johnzo

oh man can you imagine Collaros hucking up those high-trust 50/50 balls to Burnham? You look at the crazy contested catches that Lawler has made, and then think that Burnham (at his best) is even better at those... now that I think about that, sacrificing OL depth for a Collaros / Burnham bomb show would be high-risk, high-reward fun to watch, at first, anyway.

LMK if you want any help pulling video of specific plays for that post. As a lifelong fan who's only ever played mens league flag ball, that Xs and Os stuff is fascinating to me too. there's so much art and science in it that's impossible for me to understand at game speed, and the commentators are only rarely helpful. I thought that Lapos' segments on the TSN panel where he broke down plays in detail were the best thing that TSN ever ran during halftime -- wish Jim Barker would do something like that, although Lapo strikes me as a better teacher. this is why I don't have a lot of patience for the "Lapo always calls a five-yard pass play on 2nd and 10." thing that we'd hear here back in the day. Lapo didn't have an xbox controller wired to Nichols' brain ... if Nichols was always checking down after going through his reads, either our receivers aren't getting open or Nichols is having trouble making his reads from the pocket.

Jennings had a string of 4 300+ games in 2016 -- after he had three games of film on him as a starter, which counts for something. Casey Printers looked like freaking Warren Moon in 2004 -- no guff, at his best the guy was a beast surgeon with a gift for finding the most open man on every passing play. Watching him toy with the Bombers was one of the most frustrating things I've witnessed as a bomber fan, and why I take grim satisfaction in watching Deon Beasley end his CFL stay. The worst numbers that Printers put up in any of his first few starts was 286. Neither of those guys could turn around a crappy program, tho. Only QB I've ever seen thrive on a crappy team is Mike Reilly, and he pays a price for that.

oh man I do not want to mess with our OL depth. How many teams can lose their starting center like we did in late 2019 and keep on trucking? Especially the way our OL beasted at the Grey Cup... One of these days I need to run the numbers to see how many OL a typical CFL team will start over the course of the season. I'd guess it's at least eight and for a team that has an unlucky run of injuries or underperformers, that number can get higher quick. I remember bomber games where 3/5 of the starters changed from week to week.

have a question -- what's a run blitz? after the Toronto game people were talking about how the run blitz was effective against us and TO used it to good effect against Brady O and Collaros in their win. from watching it seems like a blitz where everyone is disciplined about their lanes at first and once they figure out it's a dropback then they go at the QB. Is there more to it than that?

I was surprised at how the Riders underutilized their biggest asset on O against us -- Powell. Toronto showed that our run D wasn't perfect .... if Powell puts some runs together that could loosen up the passing game enough for Fajardo to succeed. Don't know if that green OL can run block any better than it can pass block though.

totally agree -- he threw a wide side out against us that really caught my eye Usually when a young QB throws to the field like that I'm expecting six the other way, but he threw an absolute laser safely away from the DB and right between the numbers of his receiver, just past the first down stick. He had some heat on him when he threw it too, and it didn't look like the out was his first read. Real pretty play. Not a Stamps fan but as a fan of the game I cheered that play a bit.

wasn't there an anonymous insider take from Ottawa that said that Nichols was physically healthy but that his throwing mechanics had gone to ****? that sound like the harshest possible thing you could say about a pro QB...

I think BLM is a redblack before the end of the calendar year in a Taman style deal, with a couple Ottawa first rounders going the other way. Dude is making over $500k and is signed thru 2022, and he hasn't been himself for awhile. The stamps reload and get cheaper while Ottawa can sell tickets and hope with a guy who is (or was) legit MOP material. mind you, I was also certain that Hufnagel would do a Wally Buono and move on from BLM after Arbuckle showed well in 2019, so I am terrible at predictions.

****, we chased Hajrullahu out of town after a shaky month, and since he's been good enough to earn some NFL looks.

wonder how quickly they'll roll out Roosevelt ... will be interesting to see if NR breaks the bomber veteran receiver free agent curse.

I'm loving how our O is closing out games. Not seeing many of those fourth quarter 2-and-outs that plagued us during the Lapo years.

Cody Fajardo beaten like green pinata! Bombers want candy

Drew Wolitarski escapes fieldside limbo, makes Superman catch

Week 5 - Labour Day Classic "Cody shall not pass!" Jeffcoat and Jefferson balling like Gandalf.

Bomber D averaging thirteen points allowed a game. coach Hall has em dialed in.

Jeffs of death!

now that's how you intentionally ground a football.

down by 28, 12 minutes left, punting on 3rd and 6 at midfield? at least they got a safety. yeah, that pick 6 was ugly, ball was out really late and the intended receiver had zero chance to make a play.

Adams Jr. demonstrating why they call it TD Place stadium.

tsn guys putting lipstick on Davis' throw out of bounds .. overlooking the open receiver about ten yards away from where the ball went out of bounds.

Petermann! Ottawa down two good starting DBs and it's showing, the backups can't handle those good lark receivers.

that second pass play by Davis looked weird ... one cluster of three receivers bumping into each other five yards deep, and the other two receivers are clumped up downfield, