ddanger

I do not want to be an "I told you so" but on several topics this spring I had commented on two aspects of the Blue Bombers aka off season signings; one was the number of "all stars" we were able to acquire and the other the signing of LaPolice as our new offensive coordinator. It is hard to believe that we have virtually 6 CFL allstars on our roster, and a new, newly minted OC who according to him has learned a lot since his coaching days and we continue to be abysmal on offense. Two factors in my mind and yes there is a third in the inability of the Oline to do anything HOWEVER let's look at it from the top down. I believe the stat was made that it has been over 10 yrs since any QB in the CFL has completed 30 passes or more in a game and has failed to gain over 300 yards passing. Call it poor execution, not really; call it poor play calling perhaps; or call it poor offensive design more than likely. We seldom throw the ball downfield which has been identified by more knowledgeable football people than myself but seems to be unrecognized by the individual who is designing the offense and further by the head coach who is responsible for the entire operation!
The other aspect is the play of the QB. As has been stated many times and as I stated back in the spring Willy does not have the ability to be an elite QB in this league. He is not accurate to put it lightly on deep throws. They are either way overthrown or underthrown. He does not read the defense well and seems to be able to only go to either the first choice or Harris in or out of the backfield, almost as if here you take it I don't want it! This is not the qualities of an elite QB. I look at "rookie" Jennings in BC - my word he has been thrown into the fire and is surviving. I look at Harris in Ottawa again somewhat of a rookie but nonetheless in his first year was able to move an offense in Toronto that was questionable and now able to move an Ottawa offense with only a training camp under his belt. Look at Gale in Sask this past weekend were he too was able to move an offense unlike our incumbent. Willy's numbers are great statistically only because he throws 3-5 yard passes and plays most games in garbage time.
So in a nutshell we have a QB running an offense that is not imaginative, not stretching the field because he can't do it anyway and as a result the defense can confidently move up to the line of scrimmage and stop the run knowing the only other weapon is the short dink and dunk of LaPo. Get use to it I guess because this will not change unless someone higher up tells a stubborn HC that change has to happen. Until then I will go back to my prediction in the spring 6-12 at best 4-14 at worse.
Glad I got rid of my season tickets yet again.

Well they gotta do something, but moving around players who aren't even playing isn't going to accomplish anything. I'm expecting some bigger moves in the coming days once the film gets reviewed. And perhaps Nicholls getting a few extra first team reps would be a good start.

This has been used before, but as a loyal fan of the Bombers for over 40 years this is the perfect representation of what this team is doing to my loyalty over and over and over and over ... GOOD GRIEF!

Some pressure on Reilly early......
That sure didn't last....
Fogg gets the corner, and nice cutback on punt return..
....en route to a 90 TD....that was partially called back..
Willy then hits Kolhert up the middle for a TD...
Bombers up 10-0, in the 2nd.
....pretty well the high point, tonight.
First down production on O, really becoming a problem...
Andrew Harris runs hard....but not a lot of holes, really....
...not much of a downfield pass game, either...
Bomber O employs gimmick plays... behind the LOS....
....too bad, they don't really get back, past the LOS.....
Pretty well every guy on our OL....took a holding penalty
....they had to....in order to keep up with our special teams holds
Both teams had more flags...than UN headquarters....
Bombers D was playing bend don't break....
....aided by some turnovers and red zone stops...
...although 500 yds of Esks offense...is a lot of bend..
Posey was a busy guy, with some tough matchups....
A. Bowman was a beast for Esks, out there...
His 60 yd circus catch between 2 Blue defenders...
...kick started the Edmonton O.
With Cory Watson and Walker.....big, physical group for them.
Watson TD inched Esks closer - 13 -10
....and Edmonton started to take over physically.
Reilly had enough time to pick out his beverage...and drink it.
O'Shea is getting better at the challenge/timeout thing.
Overall, kick coverage pretty good....
The Challenge Thing is destroying the pace of games..
Bomber D forces couple of turnovers inside Esk 25
....O does absolutely nothing with it...
...including a terrible INT by Willy into triple coverage...
Esks kept moving the ball out of bad field position...
...2 drives of 70+ yds in 3rd quarter....and controling TOP
White FG makes it 13-13...felt like - the end is near.
Reilly finds Walker behind TJ Roberts for 75 yd TD 
...now 20-16 for the Evil Empire
Number of people who though Blue would come back.  0.
Clock management: still not Bomber speciality...
Bombers dinking....and dinking on O, right to the end.
K. Bass did his thing...
Ian Wild was pretty active.....
The hitch pass is definately not a Bomber specility....
....neither is downfield blocking... 
Willy still having major problems with timing....
....to both Dressler and Smith...not getting enough, here.
Tale of Two Quarterbacks:
...their guy looked poised and confident....
....ours did not.
...their guy hit big throws down the field....
....ours did not.
Another night...where the Bombers have run dry....
.....but at least, I have not.

