Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[Mark H.]

5 hours ago, Dr Zaius said:

Losing 3 Grey Cups in a row isn't an accomplishment. 

Getting to the Grey Cup is meaningless. 
 

Cats haven't won a GC in 26 years

Lions not in 14 years

Just sayin'

[Noeller]

When we get to the point that "getting to the Cup is meaningless" then we are truly spoiled beyond belief. All those years in the wilderness just trying to make playoffs... And here we are with (apparently) the expectation that you need to win the cup every single year or you're a failure. Truly heady stuff. 

[Deiter Fan]

15 hours ago, rebusrankin said:

Jake signed a lifetime contract. He'll be here every year going forward until he is replaced by one of his kids.

Do they make studded tires for the rascal he'll be riding during those early autumn snow falls?

[ShyGuy]

To put things in perspective, the Argos and the Riders play tomorrow night... by my count, on the Argos Active roster, they are playing only 2 players who have played a game in a season where the Bombers didn't participate in a Grey Cup (excluding this one)

[GCn20]

17 hours ago, Dr Zaius said:

Losing 3 Grey Cups in a row isn't an accomplishment. 

Getting to the Grey Cup is meaningless. It's the same as missing the playoffs or losing in rounds 1 or 2.

This team has been a failure for 3 years and it's all been self inflicted. 
 

This is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. I don't like that we didn't capitalize on our last 3 Grey Cup appearances, but dismissing the fact we got there as meaningless might just be the dumbest thing I've read on this forum in quite some time. There is nothing remotely the same about missing the playoffs and winning your division 3 straight years and advancing to the championship game. My gosh some people here have a sense of entitlement that makes Rider fans look good. The only failure that I'm seeing is a complete lack of cognition and reality by some of the fan base around here. These guys played their asses off for us, show a little bit of class. Saying they were no better than the RedBlacks, or the Craig Dickenson Riders is so far out to lunch I am gobsmacked. You guys are trying so hard to hate right now that I feel sorry for you.

11 hours ago, Noeller said:

When we get to the point that "getting to the Cup is meaningless" then we are truly spoiled beyond belief. All those years in the wilderness just trying to make playoffs... And here we are with (apparently) the expectation that you need to win the cup every single year or you're a failure. Truly heady stuff. 

I used to ridicule Rider fans for comments like that. Makes me sick that some here are echoing that behavior. Pure hubris and entitlement. The last 5 years has seen a historic run of success for our franchise and some here don't appreciate it at all. I guess these guys missed the 90's and 00', and 10's where we truly were bad. Getting to the Grey Cup is a failure that 7 other teams would have been excited to call their own.

Edited 6 hours ago by GCn20

[Dr Zaius]

6 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

This is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. I don't like that we didn't capitalize on our last 3 Grey Cup appearances, but dismissing the fact we got there as meaningless might just be the dumbest thing I've read on this forum in quite some time. There is nothing remotely the same about missing the playoffs and winning your division 3 straight years and advancing to the championship game. My gosh some people here have a sense of entitlement that makes Rider fans look good. The only failure that I'm seeing is a complete lack of cognition and reality by some of the fan base around here. These guys played their asses off for us, show a little bit of class. Saying they were no better than the RedBlacks, or the Craig Dickenson Riders is so far out to lunch I am gobsmacked. You guys are trying so hard to hate right now that I feel sorry for you.

I used to ridicule Rider fans for comments like that. Makes me sick that some here are echoing that behavior.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Dr Zaius

[GCn20]

26 minutes ago, Dr Zaius said:

 

Whatever man, just glad I don't share your outlook on things. Success by one's team is a terrible thing to waste.

[blue85gold]

27 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

Whatever man, just glad I don't share your outlook on things. Success by one's team is a terrible thing to waste.

Totally agree. I'm just enjoying the ride. This is supposed to be entertainment, not life or death.

[Booch]

On 2025-10-08 at 9:38 AM, Blue28 said:

I 100% agree with Goalie here -> our defense is not built around sacks - HOWEVER - the DL should be able to get more pressure than they are.

you add pressure...or actual guys on the dline who can do things...and that already good secondry gets even better....gets more turnovers....and has even a lower completion percentage against

The use of less than serviceable guys on the dline, regardless of the scheme or mindset is just a personal bias of the coach and serves no benefit. Put legit guys in 2..3 of those spots and play same scheme...exponentially better results

22 hours ago, GCn20 said:

Why does this surprise you? The whining started in 2023 and we've won our division twice and went to two Grey Cups in that time span. The agenda is strong here and wins won't get in the way of that. We could have pitched a shut out and people would be complaining how the defence could have not only secured the shut out but scored points if Jake Thomas didn't get his twelve snaps in that game.

