CFL Game Notes -

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👁‍🗨well, if you go by stats..the Bombers are in for a tough time in Regina.. Ugly, ugly stats

Chris Jones is 46-35 as a HC

Mike O’Shea is 40-42

Sask is 35-19 over Wpg in the Labour Day Classic.

29 of those games have been decided only in the last 3 minutes.

The meetings since 2002 have generally not been all that close - only 5 of the last 16 games were decided in the last 3:00 - Saskatchewan comes into the game with a better record (5-4 vs 5-5) than Winnipeg for the first time since 2014

- QBs: Saskatchewan will start their 4th straight different QB in the Classic, with Zach Collaros; Matt Nichols will start his 3rd in a row  (Nichols started once for Edmonton vs Calgary and threw for 203 yards); Matt Nichols has yet to be held under 300 passing yards; he has 341 & 364 yards in his two Winnipeg LDW starts (16-17)  (Nichols started once for Edmonton vs Calgary and threw for 203 yards)

- Zach Collaros has also yet to be held under 300 passing yards in an LDW game; his three 300+ games were with Hamilton

- Zach Collaros becomes the 38th player to start a Labour Day Weekend game for the Riders; Nichols is starter #39 for Winnipeg

- Winnipeg snapped a Saskatchewan 11-game win streak in their 2016 LD Weekend meeting but dropped to 1 win in 13 last year

- The Riders have outgained Winnipeg in the last 7 LDW meetings by over 100 yards per game (Avg: 388 to 275)

Breaking Down Who Wins LDW Classic: There have been 54 previous games in this LD matchup and here is how it has broken down based on which club came into the game with a better record. The Bombers are 5-5 this year compared to the Riders at 5-4.

WPG came in with better record: 29 times (Wins: SSK 18, WPG 11)

SSK came in with better record: 15 times (Wins: SSK 11, WPG 4) Note: Teams came in with even records 10 times

As the Riders were seeking in 2017, the underdog has often won this LD Weekend matchup. The Bombers have only 4 upset wins as underdogs i.e. the team lower in the standings heading in.

___________________________________________________________________________________________ Other Team Notes – Winnipeg at Saskatchewan:

- Charleston Hughes: Leads the CFL with 12 Sacks (7 more than any other player) and comes into this game with a streak of 7 straight games with at least one. That is the longest consecutive games streak in his career, his previous long run was set at 6 in a row from Jun 28/14 to Aug 9/14.

- Most consecutive games with a QB Sack: Over the last 25 years, here are the longest streaks with at least one QB Sack. Charleston Hughes has tied the most by any Saskatchewan player and is 3 short of the highest on record since 1994

👁‍🗨Joe Montford and Philip Hunt are the two players ahead of Hughes, each with 10 game streaks.

- Sam Hurl 100 GP/ U of Calgary: Hurl will suit up this week for CFL game #100 in his career and it will be start #56. He is a prominent member of a remarkable 99 players that have come to the CFL from the Dinos - of those 99 individuals Hurl will become the 20th player of this group to make it to 100 career regular season games.

- Nichols 9-3 .750 coming off a loss: Despite a second straight loss last week, Matt Nichols has had a remarkable run since July 2016 in the next start after a Blue Bombers loss as he will be doing again this week. In his last 12 starts after a Winnipeg defeat the club has gone 9-3 for a .750 winning %.

- Avoiding 3 losses in a row: The Bombers have not lost 3 games in a row in the same season since the final three weeks of 2015. They have gone a span of 46 games with just 5 streaks of 2 defeats in a row and none longer than that.

5 of the last 6: The Riders have beaten Winnipeg just once in the last 6 games. This is the best Bombers' 6-game run against their Saskatchewan rivals in the last 13 years.

Opponents' 502 net yards: The Bombers yielded just 325 net yards per game over their first 8 contests and through Week #9 ranked #4 in the CFL. Since then, they have given up 502 yards per game (493 & 511), the highest in the CFL since Week #9. The main area where this has come is on 1st down plays. First 8 games: 6.3 yards per play, Gm #9-10: 8.3 yards per play.

