Eternal optimist

I would say the chances of making the playoffs are pretty good, since 6 of 9 teams make the playoffs, and Montreal and Toronto both look awful... we just need one of BC or Saskatchewan to crash and burn and we'd be in. As for the Grey Cup, anything can happen if you get there. The last two years the champion has had a .500 or worse record. Unfortunately, we're in the West, so we would likely have to go through Calgary or Edmonton to get there. We could sneak in through the East via a cross-over, but historically speaking, no crossover team has ever won a Grey Cup.

I'm just saying we sometimes have a pretty impatient fan base, especially at the QB position. Streveler had a one good game early in the year, and you still hear people call in on CJOB asking why we don't go to him more often. To clarify - I'm not saying that we have a QB controversy (or that Streveler should be starting - this is Nichols' team), just that I think O'Shea hears those call-ins and might be more hesitant to play him than he should be.

They sit Streveller a lot to prevent a QB controversy. I'm not saying it is right, just that it appears that is the logic they've used. As for LeFevour - he never had much of an arm to begin with.

Anyone else think this is related to LaPolice shying away from the no-huddle offense?

Yeah, that's kind of my point - not only did he challenge a meaningless play, even if it was overturned, it would've given us - what? 7 yards, maybe? It would've kept that drive alive, but it was grasping at straws early in the game, and handcuffed them for the rest of the game. Would've been nice to challenge that phantom PI call for Ottawa.

I don't think this is worth its' own thread... but can we please also talk about his absolutely wasted challenge?

Mathematically speaking, as long as you are above 50% conversion on 2 pointers, you should go for every single one of them, however conventional game theory does not translate well into football game theory. You could easily argue that O'Shea thought his D would stop at least 50% of the conversion attempts, thus causing a break-even scenario. At the end of the day here though - the much bigger concern isn't that we weren't going for 2, it's that Ottawa was able to go 4/4 on 2 point conversions.

The Redblacks' D didn't prepare for Streveler though - also putting in your backup at that point might as well be raising the white flag to surrender. Maybe, just maybe, the Reblacks were playing a bit more relaxed in garbage time? Drew Willy "looked good" when he'd march the O downfield.... while being down 20+ points in the 4th quarter.

I would argue that if Rankford was carrying the ball in his outside hand (as he should), it likely would've gone out of bounds anyways, which would've made the fumble Bombers ball.

As others have said, that fumble in the EDM game was a killer... however every player fumbles sometimes - it happens. That's not what bothered me about that play... what bothered me was he kept the ball in his inside hand whilst making that return, that is what made it inexcusable. It's a huge mental error, and as a regular kickoff returner (or former regular kickoff returner), he knows better.

More fun WW1 aviation facts: The french aviator Roland Garros is credited with being the pioneer of plane-to-plane combat. Before the 'interrupter gear' was invented by the German aviators, Roland mounted a machine gun to the front of his craft, and had custom made bullet deflectors attached to his planes' propellers (to prevent him from shooting his own props). Though functional, he still ran the risk of having his own stray bullets deflect back to him and kill him. He decided this was a risk he was willing to take. If that isn't badass I don't know what is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Garros_(aviator)

As a Bomber fan that's never seen the Bombers win a Grey Cup, I feel your pain. Also as a Bombers fan, I find it a little funny that you guys have still lost more Grey Cups than us despite our current drought (Riders have 15 GC losses, we have 14 losses). We've all been there, it's no fun. As much as I like O'Shea - I think the front office staff deserves way more credit than they're getting. Absolute garbage record in 2013 aside, anyone else remember the debacle that was getting in and out of that stadium? If nothing else, Miller and Co. have made the best of the hand they were dealt and have done a tonne of work in making the fan experience as enjoyable as possible. No doubt Marshal will be better than Richardson. I often wonder though if the Riders purposely sign ex-Bombers in preparation for the back-to-back series. They always seem to have those few extra players just foaming at the mouth. Guess it could just be a byproduct of the carousel that is the CFL though.