Nah....we had the same whining in 2023 and 2024. It's just baked in now.

and we filed in those yrs due to a lot of the issues whined about....we lost as well in 2022 ...further compounding it...reg season wins...many that glossed over the issues mean jackshit when you dont take hoime the end prizer 

 

19 hours ago, Dr Zaius said:

Losing 3 Grey Cups in a row isn't an accomplishment. 

Getting to the Grey Cup is meaningless. It's the same as missing the playoffs or losing in rounds 1 or 2.

This team has been a failure for 3 years and it's all been self inflicted. 
 

someone gets it....and wasnt a hard concept to grasp either was it?

[Booch]

13 hours ago, Mark H. said:

Cats haven't won a GC in 26 years

Lions not in 14 years

Just sayin'

and we went 29....invalid point really in regards to what people are discussing.

 

13 hours ago, Noeller said:

When we get to the point that "getting to the Cup is meaningless" then we are truly spoiled beyond belief. All those years in the wilderness just trying to make playoffs... And here we are with (apparently) the expectation that you need to win the cup every single year or you're a failure. Truly heady stuff. 

guess you have never played....the players see it as a failure...not getting to the cip is easier to stomach then getting there...being favored and then slitting your own throat 3x straight from stupidity and stubborn incompetence

 

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

This is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. I don't like that we didn't capitalize on our last 3 Grey Cup appearances, but dismissing the fact we got there as meaningless might just be the dumbest thing I've read on this forum in quite some time. There is nothing remotely the same about missing the playoffs and winning your division 3 straight years and advancing to the championship game. My gosh some people here have a sense of entitlement that makes Rider fans look good. The only failure that I'm seeing is a complete lack of cognition and reality by some of the fan base around here. These guys played their asses off for us, show a little bit of class. Saying they were no better than the RedBlacks, or the Craig Dickenson Riders is so far out to lunch I am gobsmacked. You guys are trying so hard to hate right now that I feel sorry for you.

I used to ridicule Rider fans for comments like that. Makes me sick that some here are echoing that behavior. Pure hubris and entitlement. The last 5 years has seen a historic run of success for our franchise and some here don't appreciate it at all. I guess these guys missed the 90's and 00', and 10's where we truly were bad. Getting to the Grey Cup is a failure that 7 other teams would have been excited to call their own.

most players in history will say it's meaningless...sure it nice....losing one maybe from self inflicted errors is easier to absorb...3 in a row....it sticks with guys, and not in a happy oh shucks we got there...yeehaw kinda way

Saying losing with stupidity...the same stupidity 3 yrs running being a sucess is prob also one the dumber things said in a forum in some time...bordering on ever

[JohnnyAbonny]

2022 was the blown opportunity.

23, (though we got slightly out coached and trotted out a bunch of injured guys) to me wasn’t an embarrassment. It was a case of the front runners coming up against a team on a late season heater. It happens in sports. I’m over that one. 

24 we got outcoached and outplayed in nearly every aspect. Toronto deserved to win that game. Even before Collaros got hurt the Argos were pretty much dominating. 

22, and missing out on capping a three-peat in Regina was the unforgivable one where the Bombers were the better team and simply beat themselves with stupid mistakes and bad decisions. 

A three-peat with 2 cup losses afterward would be much easier to take. 

[17to85]

If we'd lost those grey cup games by just getting beaten (like last year) that's one thing, but when you lose the previous 2 because you put a suboptimal lineup out there it is much much harder to take. 

[JohnnyAbonny]

15 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

If we'd lost those grey cup games by just getting beaten (like last year) that's one thing, but when you lose the previous 2 because you put a suboptimal lineup out there it is much much harder to take. 

 Besides the clusterfuck that was Legg’s 2022 season, I’d argue we did have the lineup to win in 2022. Couple drops by the WRs, missed XP, blocked field goal and that bloody godamn interception by Prukop was what ruined it. 

[Dr Zaius]

1 hour ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

2022 was the blown opportunity.

23, (though we got slightly out coached and trotted out a bunch of injured guys) to me wasn’t an embarrassment. It was a case of the front runners coming up against a team on a late season heater. It happens in sports. I’m over that one. 

