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

11 hours 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.

 

 

That makes no sense at all. You can’t have it both ways. Collaros was a top tier QB pushing for MOP. Then was pushed into duty on a really bad team in Hamilton. Every player that has left that 0-8 team has done well. Especially CJ Gable and Collaros. Hamilton basically slow fired Austin. Changed the whole coaching staff and the players on offence before they win a few games. So Collaros was also in a funk in Hamilton. But is learning and winning in SK. That is more than I can say for Nichols. If he’s in a funk as you say then Collaros was on a really bad team where everyone was in a funk. Nichols is on a good team  huge difference  

Here’s hoping it’s a close game in Winnipeg.  I believe the Bombers will split the series. I would rather see the EE lose twice to Calgary and all of a sudden be the odd man out. 

The facts are simple. There are no starting QBs in the CFL that are awful or suck. Even the ALs May have found a starter. Let me remind you that in the CFL in both the games and the season. It’s not how you start but how you finish. At this moment the Bombers and Riders are trending in opposite directions. SK is consistently getting better since Collaros came off of IR. They pounded Calgary 40-27 and beat the Lions in BC since Zack came back. That’s more than any other team in the league can say. So I would suggest your thoughts on QBs are nothing more than self serving ideas to help you ease how Nichols play is losing the Bombers games. 

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

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.

To a certain extent, it seems like the Mike O'Shea we have now, is very similar to the Mike O'Shea that we had day one of his head coaching time here.

The basic model, the ideas about what matters, and how you make a team good, probably has not changed much.

odd thing about hanging with a guy who is not playing well;

 Wasn't Don Mathews known for being unafraid to make changes when needed? And I think Don is the coach O'Shea looks up to the most. At least I thought I read that somewhere or other.

 

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by Mark F

3 hours ago, Tracker said:

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.

I guess the difference to me is that Willy never accomplished anything; he had a terrible record. Are you really willing to flush Nichols down the toilet after 2 great seasons because he's had 6 or 7 poor games? I agree to get Streveler involved but we can't just declare this to be the end of Nichols.

13 minutes ago, White Out said:

I guess the difference to me is that Willy never accomplished anything; he had a terrible record. Are you really willing to flush Nichols down the toilet after 2 great seasons because he's had 6 or 7 poor games? I agree to get Streveler involved but we can't just declare this to be the end of Nichols.

2 great seasons? Maybe 1 in total and yes it's all about winning. Ppl want to fire coaches cuz they magically think firing the coach will make Nichols not scared to be hit and all of a sudden hes gonna be so much better... But.. It don't matter who the coach is.. If you don't have a QB and we don't.. You are screwed. 7 or 8 games? Try 13 or 14 now. 

So Nichols starts us off with a pic.....then ends the game with a pic......exactly the same as the Cal. game....Does anyone see a similarity....Matt is MIA when the chips are on the line...He has to deliver when that game was still winnable.....he didn't....I've seen enough of him for awhile and IF we don't make a change to Streveler next game (at least partially) this season is in jeopardy...There's no way to shine this crap anymore....Everyone can see we are failing badly and look like a wounded duck....I thought this team was better than what the fans are witnessing now...3 losses in a row at the apex of the season doesn't look promising...Win the banjo or we can start tuning up for next year...Gonna be a lot of unhappy sad faces in these parts if this occurs and the knives will be out

29 minutes ago, Goalie said:

2 great seasons? Maybe 1 in total and yes it's all about winning. Ppl want to fire coaches cuz they magically think firing the coach will make Nichols not scared to be hit and all of a sudden hes gonna be so much better... But.. It don't matter who the coach is.. If you don't have a QB and we don't.. You are screwed. 7 or 8 games? Try 13 or 14 now. 

Jesus, I don't know what Nichols did to you to hate him so much but yeah, he led our team to 2 straight double digit win seasons where our offence was consistently the highest scoring O in the league for those 2 seasons. He's having a bad season and maybe he will decline and this will be it for him. But we don't know that yet.  

3 hours ago, White Out said:

I guess the difference to me is that Willy never accomplished anything; he had a terrible record. Are you really willing to flush Nichols down the toilet after 2 great seasons because he's had 6 or 7 poor games? I agree to get Streveler involved but we can't just declare this to be the end of Nichols.

I am not quite ready to give up on Nichols just yet, but I am close to that point. O'Shea keeps trotting him out again and again when it is obvious that he is not doing well instead of putting in the #2 QB to at least break the rhythm of 2 and outs. Just like Willy. Pretty much every QB has off games and sometimes getting him to the sidelines to get a different perspective is the answer. If nothing changes, nothing changes.

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by Tracker

How well Nichols did last year or the year before doesn't really matter anymore. It's what he did last week and the week before that's more relevant. 

46 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

How well Nichols did last year or the year before doesn't really matter anymore. It's what he did last week and the week before that's more relevant. 

All about performance. Too bad coaches aren't judged so harshly & their windows closed as quickly. 

221 yards passing per game, 11 touchdowns, 9 interceptions. 4-4 record. His mojo seems to be gone. What is scarier is that I can see this regime trotting out as starter next season when he's scheduled to make $450,000.

17 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

221 yards passing per game, 11 touchdowns, 9 interceptions. 4-4 record. His mojo seems to be gone. What is scarier is that I can see this regime trotting out as starter next season when he's scheduled to make $450,000.