The Bombers win in Hamilton can be dismissed as a "yes-but" victory, but Edmonton should be a much better test of the team. Reilly and his receiving corps are as good as any in the league- certainly in the top three at least. Their running game is iffy, and the whole team is nowhere as good as last year. Maas looks to be a good coach even though a rookie, and the Esks seem to be able to find talent at will, so all in all, this will not be a blowout for the Bombers over the Esks. A Bomber win will give hope to the faithful but a lopsided loss will destroy any momentum from last week and spike the sales of anti-depressants in Winnipeg, and MLCC sales as well.

tonight is a great test against a very tough opponent. Should answer some questions. Hell, if we win that's a couple wins against very good teams, and , .500 4 games in. Not too shabby.
Lose and we're 1-3 and a lot of people will say that our win against the hammer was due to Collaros being out and an absurd number of Hammy turn overs. Very pivotal game. Looking forward to seeing the teams response out there.

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

grinding out yardage and eating the clock is the plan...especially when you're leading. I think it's a sign of a confident offense. I was really disappointed that they couldn't score in the 4th when they marched the ball all the way down the field, but it destroyed the clock, and kept our D on the sidelines. Coupled with a great defensive stand when they did get the ball back and victory!

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

The fact that they review every td and didn't call this one back is embarrassing and makes you wonder 

Offside much?
 
     
 
This is the no call on Ham., but call on us for offside...resulting in a TD
BS
 

"Speaking of the offensive line, Patrick Neufeld appeared to take three swings at Hamilton defensive back Emanuel Davis at the end of the game with the Bombers in victory formation. Though I didn’t see what Davis did — the scrum was chaotic, to say the least — it’s clear he did or said something to Drew Willy that Neufeld didn’t care for. That’s the type of attitude I want to see from my starting right tackle — protecting the franchise quarterback before, during, and after the play." - John Hodge
Good one Paddy!

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

How does a player catch a ball that was thrown to a spot on his hip....not see it coming, squeeze it, tumble into the end zone secured in his hand(s) All of this without 'really' seeing it........bloody amazing....Sask. does not know what kind of receiver they let go....Velcro -man with pure instinct is all I can say...just put the ball anywhere near him and it'll stick... I think Willy is really liking this guy and a few other people....Ryan Smith you be the man.

I look at it like this: The offense sustaining drives allowed the D to stay fresh and not get tired early, so they were able to make all those plays. It really is a team game where everyone doing their job, helps everyone else do THEIR job...
Re: Players stepping up for MOS....there was a good tweet from Irving earlier this week saying, essentially, "MOS continually has his players backs. Wouldn't it be nice if they had his on Thursday??"

Agreed. The defense in particular was noticeably more energetic and were rallying to the ball carrier better than the last two weeks. Offensively, we were moving the sticks with more regularity also. Tackling was also miles better in my opinion.
Does Willy need to be more accurate? Yes.
Does he need to push the ball downfield more? Yes.
Do we need to have that killer instinct when we have a team on the ropes early in the 3rd quarter? Absolutely,
At the end of the day, had the roles been reversed there would be cries that "the score absolutely flattered the Bombers and we should have been blown out" etc. We have issues in our game that need to be addressed for sure, but in a game we needed to win we found a way to do it.

You don't say! 
My thoughts... offense is still concerning... the inability to finish drives will hurt us in future games... and the only TD they did produce came on (what I thought was) a very questionable PI call and a pretty darn lucky catch by Smith... however, I thoroughly enjoyed our ability to actually control the ball and time of possession... Early in the 2nd quarter, they had a drive that was around 7-8 minutes... I honestly can't remember the last time we had a drive like that... but I do believe with the opportunities given to them, we should have put up 45 points... Andrew Harris, wow, if you don't love this guy just stop watching Bomber football now...
Defense was stellar last night... off the top of my head... Leggett, Harris, Cummings, Shologan, and Wild were the stars, but no one really had a bad game... very happy with the win... looking forward (hoping, fingers-crossed, whatever!) to seeing more improvement by the offense next week...

Solid win. All 3 teams have areas to improve.  But the best part about last nights game was the overall improvement. Steps in the right direction. No kicking ourselves in the teeth (every time). Taking two steps forward, then another 2 forward. Need to start converting 3's into 7's. But Im just glad they have started to play to their potential.

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

I get so tired of sitting in the stands at the stadium listening to my fellow season ticket holders bitching and complaining all the way through games about our team. Same thing here, people are complaining and are very critical even when we win. Was it a game for the ages?? No it wasn't. But our team played significantly better than last week. They played with emotion, and they dominated. They were excited and it showed.

grinding out yardage and eating the clock is the plan...especially when you're leading. I think it's a sign of a confident offense. I was really disappointed that they couldn't score in the 4th when they marched the ball all the way down the field, but it destroyed the clock, and kept our D on the sidelines. Coupled with a great defensive stand when they did get the ball back and victory!

I'm hopeful our D brings the same intensity on Thursday.  Whether there's 20K or 30K in attendance, if the D plays well Wpg stadium is rockin'. 
Thought it was kind of neat that Smith's TD was RT by ESPN, Darren Rovell and some other big US outlets.