Riders Sacks Allowed: Saskatchewan allowed 9 Sacks in their first 4 games. Since then in 5 games they have yielded just 3. Expect some 2-&-Outs: The Riders are #1 forcing opponents 62 times into a 2-&-Out. Winnipeg is #3 with 53 forced 2-&-Outs.

- Jovon Johnson: Sat out last week's game and that snapped his consecutive games played streak at 73 in a row.

Andrew Harris: Was held to just 13 yards rushing last week on 7 carries. That tied his lowest yardage since Oct 7/15 vs EDM.

- Josh Bartel Inside the 10: Bartel has 6 punts pinning opponents inside the 10-yard line this year, one off the CFL lead. He is #2 overall with 60 since 2012. Winnipeg's Justin Medlock in many less games is #3 since 2012 with 36 including 7 in 2018.

- Offensive & Defensive TD Same Game: The Riders' Nick Marshall scored a touchdown on offence and defence in the same game two weeks ago with a 3-yard rush and a 67-yard INT return. That specific Offence/Defence TD pair had not occurred since Tyrone Walls for Edmonton on September 4, 1972 a span of 46 years. There have been only 4 such pure occurrences in the last 50 years. Last week, Marshall scored another offensive TD on a short run and actually leads the club in touchdowns with 4.

The nearest since 1972 was Milt Stegall on July 15, 1999 who caught a 37-yard TD pass from Kerwin Bell and returned a blocked punt/fumble 52 yards for a score.

Edited September 2, 20187 yr by Mr Dee

4 minutes ago, Floyd said:

Defensive gameplan is the same as the offensive gameplan... its good in the first half and then the wheels come off.

You cannot keep excusing a scheme that consistently gives up multiple 25+ yard gains each game...  doesn't matter if they are 'tired' or not.

Collaros did literally nothing to wear out the bomber D - he is one of the worst and most predictable QBs in the league

Richie Hall was 'gifted' a sadsack like Collaros and still let him win.  The end.

Lol.. Not today.. Richie Hall gave up 17 points cuz Richie Hall cant tackle and Richie Hall sucks in coverage... But still Richie was only really on the field for 17 of those points.. So.. The Riders O scored 17.. Im considering the pick on the first drive a pick 6.. 

17 points? Not bad at all. 

The End? Perhaps but I think more so for Nichols. D gave up 17 points.. Without the mistake on O and special teams.. We win.. Oh hey Medlock had a FG blocked also. 

The D was good enough to win but our O cant help them.. Bomber D isnt great but 17 points against? What more do you want from them? 

2 minutes ago, J5V said:

Absolutely correct. Especially the one on Nichols. He came up grabbing the back of his helmet to make the point but no flag. I thought the league was supposed to protect QBs who hit the turf and then get pummelled by a D player. The hit on Harris was dirty too. To their credit, neither player complained, but if I had O'Shea, I would have lost my **** out there. I thought MOS was strangely complacent today.

I wasn't at Mosaic so im not sure how MOS was as TSN didn't show him that much. Thought it was more Riders Jerk off fest by TSN today. 

10 minutes ago, Floyd said:

Defensive gameplan is the same as the offensive gameplan... its good in the first half and then the wheels come off.

You cannot keep excusing a scheme that consistently gives up multiple 25+ yard gains each game...  doesn't matter if they are 'tired' or not.

Collaros did literally nothing to wear out the bomber D - he is one of the worst and most predictable QBs in the league

Richie Hall was 'gifted' a sadsack like Collaros and still let him win.  The end.

Bomber O not getting a first down in almost the entire 4th quarter and the Riders have the ball near midfield to start 3 straight drives did it.  Collaros just had to be patient.

2 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Bomber O not getting a first down in almost the entire 4th quarter and the Riders have the ball near midfield to start 3 straight drives did it.  Collaros just had to be patient.

Its amazing how the D starts to collapse when they have to be on the field every minute or so in the 4th cuz the O outside of Harris did nothing.

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by Goalie

7 minutes ago, do or die said:

Game was there in crunch time again........ BUT. Bombers simply vaporized on both sides of the ball..... again.  Nobody making a clutch play when needed..... 