Sub 80 standard QB rating vs over .500 teams, around 78.  Has turned the ball over for a TD in each of those games, fumble vs Ottawa and pick six vs Calgary and Sask (which doesn't factor into QB rating).

His QUAR, the CFL QB ranking invented last year to better reflect QB impact on winning games, is just over 60 after the Sask game.  Was 85.7 last season.

Edited September 3, 20187 yr by JuranBoldenRules

6 hours ago, Tracker said:

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.

and it's getting soooo sickening to watch and listen to. I honestly can't take O'Shea anymore. 

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

How well Nichols did last year or the year before doesn't really matter anymore. It's what he did last week and the week before that's more relevant. 

Second half scoring in the last 3 games....total 31 points.....isn’t going to win many games.

5 hours ago, J5V said:

and it's getting soooo sickening to watch and listen to. I honestly can't take O'Shea anymore. 

WTF do you want him to say? He's the coach and he needs to choose his words carefully.  He's not a anonymous fan on a message board where he can spout off and say all kinds of crap.  

He can't say that Nichols is playing like shyte.  His confidence is low enough as it is and doesn't need to pile on.  You're a smart guy. You know that.

2 hours ago, B-F-F-C said:

WTF do you want him to say? He's the coach and he needs to choose his words carefully.  He's not a anonymous fan on a message board where he can spout off and say all kinds of crap.  

He can't say that Nichols is playing like shyte.  His confidence is low enough as it is and doesn't need to pile on.  You're a smart guy. You know that.

O'Shea doesn't have to say anything publicly to embarrass Nichols- if Nichols thinks he is doing just fine, he's delusional. All O'Shea need do is spell Nichols off when he is not doing well. That would send a message to the team that this is not good enough and no one's job is guaranteed. That might even take some pressure off Nichols.

54 minutes ago, B-F-F-C said:

WTF do you want him to say? He's the coach and he needs to choose his words carefully.  He's not a anonymous fan on a message board where he can spout off and say all kinds of crap.  

He can't say that Nichols is playing like shyte.  His confidence is low enough as it is and doesn't need to pile on.  You're a smart guy. You know that.

I guess I'm a fool because I don't know that. What's wrong with saying "You're playing like crap. Take a seat. We'll get you back out there when you find your game again". 

Y'know, I just watched the Argo-Cats game. Jones, an old-school coach with old-school methods that we were all laughing at and about not that long ago has that team playing some good football. Of note is the play of Jeremiah Masoli, a QB some on here were saying was crap. He looks pretty good to me. He can beat you with his legs and he can throw. How is it he got his chance to play starter with Hamilton yet Streveler can't get the same here? I get that our receiving corp isn't what Hamilton's is but did you hear the interview with Masoli after the game? He thanked management for bringing in new talent and giving these guys a chance to play. That's all we're saying here. Give these guys a chance. 

What I can't stand from O'Shea is the misguided loyalty and cone-of-silence bafflegab BS. 

1 hour ago, J5V said:

I guess I'm a fool because I don't know that. What's wrong with saying "You're playing like crap. Take a seat. We'll get you back out there when you find your game again". 

Y'know, I just watched the Argo-Cats game. Jones, an old-school coach with old-school methods that we were all laughing at and about not that long ago has that team playing some good football. Of note is the play of Jeremiah Masoli, a QB some on here were saying was crap. He looks pretty good to me. He can beat you with his legs and he can throw. How is it he got his chance to play starter with Hamilton yet Streveler can't get the same here? I get that our receiving corp isn't what Hamilton's is but did you hear the interview with Masoli after the game? He thanked management for bringing in new talent and giving these guys a chance to play. That's all we're saying here. Give these guys a chance. 

What I can't stand from O'Shea is the misguided loyalty and cone-of-silence bafflegab BS. 

Nice of you to finally admit that 😉

 

He means in the media.  he cant publicly come out and lambaste his QB and I dont doubt for a minute he tells him and Lapo in film study and meetings that this is crap and needs to be better..

2 hours ago, B-F-F-C said:

WTF do you want him to say?

"Matt has had a rough few weeks, and I think we're going to let him watch a game or two and see if that helps him out.  Chris is going to start for us on Saturday, and we're going out to win that football game.  At the end of the day, we're in the business to win, and our offence hasn't been performing up to expectations lately, so we're going to see if a change of pace provides a spark."

something along those lines would be just fine.  but would also end just like Will Ferrell in the debate scene in Old School!

 

Edited September 4, 20187 yr by trueBlue83

1 hour ago, SPuDS said:

Nice of you to finally admit that 😉

 

He means in the media.  he cant publicly come out and lambaste his QB and I dont doubt for a minute he tells him and Lapo in film study and meetings that this is crap and needs to be better..

But really, has he ? It sure hasn't showed if he has. 

If Nichols and this O don't get it done in the Banjo Bowl, in front of a live audience.....and we lose our 4th straight, swept by Riders......some push may come to shove.   The demands for more Strev, will become deafening.

Edited September 4, 20187 yr by do or die

2 hours ago, do or die said:

If Nichols and this O don't get it done in the Banjo Bowl, in front of a live audience.....and we lose our 4th straight, swept by Riders......some push may come to shove.   The demands for more Strev, will become deafening.

Can't be swept by the Riders this weekend. We play them again in October. 

30 minutes ago, JCon said:

Can't be swept by the Riders this weekend. We play them again in October. 

I'm guessing that's not the main point of his post.

 

45 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

 

Define bad. Sure isn't a shut-down performance and this is against a crap Sask offense.