Isn't this how everyone pre-games?

Alrighty then! Let's talk football, I love a friendly banter between our provincial neighbors. I agree that the Bombers and Riders are both proud, entertaining football teams that are the heartbeat of their respective communities. I set out to settle once and for all, in cold hard football facts, using math, that the Bombers are simply a flat out better team than the Riders. I began by comparing the overall records of the clubs since their inception by regular season, playoff totals and Grey Cup Wins: Saskatchewan Roughriders Regular season: 568-601-23 (47.65%) Playoff record: 70-60-2 (53.03%) Grey Cup record 4-15 (21.05%) How are you this bad. Overall record: 642-676-25 (47.80%) Winnipeg Blue Bombers Regular season: 641-603-15 (50.91%) Playoff record: 66-53-2 (54.54%) Grey Cup record: 10-14 (41.67%) Overall record: 717-670-17 (51.07%) Look at that, better winning percentage for the Bombers in every category! I know, I know, all you Rider fans are gonna say "Yeah, but the Bombers haven't won a Grey Cup since 1990". A valid and albeit sore point of contention for Bomber fans. So I looked at the most woefully embarrassing period of history for the Bombers - their overall record during their current Grey Cup drought. For the sake of mercy, I've excluded the 2018 season as it would only serve to further Chris Jones' greatness as our lord and savior. As you quite kindly pointed out, every game is purely for entertainment, and as such we'll be focusing on the overall record of the teams, as regular season games have as much weight as any Grey Cup match for entertainment. Any Rider or Bomber fan knows the importance of the Labour Day / Banjo Bowl matchup is just as important as capturing Le Coupe de Grey. Saskatchewan Roughriders (1990 to 2017 inclusive) Regular season: 217-267-2 (44.65%) Playoff record: 13-12 (52%) Grey Cup record: 2-3 (40%) Overall record: 232-282-2 (44.96%) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1991 to 2017 inclusive) Regular season: 224-260-2 (46.09%) Playoff record: 10-11 (47.62%) Grey Cup record: 0-5 (0.00%) Overall record: 234-276-2 (45.70%) That's right, even in the Bombers most inept era consisting of famous QB greats like Alex Brink, Ryan Dinwiddie and Darian Durant, you guys still managed to eke out a worse overall record. Sure, you guys have a more recent Grey Cup wins, but you also took more than 50 years to win your first Grey Cup! At the current rate of a Rider Grey Cup win every 25 years, you guys would need to another (25 years * 6 Grey Cups) (don't forget to carry the 1) = 150 years to even match us! Are you even trying? Also, troll harder - your green is showing.

I am so sorry to hear that. My condolences.

Keep in mind those prices are in Canadian dollars, so basically everything is half-off.

This thread is some god-tier trolling right here.

Instant replay, challenges and refcam are nice, but sometimes I think it was better when football was played (and watched) this way.

Young grasshopper you will soon learn that no CFL game is ever under control.

People seem to forget O'Shea likes dressing Lankford because he's also our backup punter. Not saying that makes the decision any better, just that for some reason he thinks that is relevant.

This is the same Bowman that had basically had two fumbles (if he wasn't lucky with his helmet before), right? His debut stat line for Montreal: 4 catches on 6 targets for 40 yards. He also had a fumble, and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. Yeah, he can be a team player all he wants, but I'm glad we torpedo'd him.

It's night and day comparing how Saskatchewan handled the release of Carter with how the Bombers traded Bowman to Montreal.

This debacle is aging like fine wine for non-Rider fans.

I would just like to personally thank the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Chris Jones and Duron Carter for making the last 48 hours of an otherwise quiet Saturday night/Sunday, as entertaining as possible. They say the air quality warnings in Winnipeg are from forest fires in the West...we all know they're actually from the green and white tire fire that is 'Canada's team'. May the green and white continue to flounder indefinitely.

I would pay good money to see Carter get suplexed