Instead they wanked over his personality disorder and he proceeds to run them into the ground repeatedly.  I wouldn't be surprised if he accumulated 500 yds a season just against the Bombers, it's not much of a stretch.  The best defence against Messam is to have the big ****** on their side of the ball! 
 

I wonder how many times Bud Grant cried during an interview? That being said if Grant were interviewed by Wiechek he would probably break down in tears at how far the quality of journalism has fallen in Winnipeg since his era.  "I knew Vince Leah. Vince Leah didn't wear earrings!!"

they didn't sign him, but they did adopt his motto.

These are pretty cool, I wonder how many takes it took to get them right.
 
Does Picard have a trick shot where he snaps the ball and it just keeps floating up, up, up until it's out of the stadium?

You would think it was Ameet Pall and his dog doing these trick shots with the way Iso is getting this angry. 

These are pretty cool, I wonder how many takes it took to get them right.
 
Does Picard have a trick shot where he snaps the ball and it just keeps floating up, up, up until it's out of the stadium?

How about Sam Hurl for Deandre Hopkins? Henoc can replace Hurl and Brian Cushing is always injured, so Hurl can play MLB for Houston. A win-win! Walters get er done!

Let's get Nichols TD to turnover ratio up to 1:1 and then we can make long-term plans.

surprised that Austin didn't stick to him.

It looks like Brian Brohm hacked your account dod. Time to change your password

Why do I have to choose? Shouldn't be difficult to fit both in. Nichols is not in as high a demand as all that that he's going to command starter money. 

Longo and Bryant were getting beat on the simplest twist all night.  LB blitzes into LT, DE loops around into the LT's inside gap.  All night. Nichols got the ball out pretty quick for the most part, but took some shots too.  That twist was used on his first fumble.