Nic16

....and this was done without Adams for several games, and Dressler & Smith missing games. And Kohlert who had a bad case of the dropsies.

Gotta agree with you on this post. So far, none of the new receivers have stood out for me. Thorpe and Duncan showed flashes prior to getting injured, and Peterson made a nice catch today, but not much to get too excited about. Thankfully the vets have looked really good.

His accuracy today was pretty dam good, especially when you take the wind into consideration. Those poor Rifle receivers are likely doing inventory of their fingers after that practice.

I was there today and I completely agree with Taiter. Apodaca will definitely be fun to watch this TC. Strong arm, mobility and shows confidence. Count me as an instant fan.

This is how I see it too. You could just tell that things were not working. They bumbled their way around so many facets where they just made simple fundamental mistakes. Catching and tackling should never be things to worry about going into a game. Even the field goal that hit the post, an inch or two more inside it probably deflects off and through. Just one of those nights where you can't do anything right. If we'd said before the season started we'd be 3-1 after 4 games I think everyone would have taken that without a second thought. This team has done a lot of good things thusfar, one bad game doesn't negate them. A healthy Geaves, Leggett and Watson will go a long ways for this team's success. We do not have so much talent on this roster that we can absorb the loss of these guys. Not only their absence, but the side-effect of having others playing away from their preferred positions. A lot of things have to go right on gameday for this team to chalk up wins. The players are battling hard to make it happen. As much as you hate to blame injuries, the 2014 edition of the WBB cannot afford too many...especially to NI's. Greaves & Watson are huge parts to the OFF. And having Sherman at Dime for the majority of the game instead of Sears certainly does weaken the D. Hopefully, Greaves, Watson & Leggett return to the lineup within the next game or 2.

Niether QB had much to throw to down field as coverage by both sides was very-very good. The difference in the game was Reilly being able to escape the rush and turn losses into 1st downs, and at the same time wearing out the DL. Preventing him from getting out of the pocket, and turning his 8-15 yd runs into sacks would have kept the score a lot closer than it was. And IF Willy takes a 1/2 second longer and puts the ball into JFG & Denmark's hands better we have 14 pts more! And the Moore fumble was not a thing of beauty that cost us 3-7 pts. So, despite the poor protection for Willy you can boil the outcome of the game down to poor tackling by the D and a lack of execution on 3 plays.

Losing Lucas & Newman in pre-season really hurt the NI depth. That alone would knock off 2 MLB NI's.

As bad as our tackling was Reilly never quit on any play. Many times he could have just thrown the ball into the stands, but instead he made the decision to play with high risk and challenge the BB D to bring him down. On most nights that's a very slippery slope to attempt to go down, Luckily for Reilly the BB defenders had their kid gloves on last night. I'm thinking next time he may not be so lucky!

Washington. But I believe Woods will dress. Washington is an unreliable yet occasionally spectacular punt returner, I really don't see him being the guy for that job in O'Shea's eyes unless something changes in-game, like Woods being injured. Not sure if you know this but...Washington has been fielding punts in practice. So,unless O'Shea suddenly doesn't like what he has seen from Washington in practice, I think it's safe to assume he will be used on punt returns during games. How many other guys have been returning punts? IMO, Washington is the next guy up if Woods goes down in game. Not surprising that he'd be fielding punts in practice, but I don't think that will affect our DI's or Woods status on the team. - One other guy -- Leggett. And it wasn't much. I do. With Ford looking ready to backup Grigsby & return kicks I could see Woods sitting out this week, and O'Shea using 3 DI's on D. And with the possibility of Bryant joining the WBB, the BB may be using Washington as a PR more than you think.

Washington. But I believe Woods will dress. Washington is an unreliable yet occasionally spectacular punt returner, I really don't see him being the guy for that job in O'Shea's eyes unless something changes in-game, like Woods being injured. Not sure if you know this but...Washington has been fielding punts in practice. So,unless O'Shea suddenly doesn't like what he has seen from Washington in practice, I think it's safe to assume he will be used on punt returns during games.

This "should" put a muzzle on some of the Hammy fans (ie, onemoredork) who troll CFL boards. They love taking pot shots at the IGF construction failures. It'll be tough to continue throwing rocks from that glass house they're living in now.

My list would consist of guys who were big news signings in the offseason, +/or could have an impact to the league (ie, stats, fan interest, TV viewership, future star, etc) Willy (will he finally be the QB WPG has desperately been looking for) Collaros (will Austin's gamble pay off?) BLM/Tate (is BLM the future for Calgary, and will Tate be happy as #2) Tory Smith (Heisman Trophy winner replacing HOF'er AC) Chad Johnson (can a former NFL Superstar make an impact in the CFL at his age) Nic Moore (big $$ signing...was it too much??) John Chiles (potential #1 receiver in the league) Jon Cornish (CFL rushing record???) Lulay (will he be fully recovered and back to MVP form??... or will BC have to rely on Glenn all season) Reilly (can he hold off a now completely recovered Matt Nichols) and as a bonus... Ricky Ray (can he surpass any passing records with the receivers he has at his disposal)

Let's hope Romby is wanting to come back and make amends and heal the 5 yr old wounds of BB fans. And with regards to the quality of our current receiver group, let's reserve full judgement on them until we see what Willy & Marcel can do with them. I for one, think we will be pleasantly surprised....and that includes with Kelly & Bryant.

Anderson Wild Unamba Woods ...*or Ford (if he is deemed ready) *Washington would return punts, and Ford would do kickoffs.

He's got his hands full coming into this mess. Hopefully he is able to get his ideas/plans in place and thru to the offense relatively quickly so that they can bring some entertainment & hope to the fans before this year is out.

Once all the housecleaning is completed and the smoke has cleared, any smart aspiring GM would take a serious look at the GM position with the BB. You would walk into a brand new high quality facility to attract players to, a very passionate fan base, a solid core to build a team around, an extremely passionate CEO with both football knowledge and business savvy, and a very hard working asst GM (acting GM) who has a very good handle on the CIS. All you have to do is convince your HC to step down to DC, elevate MB to HC, and convince Khari to come be the OC. Then trade for or find a starting QB and you already have done better than the previous 2 or 3 GM's. Seems easy enough

We can only hope... Any head coach that doesn't take responsibility for player moves especially at qb as well as one side of the football because he says he's not qualified shouldn't be in charge. I'm gonna give Burke some slack on this one. After all, he's had to deal with Mack and Crowton. Let's see how he does with Marcel. Burke can now help Casey with the D. To me, it's a win-win. Dear Wade: Thank you! I agree with you. Now that the offense is in the hands of a "CFL experienced" OC, Burke should now put a lot more focus on working with CC to fix what is ailing the D. Although this likely couldn't be worked out, but IMO an ideal coaching trio for 2014 would be a combination of Bellefuile as HC, Burke as DC and Khari Jones as OC.