voodoochylde

It's 2:1 (a bit better) in favour of CFL returners. The only reason I used "TDs" as a measure of anything was in response to the comment that in the NFL "the returner just takes a knee and doesn't go anywhere". To illustrate, I referenced the most explosive sort of special teams play (one that all football fans, regardless of league affiliation, hope to see). Changing field position with a well kicked ball is more easily accomplished on the shorter, narrower American field. To that end 'flipping the field' via punt return isn't a meaningful metric. I'd be more interested in an offenses ability to capitalize on field position after a punt (or conversely, not giving up points after a successful return if the offense doesn't do much). I'm not a fan of the No Yards rule. Said simply, it drives me nuts to see players being flagged when they clearly weren't in the 5 yard zone or when they make noticeable effort to give the returner space (especially when the distance inside that bubble is marginal). It's just as bad seeing players not draw a flag when they clearly were in that zone .. it's worse when it happens on the very next punt or in the same game. *shrug*

Facebook Q&A.

Time clock I'll give you. It's what I love about the Canadian game .. 2 minutes left, there's still a chance. NFL .. not so much. The one rule I'd love to see changed is "ball last touched before going O/B".

Only to be nullified by a penalty. For the record, 752 punt returns in the CFL season and 768 (approx, don't have my #s in front of me) to date in the NFL. Pretty comparable.

And yet .. there have been just as many punt return TDs in the NFL so far this season as there were in the entirety of the CFL season. When a penalty is being called inconsistently week to week, game to game and even series to series in some cases .. it's time to look and ask, "Is there a better way to do this?"

Hey guys, just a heads up. Moved the Open Carry / Gun discussion to the General Forum. Please feel free to continue exploring that topic there.

What a black eye for the league if this is true. Our marquis game and we can't sell more than 16000 tickets in the nation's largest centre? Embarrassing.

First of all, do you genuinely expect a player who receives a minimal number of practice reps to be able to come in cold and make a difference? It's a serious question and I'd ask you to think about it. The starter takes almost 100% of the snaps during practice and is *most* familiar with the game plan that week and it's important that they are given a chance to play their way out of a bad spell so outside of injury, there is little reason to pull your established starting quarterback. Baseball teams are composed of virtually interchangeable parts. Especially pitchers. Here you have multiple guys capable of starting a game and the *expectation* is that you will be pulled at some point by the guy hired to do just that, the relief pitcher / closer. Hockey you have a team in front of your goal tender, he's not directing traffic and 'chemistry' with all the moving parts isn't as key.

A bad coach could take a great team and make it look like a train wreck. DD is a good coach who has benefited greatly from being in a tremendous situation.

Hell .. it's not like THEY had any choice in the matter. Damn you O'Shea for not making the dumpster fire that was Winnipeg appear more palatable.

I know that .. you know that .. but just speaking to the point about "one of MOS biggest mistakes was his choice of assistants" ..

Let's not presume that some of his selections for assistant's were his first (or even second) choice. Winnipeg was not seen as a darling spot for would be coordinators. It was a coaching graveyard. This has changed much like how Winnipeg was once not a desirable option for would be free agents.

Thinking you might retain either O'Shea or Walters on a short term deal is deluding yourself. If you don't think they wouldn't be sought after by other organizations .. teams willing to spend and offer them term .. you're mistaken.

They don't look as consistent as they were last year but they ARE teams that can still roll when they get in a rhythm.

His reliability is also one of the reasons fakes like we saw yesterday can be so successful .. he's automatic. Trot him out there, even at 50+, and take the points .. it's what we've done all year.

Calgary is a good team .. but Winnipeg just hasn't shown up today. So disappointing.

So much for being physical right from the get go.

They absolutely need to play clean ball today. This team isn't good enough to hang with Calgary and be in penalty trouble. That said, we can win this game. Go out and play smart, physical football right from the handshake. #GoBlue

Paul McCallum's lawn?

Having Flanders on the 46 makes that possible.

It takes time to convince some of these guys to actually come up North to play. Some of the people we've seen step in this season have been on our radar for a few years. They've only just now committed to the CFL.

And still half as many as what were on the Rider's PR this year. Heh.

QBs that have come through Winnipeg since 2009 .. quick list .. might be missing one or two. Stefan Lefors Bryan Randall Richie Williams Michael Bishop Casey Bramlet Adam DiMichele (PR) Ricky Santos Zac Champion Joey Elliot Justin Goltz Alex Brink Buck Pierce Brandon Summers (PR) Steven Jyles RJ Archer Max Hall Jason Boltus Levi Brown (PR) Drew Willy Robert Marve Matt Nichols Dom Davis Bryan Bennett Brian Brohm