Who: Little Lion Cubs @ the Blue Bombers
What: Football!
When: 7:30 Central
Where: Fort Hew!
Why: To even up the series!

WEATHER REPORT: A-**CKING-MAZING!  28 at kickoff with wind out of the north at 19, gusting to 29.

LFG!

GAME PREVIEW | BC VS WPG

https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/08/02/game-preview-bc-vs-wpg-7/WPG

Edited August 3, 20232 yr by JCon
Added the weather report.

Just now, Bigblue204 said:

With Mccrae having a hard time with punts....I think they might. I guess it depends on Grant's status

McCrae isn't a punt returner...never has been...we removed 2 guys off the roster who have done it...and done it well....plus can cover 2..3 spots on defense...We don't need Mcrae on offence with all our guys back....but we do need depth on defense...and a true returner until Grant comes back

6 minutes ago, Booch said:

thats where I am at as well

Ottawa loss was a direct result of poor roster management...defence was gassed allowing Crum to make those 2 huge runs.....we had no depth...and it killed us...go rewatch his 2 td runs....guys just couldnt make the play...multiple guys...cause they were bagged right out....it happens....and go look back to our dominant...almost unworldly defence of 2019...and 2021...we rotated 7...8 guys on the dline, and had adequate back-ups at LB and DB....last yr around where we dumped Mack III and traded away Wilcott's and didnt adequately replace him...our defence has not been the same since

That's a possibility. The other side is the O didn't do its job for the entire 2nd half of that game. Schoen had a brutal drop...Brady that bad fumble....buck and his bone headed play call near the end. Wr score just 1 more td and its a Bomber W. 

29 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

He tracked it like he was trying to recover it as an onside guy.  Probably saw the Hamilton game a couple weeks back but didn't quite get it.

I thought the punt just took a weird bounce straight back at him. If it hadn't hit him might have bounced back 10-15 yards anyway.

Just now, blue85gold said:

I thought the punt just took a weird bounce straight back at him. If it hadn't hit him might have bounced back 10-15 yards anyway.

No, he reached out for it and initiated the contact. 

Just now, JCon said:

No, he reached out for it and initiated the contact. 

yeah I coulda swore he slapped at it...have to rewatch and see where he lined up rom pre snap too

Do we have information on Drew Brown's contract status for the future? He showcased exceptional performance in limited action once again. Given the state of quarterbacks around the league, it's likely that other teams will be interested in him next offseason.

55 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

A play that stood out to me in a bad way, but also explained a lot....was Darby touching a punted ball as it goes out of bounds....completely unacceptable play by a vet. I'm guessing he's a had a few of those types of play on D as well and that's why Kramdi started....I don't know for sure...but that was a...."oh that's why you're watching now" kind of moment.

The way he played that I thought maybe he was onside.... cause yeah. No other logical explanation 

so after reading through all this... I just wanted to post a "middle ground" take on the roster management stuff...........

On one hand, you have Booch losing his mind at the roster management every week and flat out saying "I hope we lose this week to prove a point", and then you have posters like GCn20 and Mr P laughing after a win and mocking anyone who questions the roster management. But here's the thing: there's a middle ground. 

There is absolutely zero question we have a major issue with lack of depth along the DL. I can 100% see how that could cost us down the road. Bennett is not good and certainly not good enough to be an ever-down player if/when Jeffcoat gets hurt again. As JBR rightly mentioned, JJ is already labouring and it's only August. We need him close to 100% in November. Haba would be really nice right about now, but if he's out for a significant amount of time, we NEED more pieces along the line. If we're sitting guys on the PR who could help the DL rotation because they insist on having others on the roster who don't really play.......that's a real issue. 

So it's impossible to argue intelligently that there aren't roster management issues..... but you can still have faith in The Trinity and still hope for a win each and every week, and hope that the worst case scenario doesn't come to pass. 

There is a middle ground here. 

My concerns aren’t just in-game, but season long. You can pretend certain players aren’t injury prone if you want, but over the course of a 20+ game season, wouldn’t you want a guy like Jeffcoat to stay as fresh as possible?

Hopefully Haba comes back relatively soon. At least they trusted him to be out there.

2 minutes ago, Noeller said:

so after reading through all this... I just wanted to post a "middle ground" take on the roster management stuff...........

On one hand, you have Booch losing his mind at the roster management every week and flat out saying "I hope we lose this week to prove a point", and then you have posters like GCn20 and Mr P laughing after a win and mocking anyone who questions the roster management. But here's the thing: there's a middle ground. 