 

D forced some big punts deep in Rider territory and on drives starting close to midfield.  O didn't play along.  Only thing the D didn't do was create a bunch of turnovers.

2 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

D forced some big punts deep in Rider territory and on drives starting close to midfield.  O didn't play along.  Only thing the D didn't do was create a bunch of turnovers.

Just 1 pick.. Perhaps 1 T O D but.. The chains werent straightened properly

IMO if ppl want to know how bad the O was.. There was a drive. Like 6 plays 12 13 yards.. Lol. Seriously.. Started at the rider 43 or so. D was pretty solid today.. O aka Nichols couldn't move the ball.

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by Goalie

3 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Bomber O not getting a first down in almost the entire 4th quarter and the Riders have the ball near midfield to start 3 straight drives did it.  Collaros just had to be patient.

After the Riders late TD gave them an 8 point lead our players were going to Matty Ice and fist-pumping him for the upcoming miracle drive to tie it up. I thought to myself, man, Nichols can't say his team mates don't support him. That's pretty good. Then he promptly threw a pick. 

2 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Just 1 pick.. Perhaps when T O D but.. The chains werent straightened properly

Yeah, what's with that and where was MOS?

2 minutes ago, J5V said:

Yeah, what's with that and where was MOS?

Likely not challengable.. Command Centre needs to spot that

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by Goalie

2 hours ago, Floyd said:

I'm sorry - Collaros sucks.  The D stopping him was not a huge deal...

Hall has NEVER had over the top safety help... that's why everyone in Sask hated him too. 

Hall has NEVER been able to stop drives in the last two minutes...

Man if your saying that the Riders QB Collaros sucks. Then how bad is Nichols right now. Collaros beat Nichols hands down in this game. In fact here are the stats. 

Nichols... 14 of 26 for 166 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTS

Collaros... 18 of 30 for 250 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT

Nichols is on a 3 game losing streak. Collaros on a 3 game winning streak and has won 4 of his 5 starts with SK. If my memory serves me correctly the only game Collaros has lost since joining SK was against Ottawa in Ottawa! Collaros was knocked out of the game at 14-14. Then SK back up got his azz beat bad. 

All QBs with new teams take time to learn the new offence. If you can win while your learning. That is the sign of a poised Veteran. 

If the Riders win again next weekend in the rematch. With another passing performance under 200 yards. Then I would think O’Shea has no choice but to make a change at QB for a couple games. 4 loses in a row would feel like Playoff hopes are a dwindling. There probably won’t even be a cross over this year with the East pulling up their big boy pants. 

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by 3RD AND 1
Forgot stats

7 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Likely not challengable.. Command Centre needs to spot that

He needs to get the official's attention on that. Yell, scream, wave arms. Insist on a proper measure. That's got to be well within his rights as a head coach.

9 minutes ago, 3RD AND 1 said:

Man if your saying that the Riders QB Collaros sucks. Then how bad is Nichols right now. Collaros beat Nichols hands down in this game. In fact here are the stats. 

Nichols... 14 of 26 for 166 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTS

Collaros... 18 of 30 for 250 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT

Nichols is on a 3 game losing streak. Collaros on a 3 game winning streak and has won 4 of his 5 starts with SK. If my memory serves me correctly the only game Collaros has lost since joining SK was against Ottawa in Ottawa! Collaros was knocked out of the game at 14-14. Then SK back up got his azz beat bad. 

Neither of those QB stats are anything to crow about.

Nichols is in a major funk right now...  but Collaros is awful and always will be.  Chris Jones' D is providing your offence.

 

 

4 minutes ago, Floyd said:

Neither of those QB stats are anything to crow about.

Nichols is in a major funk right now...  but Collaros is awful and always will be.  Chris Jones' D is providing your offence.

 

 

Wins are wins.

35 minutes ago, do or die said:

Game was there in crunch time again........ BUT. Bombers simply vaporized on both sides of the ball..... again.  Nobody making a clutch play when needed..... 

 

It all started with the last possession of the first half imo, the D gave them the ball in decent field position and they promptly gave up two sacks and punted the ball back to the Riders with under a minute remaining.  If they could have scored on that drive it may have turned the tide.

