I'll preface this thread by saying, I am not complaining at all about the win tonight.  Beating Saskatchewan is the best thing in the world no matter  how it was done.  We rarely win in Regina and this is a happy occasion.

 

Do not get me wrong at all, it was a great game, our offense was fantastic, Drew Willy played exceptional, Paris Cotton is a beast, Nick Moore is back and better than before, Clarence Denmark is a warrior.  And screw the Bellefeuille haters, he outdid Chapdelaine this game.

 

 

 

 

But......

 

Richie Hall's defense was not looking good out there.  Lots of plays where guys were out of position, vanilla playcalling, getting gashed in the run, thank god Adams came up with that pick on that one throw or we might really have gotten in trouble.  A little surprised too that the Riders didn't go for it on 3rd and short when they were on their last possession and punted it there even though I know Messam got a bit whacked there.

 

It was a good game but this defense had better not be getting gashed like that week in and week out.  Hall was hired to fix it and fix the run and so far, he almost looks worse than Etcheverry.  I'm gonna enjoy the win for the time being but we can't afford that in Hamilton next week or late in the season.

We gave up over 200 rushing yards but about 100 of those were on 2 runs. I do think a lot on D is fixable.

Anything is fixable......just need to start next week.   The tackling actually wasn't that bad....just nobody in position (bigtime) to make the play...

Didn't see much of Sherman/Newman/Waggoner on D. Hope that shifts. We could hedge our bet on Hurl and spread the snaps around if we shift that NI spot more to WIL. Hurl on first down, one of the others in dime.

I'd agree.

I'm not as ready to write off Hurl, but he definitely has room to improve.

I hate guys being late on a blitz... I dont have patience for it.

Dumb question from me. Why is Hall not a field level ? I think coaches should be down amongst their players. Having said that ,I truly believe the breakdowns we had are fixable.

 

Probably likes to see how the Riders attack the different coverage shells, what blocking schemes they are using and their sub packages.  Can't really see that from field level and they don't get the overhead pictures like the NFL.

Why is Rennie Curran not employed? If Wild or Henoc don't cut in the near future I'd gladly take him.

I think the D was awful today but think we should give them more time. 

 

Leggett is a game changer. One of the best safeties in the league, and Demetrius Wright back there was terrible. Leggett should help reduce the big plays, plus brings a good edge rush occasionally.

 

Gotta figure out the DL. Thought for sure this would be a strength after seeing them in camp. After one game it looks like I was completely wrong so far. Still want to see Gibson more, less Peach. I don't know how you fix the DT spot, not much to replace Anderson with.

 

I think our run defense should correct itself as well. I don't think it'll be particularly good, but as long as it doesn't remain so unbelievably bad the defense should be alright. Just off odds, you have to think the chances of teams consistently putting up several 30+ yard runs is pretty small. 

I'm hoping Ball shakes loose and we get him up here.

Why is Rennie Curran not employed? If Wild or Henoc don't cut in the near future I'd gladly take him.

 

I don't believe he's available, hard to track but I believe he's still on the NFL radar.

I'm hoping Ball shakes loose and we get him up here.

 

 

Ball? 

I'm hoping Ball shakes loose and we get him up here.

Ball?

Marcus Ball, played for the Argos

Apparently we were close to signing him before he signed with Carolina a short while ago.

 

 

I'm hoping Ball shakes loose and we get him up here.

Ball?

Marcus Ball, played for the Argos

Apparently we were close to signing him before he signed with Carolina a short while ago.

 

 

Ah yes...I remember now.  Thanks Geebs

Off topic-- is Bowman still in Hamilton?

I'm okay with Hall, but it is a very Greg Marshall game plan...

 

Rennie Curran would be a nice addition - maybe Burnett can do some damage

 

...but Osh will definitely give Hurl a few games if not half the season...  too bad, I actually think Sherman or Newman at WIL causes less damage

 

Hurl was over-committing on almost every play tonight, expected that from Henoc in his first 3-4 games but not from a guy who's played MLB (with Hall) for half a season.  Doesn't have speed to recover.