There is absolutely zero question we have a major issue with lack of depth along the DL. I can 100% see how that could cost us down the road. Bennett is not good and certainly not good enough to be an ever-down player if/when Jeffcoat gets hurt again. As JBR rightly mentioned, JJ is already labouring and it's only August. We need him close to 100% in November. Haba would be really nice right about now, but if he's out for a significant amount of time, we NEED more pieces along the line. If we're sitting guys on the PR who could help the DL rotation because they insist on having others on the roster who don't really play.......that's a real issue. 

So it's impossible to argue intelligently that there aren't roster management issues..... but you can still have faith in The Trinity and still hope for a win each and every week, and hope that the worst case scenario doesn't come to pass. 

There is a middle ground here. 

A lot of the roster management stuff I talk about is on Walter too.

We needed quality DEs in camp the last two years and it’s pretty bad that the one guy on the roster came after camp was already over.

Our PR is filled with guys who will never play. Walters wears that too.

 

EDIT: I obviously say that while prayer to my Trinity shrine every night, recognizing that we have been blessed with - by far - the best coach and GM in the league.

These are complaints from a place of privilege that I feel I’ve earned from not seeing a Grey Cup win in my lifetime until in my 30s.

Edited August 4, 20232 yr by Jesse
To save myself from haters

26 minutes ago, Booch said:

McCrae isn't a punt returner...never has been...we removed 2 guys off the roster who have done it...and done it well....plus can cover 2..3 spots on defense...We don't need Mcrae on offence with all our guys back....but we do need depth on defense...and a true returner until Grant comes back

With McCrae he's kind of a jack of all trades, master of none.  I'd like to see him used more as a tailback, he's a good compliment to Oliviera.  A couple of the runs he had last night there was a lot of space up the middle if he hit vertical behind the trap block of Hardrick but he kind of followed Hardrick wide instead right into the defenders.  I think he'll be a better player for us as a tailback especially if he gets to focus on it.

3 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

With McCrae he's kind of a jack of all trades, master of none.  I'd like to see him used more as a tailback, he's a good compliment to Oliviera.  A couple of the runs he had last night there was a lot of space up the middle if he hit vertical behind the trap block of Hardrick but he kind of followed Hardrick wide instead right into the defenders.  I think he'll be a better player for us as a tailback especially if he gets to focus on it.

I agree, he is a real nice change of pace from Brady. He gets a crease he can make some big gains. As a receiver I call him just ok.

5 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

With McCrae he's kind of a jack of all trades, master of none.  I'd like to see him used more as a tailback, he's a good compliment to Oliviera.  A couple of the runs he had last night there was a lot of space up the middle if he hit vertical behind the trap block of Hardrick but he kind of followed Hardrick wide instead right into the defenders.  I think he'll be a better player for us as a tailback especially if he gets to focus on it.

Anyone else notice how much McCrae struggled with kick return duties yesterday? He bobbled a couple of 'em, and although we got away with it, Grant can't come back soon enough.

so BC went from giving up an avg of 13 points a game to 18....we average 20 given up...seems the tables are turning...Wonder if TSN nad other media clowns will focus on our defense now instead of tooting the BC horn over and over

15 minutes ago, JCon said:

No, he reached out for it and initiated the contact. 

I'll have to see a replay. Could have sworn it bounced backward at him. 

Just now, Eternal optimist said:

Anyone else notice how much McCrae struggled with kick return duties yesterday? He bobbled a couple of 'em, and although we got away with it, Grant can't come back soon enough.

3 for sure...which basically mitigated any return...Grant is so valuable you dont notice until he is missing....we have lost the field position game within the game since he was out save for the 1 game we let Parker do it...If he not back in next week thats just lame...plus the fact he is valuable on defense and is great on kick coverage...not to mention probably the best pure tackler on the team next to Wilson

20 minutes ago, JCon said:

No, he reached out for it and initiated the contact. 

It would have hit him in the breadbasket anyway.  It could have then bounced towards the returner and he would have been out of position.  

Could have.....

If I'm a knob gobbler for putting my faith in our coach and am in turn rewarded with a 5 score win then frankly I'll slap on some knee-pads every week and polish that big ol' wrench with a smile on my face 🥵 It's called being ride-or-die haha, a real team player

Is there room to improve? Hell yeah... and that should be a scary notion to other teams.

16 minutes ago, Jesse said:

My concerns aren’t just in-game, but season long. You can pretend certain players aren’t injury prone if you want, but over the course of a 20+ game season, wouldn’t you want a guy like Jeffcoat to stay as fresh as possible?