55 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Sort of like having a plan to get to work but no plan to get home, so you sleep on the sidewalk instead.

Not at all.

 

55 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

The defensive gameplan was fine, the early offensive plan was good, but it doesn't count for **** if you go two quarters with basically no functional offense.

Nobody can argue the end result. We lost.

Flip the coin. We get those two turnovers, we walk away with the game.

But it wasn’t what we’ve been seeing lately. We should have won that game.

Instead...angst.

29 minutes ago, Goalie said:

Just 1 pick.. Perhaps 1 T O D but.. The chains werent straightened properly

IMO if ppl want to know how bad the O was.. There was a drive. Like 6 plays 12 13 yards.. Lol. Seriously.. Started at the rider 43 or so. D was pretty solid today.. O aka Nichols couldn't move the ball.

Look at this... complaining about the chains... cmon

Richie Hall's D relies on ballhawking and that's not happening this year.

How many years and how many different lineups do we have to sit through while guys blame sloppy tackling and lack of effort for losses...  Randle and Thomas are the last men left standing

This is not giving the offence a pass but Richie Hall's D has NEVER defended a lead... ever - go ask Riderfans...

9 minutes ago, Floyd said:

Neither of those QB stats are anything to crow about.

Nichols is in a major funk right now...  but Collaros is awful and always will be.  Chris Jones' D is providing your offence.

 

 

At least Collaros is a threat to complete medium to deep passes. 

2 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

Not at all.

 

Nobody can argue the end result. We lost.

Flip the coin. We get those two turnovers, we walk away with the game.

But it wasn’t what we’ve been seeing lately. We should have won that game.

Instead...angst.

And if my aunt had testicles, she would be my uncle. The result is the result and the loss was mostly self-inflicted with little relief in sight.

24 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

It all started with the last possession of the first half imo, the D gave them the ball in decent field position and they promptly gave up two sacks and punted the ball back to the Riders with under a minute remaining.  If they could have scored on that drive it may have turned the tide.

The Bombers have trouble winning on the road in BC, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan, Ottawa, Hamilton, Montreal & Toronto. Other than that, it's all good. 

I think the ball to Washington would have been intercepted even if he had not touched it.  The rider D was far enough back and the ball was on its way down.  My guess anyway. The defence did not play well in the second half because of all the 2 and outs from us. The DB's were having a hard time because the line was no longer able to apply constant pressure.  

Either Streveler is very lucky or better than MOS thinks. On two offensive plays in the last two weeks he gets two touchdowns. The one today was really nice because he threw it while scrambling. 

It's so much like another time. MOS sticking with the No.1 at all costs. I think Nichols should be tough enough to accept to be benched and take the opportunity to see what is happening that he can't see under game conditions.  Oh well, playing here might help him.

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by LeBird

Just watched the highlights... that last big catch was not a catch - Williams-Lambert never had possession

6 hours ago, Rod Black said:

Streveler should be coach. 

And Nichols should be handing out gator-ade cups....

4 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

D forced some big punts deep in Rider territory and on drives starting close to midfield.  O didn't play along.  Only thing the D didn't do was create a bunch of turnovers.

Riders with their pop gun 0, did the two minute drill for 75 yard clinching drive...... in one.  

7 hours ago, Floyd said:

Just watched the highlights... that last big catch was not a catch - Williams-Lambert never had possession

Just re-watched

That is clearly a catch. You're fishing man.

11 hours ago, LeBird said:

I think the ball to Washington would have been intercepted even if he had not touched it.  The rider D was far enough back and the ball was on its way down.  My guess anyway. The defence did not play well in the second half because of all the 2 and outs from us. The DB's were having a hard time because the line was no longer able to apply constant pressure.  

Either Streveler is very lucky or better than MOS thinks. On two offensive plays in the last two weeks he gets two touchdowns. The one today was really nice because he threw it while scrambling. 

It's so much like another time. MOS sticking with the No.1 at all costs. I think Nichols should be tough enough to accept to be benched and take the opportunity to see what is happening that he can't see under game conditions.  Oh well, playing here might help him.

It feels like we are reliving the last days of Willy's time here, with O'Shea defending his choice of quarterback right to the edge of the cliff.