J5V

Wow!

Don Landry said something interesting while talking about the Bombers run-game against the Als. "There were some design nuances in those runs, certainly. But most of what Winnipeg accomplished along the ground came from brute force and sheer will and you can be sure that that is the identity they’ll stick with in these two gargantuan games upcoming against Calgary. BONUS TAKEAWAY: Brandon Alexander looks good at safety." Yes he does. “We’ll watch the film and see the corrections, but we know we’re still going to have to be better,” said safety Brandon Alexander. “We know the team we’re playing next week has been there before, they’ve been there every single year for the past four-five years now. We understand what’s at stake. We know we’ve got to go in there and play Bomber football.” Is Calgary's D able to stop our running attack? Unless Lapo outsmarts himself I don't see how. We lead Calgary in almost every statistics next to passing yards. Some of the more interesting ones are ... Rushing yards per game: 148.9 to 77.9, Forced Fumbles per game: 1.4 to .8, Sacks per game: 2.9 to 2.2. Further, Andrew Harris has 1261 yards rushing and Ka'Deem Carey has 422. Winnipeg is ranked #2 in defense behind only Hamilton. Calgary is #4. Winnipeg has scored 49 TDs, Calgary 39. Winnipeg is ranked #1 in rushing TDs. Calgary #7. Winnipeg is #1 in knockdowns, Calgary #5. The last game we played against Montreal prompted Ed Tait to say ... "smash-mouth football is what the Bombers do better than any team in the country." And then ... “We feel like that’s our identity. We’re a physical football team up front,” began guard Pat Neufeld after the win Saturday night. “It’s just something we’re comfortable with… it’s not like we can’t win in other ways, it’s just something we like to do. We were hoping for a little snow on the field, to be honest, but we had a group mentality that we really wanted to run the ball today and effectively do that. We finally got back to that bully ball that we’ve done before.”

I suspect that one of the reasons Calgary does as well as they do, especially with QBs and the offense, is that both Hufnagel and Dickenson were QBs as players. I don't think it's coincidence that Montreal's surge in fortunes came when Khari, another former QB, took over. Others are/were Joe Paopao, Kent Austin, Jason Maas, Tom Clements, Danny Barrett, Matt Dunigan, June Jones, although admittedly not all were all that good. :-)

Agree that this all factors in. What's between a guys ears and beats in his chest means more than body mechanics. That's what I love about Streveler. Extremely intelligent from all reports and a burning desire to win.

I've seen plenty of players that "had it" but maybe didn't have the best mechanics. Natural ability and competitiveness are more valuable in my opinion.

I used to believe this too but the funny thing about mechanics is that a player can be too ... mechanical. As long as he gets the ball there I'm happy, that's really all that matters to me.

With the better QBs in the league your point is likely valid. However, Nichols is an even better 2-and-out machine than Streveler is. At least Streveler can run for a first down despite Lapo's crappy play calling.

Who else have we beaten? Calgary. Bad team? Sask. Bad team? Montreal. Bad team? Outside of Hamilton I'd say those are 3 of the very best teams and we've beaten them too. What would our record be if we had been gifted a win against the Als after 3 quarters like the Riders were? I'm not sure what you're insinuating but our record is what it is and we earned it honestly.

So with crappy play calling and without receivers that can catch the ball what do you want from him? He hits guys right in the hands and they can't make the catch. No, he's not Ricky Ray, not yet, but he gets the ball to his receivers. It's up to them to catch it. Even sure-handed Woli has dropped a few this year. Give him a good game plan and solid receivers and watch what he can do. Quit studying his mechanics and saying he's no good.

Really? Hobart looked like this?

Agree, but Calgary also didn't look particularly dominant. The biggest difference as I see it are BLM and his receivers. Those guys can go get the ball. Big, physical receivers and a QB that isn't afraid to throw the ball. As someone was saying, and I don't know what's up with the guy, but Matthews used to be one of those kinds of guys and I wish we still had him or at least someone like him for Streveler to throw to. We need someone to step up into that role. Maybe Bailey and/or Lawler. Get Petermann in there for Demski. Woli needs to eliminate the drops. Adams, well, I don't know what's up with him lately. Maybe he's nicked. BTW, for all the heat Streveler takes for throwing the odd INT, have you seen some of the INTs Bo throws? For a guy that's been in the league as long as he has he chucks up some real boneheaded throws at times. Our D can feast on that kind of stuff if Bo is too cocky, and he's always cocky. :-) I think our best chance of beating the Stumps might be to win at least two out of three phases of the game. On D I'd like to see us disguise blitz and sometimes show blitz but drop back into coverage more often than not, try to confuse Bo and force mistakes. Stay with the 3-man rush and try to do a blanket-job on their receivers and punish those boys when they do try to catch the ball. We're not going to stop them but maybe we can limit their success. Alexander is going to have to continue to play aggressively, as are Sayles and Taylor. Smash-mouth cold weather football is what we're looking for. Hits hurt more in the cold. On STs we can't be giving up long TDs and big returns off of punts, kickoffs, or FG attempts. Let's be sure of our tackles, stay disciplined, and wrap guys up. Medlock needs to be money. On offense, pound Andrew Harris down their throats and utilize Strevs legs too. Keep Calgary guessing and for gawd sake Lapo, let Strevs throw the damn ball and stretch the field. It opens things up. Keep the penalties down and we can do this. We need to want it more than they do.

You have to look at the negatives so you can try to eliminate them from your game. For example, the Bombers are the least penalized team in the league.

Plus we beat the Als by playing all four quarters instead of being gifted the game after 3 quarters.

How do you know this? How do you know he doesn't come in and throw for 2 touchdowns and run for another and we win in a rout?

It's very possible. In that scenario I believe we would host the WSF and the Riders would host the WF.

It's one of those plays where it appears he is staying in to block and then he releases wide open for the easy TD. Andrew Harris can easily out-run most linebackers.

Hmm ... in that case I think I'd rather go to Mosaic for the WF than McMahon and I'd like to host the WSF against the Stumps.

Nichols throwing mechanics are not great either. Lots of very successful QBs in this league have had lousy mechanics. Just win, baby.

I saw the Riders run a play where the receivers cleared the safety and the DB out of the middle of the end zone and it was completely vacant for William Powell to run in to for an easy TD catch. I immediately thought, Lapo, you have to add that to your playbook for Andrew Harris.

I wish I could give multiple likes for this post. Very well said.

He did exactly this against the Riders in the LDC. Drove us the length of the field for the go-ahead TD late in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately our D collapsed and gave up the winning points with no time left. Streveler did exactly what you have described.

A throw-behind like that almost always favours the receiver. Adams played that very soft. I fully expected him to drop in front of that ball for the catch. No fight in him at all.

I took some flac for making a similar comment but I believe you're right. No fight for the ball on that first INT at all.

If we make him the starter I think we can sign him for cheap too so there is that. :-)

We have been willing to be patient with a head coach for 6 years. Why in the world would we not be willing to be patient with a young QB that shows so much promise?