24 we got outcoached and outplayed in nearly every aspect. Toronto deserved to win that game. Even before Collaros got hurt the Argos were pretty much dominating. 

22, and missing out on capping a three-peat in Regina was the unforgivable one where the Bombers were the better team and simply beat themselves with stupid mistakes and bad decisions. 

A three-peat with 2 cup losses afterward would be much easier to take. 

how was 24 not a blown oppourtunity?

The rival team's starting QB broke his leg the game before and they started a scrub.

O'shea had horrible roster management and decisions. Again, self-inflicted.

[bigg jay]

20 hours ago, wbbfan said:

yep. 90-93 bills, good ole marve levy.

100% this. Nobody really talks about how good the Bills had to be in order to go to 4 straight Super Bowls - they just talk about the Bills losing those games because at the end of the day, that's what matters.  

 

[Tracker]

15 hours ago, Noeller said:

When we get to the point that "getting to the Cup is meaningless" then we are truly spoiled beyond belief. All those years in the wilderness just trying to make playoffs... And here we are with (apparently) the expectation that you need to win the cup every single year or you're a failure. Truly heady stuff. 

For most Blue Bomber fans, the frustration comes from losing games (including Grey Cup games) when a few obvious changes would have won those games but our head coach was too damned stubborn to make those changes.

[JohnnyAbonny]

24 minutes ago, Dr Zaius said:

how was 24 not a blown oppourtunity?

The rival team's starting QB broke his leg the game before and they started a scrub.

O'shea had horrible roster management and decisions. Again, self-inflicted.

Our DL besides Willie didn’t have the chops in that game at all. OL didn’t play well either. Agree there was bad roster management but Toronto was still the more talented team in the trenches imo. 
It showed in the game we lost to themhere late last season too. 

[Goalie]

36 minutes ago, Tracker said:

For most Blue Bomber fans, the frustration comes from losing games (including Grey Cup games) when a few obvious changes would have won those games but our head coach was too damned stubborn to make those changes.

Playing dolegala wasn’t gonna result in us winning. I mean this stuff is ridiculous cuz it’s in the past so you all can always be like well we would have won if we did what I wanted to do but there’s really no way to prove that so it’s just a cycle of going back in history over and over to prove points that can’t be proven. 
 

we lost. The other team won. That’s what happens in 1 game winner take all finals. But but the coach…. What about the ******* guys playing tho? I mean damn O’Shea throwing interceptions and dropping balls and missing fgs. Honestly. At what point is it actually on the players playing the game. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Goalie

[GCn20]

2 hours ago, Booch said:

and we went 29....invalid point really in regards to what people are discussing.

 

guess you have never played....the players see it as a failure...not getting to the cip is easier to stomach then getting there...being favored and then slitting your own throat 3x straight from stupidity and stubborn incompetence

 

most players in history will say it's meaningless...sure it nice....losing one maybe from self inflicted errors is easier to absorb...3 in a row....it sticks with guys, and not in a happy oh shucks we got there...yeehaw kinda way

Saying losing with stupidity...the same stupidity 3 yrs running being a sucess is prob also one the dumber things said in a forum in some time...bordering on ever

I played, not pro, but high level ball in the US. Never once did any of my team mates ever view a winning season as a failure. I can honestly say that to a man NONE did because we got rid of those kind of poor character guys in training camp. So don't give us that bullshit. Every single guy went to war with each other each of those years and are proud of them. You saying otherwise either shows that as a player you had a piss poor attitude that likely was the reason you couldn't stick in the pros, or you are completely full of **** about that in the first place.  Quit talking like you da man and have some kind of deeper insight into how a football team operates. You don't. Sick of this bullshit on your part already. You don't speak for every pro player out there and how they think. You only speak for how YOU might view it, and like I said that would get you an awfully short pro resume.

Edited 1 hour ago by GCn20

[GCn20]

51 minutes ago, Tracker said:

For most Blue Bomber fans, the frustration comes from losing games (including Grey Cup games) when a few obvious changes would have won those games but our head coach was too damned stubborn to make those changes.