Hopefully Haba comes back relatively soon. At least they trusted him to be out there.

A lot of the roster management stuff I talk about is on Walter too.

We needed quality DEs in camp the last two years and it’s pretty bad that the one guy on the roster came after camp was already over.

Our PR is filled with guys who will never play. Walters wears that too.

 

EDIT: I obviously say that while prayer to my Trinity shrine every night, recognizing that we have been blessed with - by far - the best coach and GM in the league.

These are complaints from a place of privilege that I feel I’ve earned from not seeing a Grey Cup win in my lifetime until in my 30s.

Yes i agree,except the better you become the harder it is to keep your players,that is not on Walter imo.

3 minutes ago, MOBomberFan said:

If I'm a knob gobbler for putting my faith in our coach and am in turn rewarded with a 5 score win then frankly I'll slap on some knee-pads every week and polish that big ol' wrench with a smile on my face 🥵 It's called being ride-or-die haha, a real team player

Is there room to improve? Hell yeah... and that should be a scary notion to other teams.

Hahahaha

25 minutes ago, Noeller said:

so after reading through all this... I just wanted to post a "middle ground" take on the roster management stuff...........

On one hand, you have Booch losing his mind at the roster management every week and flat out saying "I hope we lose this week to prove a point", and then you have posters like GCn20 and Mr P laughing after a win and mocking anyone who questions the roster management. But here's the thing: there's a middle ground. 

There is absolutely zero question we have a major issue with lack of depth along the DL. I can 100% see how that could cost us down the road. Bennett is not good and certainly not good enough to be an ever-down player if/when Jeffcoat gets hurt again. As JBR rightly mentioned, JJ is already labouring and it's only August. We need him close to 100% in November. Haba would be really nice right about now, but if he's out for a significant amount of time, we NEED more pieces along the line. If we're sitting guys on the PR who could help the DL rotation because they insist on having others on the roster who don't really play.......that's a real issue. 

So it's impossible to argue intelligently that there aren't roster management issues..... but you can still have faith in The Trinity and still hope for a win each and every week, and hope that the worst case scenario doesn't come to pass. 

There is a middle ground here. 

@Noeller speaking the truth here. Not just because his sums up how I feel.

Working in Fox and Garbutt (and Haba when he returns) into the d-line rotation would go a long way to keeping the Jeffs fresh.  There are so many ways to make this happen, hoping we see something like this sooner than later.

That's really it, given Jeffcoats injury history not having depth on the DL is playing with fire. Sure if everyone is healthy and the offense rolls it's fine, but if that doesn't happen we're in trouble.

35 minutes ago, Booch said:

3 for sure...which basically mitigated any return...Grant is so valuable you dont notice until he is missing....we have lost the field position game within the game since he was out save for the 1 game we let Parker do it...If he not back in next week thats just lame...plus the fact he is valuable on defense and is great on kick coverage...not to mention probably the best pure tackler on the team next to Wilson

Noticed that as well. Made me cringe every time. What is the status on Grant? If someone posted it, I apologize ,musta missed it.

53 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

With McCrae he's kind of a jack of all trades, master of none.  I'd like to see him used more as a tailback, he's a good compliment to Oliviera.  A couple of the runs he had last night there was a lot of space up the middle if he hit vertical behind the trap block of Hardrick but he kind of followed Hardrick wide instead right into the defenders.  I think he'll be a better player for us as a tailback especially if he gets to focus on it.

I don't feel McRae offers anything special when it comes to wr, he's zippy but I'd much rather see him in at back

20 minutes ago, BigBlueFanatic said:

Working in Fox and Garbutt (and Haba when he returns) into the d-line rotation would go a long way to keeping the Jeffs fresh.  There are so many ways to make this happen, hoping we see something like this sooner than later.

Reviewing some game now...If we gonna give Jackson that DA role again work him into the defence more then...he was a key part of that 3rd down denial..he was brought in as a de/lb...use him as such

Further to Dline...if you want a good example of why I say Thomas is toast and he should have minimal reps...look at the first play..Mizzel run after the Lawler TD...around the 8:20 mark...just utter useless..and could barely run up to follow play down..he's done

16 minutes ago, Piggy 1 said:

Noticed that as well. Made me cringe every time. What is the status on Grant? If someone posted it, I apologize ,musta missed it.

That first punt return when still 0-0...damn lucky he didn't cough that up ...very likely could have been a BC first down inside our 20...and totally changed that game...lucky lucky there ..

Lawlers first catch too...just 5 man oline and perfect block picked up by BO