 

Maybe our DL was under-sized... and still is

I'm okay with Hall, but it is a very Greg Marshall game plan...

 

Rennie Curran would be a nice addition - maybe Burnett can do some damage

 

...but Osh will definitely give Hurl a few games if not half the season...  too bad, I actually think Sherman or Newman at WIL causes less damage

 

Hurl was over-committing on almost every play tonight, expected that from Henoc in his first 3-4 games but not from a guy who's played MLB (with Hall) for half a season.  Doesn't have speed to recover.

 

Maybe our DL was under-sized... and still is

The reporter from Regina on the pre-game show said he was doing the same thing last year and it cost him his job; likely going to happen here as well.

Legit concern for me was on the talent not the system. The lbs looked sloppy tripping and falling frequently.

We gave up 3 long TDs, where the Rider ball carrier was completely unsullied.....

 

holding down field on Bomber DB's helped a lot too.

They need to o some work on D for sure but what was a big positive to me was despite the breakdowns they managed to shut the door when it counted. So this D is perfectly capable of doing what needs to be done and improving as the season moves along. There were loads of changes over the off-season so they will need some time.

Nobody thinks that chamblin had a slight advantage due to the fact that he and durant oh, i dunno, know exactly what to look for in a Richie hall defense?! Change words, calls, signs, etc any coach with half a brain and a QB who isn't a bishop clone would know all the tells and when to run certain plays..

If you take away the 4 or so big td plays, the numbers would have been very good. BUT the utter lack of pressure, constant bus sized gaps, awful blitz schemes ,and incredibly loose coverage would still be very trouble some. 

 The way the D played, we could have just as easily gotten beat by 50 as any thing. Imop it is fixable by ritchie hall. He has a lot of work to do, and at worst if he doesnt get it together well probably see baron miles by mid season. 

 Never though ritchie halls D would Look worse then etchs...

If you give Veltung his kick return  TD on that very weak but always called block the game isn't as close as it seems. It's shocking to me how close the Time Of Possesion was tho, thought the bombers dominated the TOP. but really just had the ball for an extra minute really.. Thought it was way more as we seemed to always drive the field, go 2 and out just once i think... long drives, eating up lots of time but... guess riders had some time consuming drives too.

 

A big Victory in my opinion for sure... we were 4 for 4 in the redzone. That's huge. And you know what... it always seems like the winning team in the CFL is the one who turns the ball over the least, we didn't turn the ball over, sask did once on a drive they probably would have got a fg out of, that's the difference.

 

But honestly, the run game stuff, if it happens vs Hamilton, i'll be a bit more concerned but... regardless of what people say, Messam owns us and Allen is a damn good back too. Big time running yards but at the end of the day, it's irrelevant since we won and the other thing, when it mattered the most, the D stepped up and stopped SASK... yeah it would be nice if they didn't give up those 4 or 5 big plays but... they did but at the same time, outside of those big plays, i don't think sask did much else. It was either big play or nothing for them. 

What I was impressed with is that our DB's appeared to have a better handle on the new contact rules.  Can't say the same thing for the Riders DB's.  

 

That I say is all about coaching.   

What I was impressed with is that our DB's appeared to have a better handle on the new contact rules.  Can't say the same thing for the Riders DB's.  

 

That I say is all about coaching.   

 

I might go as far to say that we were the best team all week-end (going back to thursday even) in regards to the new contact rules. 

If you give Veltung his kick return TD on that very weak but always called block the game isn't as close as it seems. It's shocking to me how close the Time Of Possesion was tho, thought the bombers dominated the TOP. but really just had the ball for an extra minute really.. Thought it was way more as we seemed to always drive the field, go 2 and out just once i think... long drives, eating up lots of time but... guess riders had some time consuming drives too.

m.

The Bombers scored a TD on the drive resulting from the called back return, so no impact on the score.

Thought Washington had a very good game...sure tackling and pursuit...and no penalties for a change 

Thought Washington had a very good game...sure tackling and pursuit...and no penalties for a change 

 

I ragged on Washington all last year but totally agree, played nice and clean.