What obvious changes would have won any of those games. Show your work. To say add this guy and subtract that guy would have won is not provable in any way. We could have made those "obvious" changes and lost even worse. None of us can say otherwise. To say we definitely win if this guys starts and this guy sits is not fact, it's opinion, and one that couldn't be proven one way or another. In all of those Grey Cups I watched players that were indisputable to be in our lineup make mistakes that gave the other team points and momentum. Maybe we should have sat them too? That's an inconvenient truth in all of this. Last year we lost mainly because our 1st and 2nd string QBs were injured. We had nothing but ham n' eggers left to play or a QB trying to gut it out. Those were our options. Anyone thinking Dolegala comes off the bench to lead us to the Grey Cup against that defence is dreaming in technicolor. We had one shot and one shot only at victory, Zach Collaros being able to gut it out. He couldn't but that doesn't change the fact he was our only option at victory.

33 minutes ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

Our DL besides Willie didn’t have the chops in that game at all. OL didn’t play well either. Agree there was bad roster management but Toronto was still the more talented team in the trenches imo. 
It showed in the game we lost to themhere late last season too. 

As was Montreal the year before.....and it doesn't matter who we had rostered, it was always going to be that way. We didn't have the horses. The Montreal game it was a calamity of errors by some of our best players that cost us victory not roster usage. Last year we simply could not compete with them in the trenches no matter who we dressed. 2022, again, our strength was our secondary. ELITE secondary all year that gets completely run over by Chad Kelly. Not roster usage there either. Big time players make big time plays. IF those plays are positive we win.....our best players were the ones that cost us in all 3 of those years. Plays that should have been made were not. For 3 years I have been talking about our talent erosion overall, and guys around here are beaking about how Jake Dolegala or Miles Fox would have won us the Grey Cup? The myopia is strong with this roster usage thing, probably because the drum has been banged so hard on it. Wanna know why we lost the last 3 Grey Cups? Their talent made plays and our didn't....and yea we got whupped in the trenches all 3 years because our talent has eroded on both sides of the ball in the trenches. Those are the REAL facts. Self inflicted wounds? Sure...by the players themselves not manning up when it was time to do so.

Edited 1 hour ago by GCn20

[bryan35]

14 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

What obvious changes would have won any of those games. Show your work. To say add this guy and subtract that guy would have won is not provable in any way. We could have made those "obvious" changes and lost even worse. None of us can say otherwise. To say we definitely win if this guys starts and this guy sits is not fact, it's opinion, and one that couldn't be proven one way or another. In all of those Grey Cups I watched players that were indisputable to be in our lineup make mistakes that gave the other team points and momentum. Maybe we should have sat them too? That's an inconvenient truth in all of this. Last year we lost mainly because our 1st and 2nd string QBs were injured. We had nothing but ham n' eggers left to play or a QB trying to gut it out. Those were our options. Anyone thinking Dolegala comes off the bench to lead us to the Grey Cup against that defence is dreaming in technicolor. We had one shot and one shot only at victory, Zach Collaros being able to gut it out. He couldn't but that doesn't change the fact he was our only option at victory.

As was Montreal the year before.....and it doesn't matter who we had rostered, it was always going to be that way. We didn't have the horses. The Montreal game it was a calamity of errors by some of our best players that cost us victory not roster usage. Last year we simply could not compete with them in the trenches no matter who we dressed. 2022, again, our strength was our secondary. ELITE secondary all year that gets completely run over by Chad Kelly. Not roster usage there either. Big time players make big time plays. IF those plays are positive we win.....our best players were the ones that cost us in all 3 of those years. Plays that should have been made were not. For 3 years I have been talking about our talent erosion overall, and guys around here are beaking about how Jake Dolegala or Miles Fox would have won us the Grey Cup? The myopia is strong with this roster usage thing, probably because the drum has been banged so hard on it. Wanna know why we lost the last 3 Grey Cups? Their talent made plays and our didn't....and yea we got whupped in the trenches all 3 years because our talent has eroded on both sides of the ball in the trenches. Those are the REAL facts. Self inflicted wounds? Sure...by the players themselves not manning up when it was time to do so.

But hey come on......its just easier to blame Oshea for poor roster management.

[Noeller]

And round and round and round we go.......

[GCn20]

9 minutes ago, bryan35 said:

But hey come on......its just easier to blame Oshea for poor roster management.

He is guilty of poor roster management for sure but the logic people are extending here to the effect of that is mind boggling. Instead of just looking at the real cause for our losses, that being talent and depth drain in the trenches, they would rather fantasize that we had the talent here all along but it was on the bench. The second biggest reason is that our best players made some big time mistakes in each of those games....but nah....if we had dressed Miles Fox that would have overcome that. SMH.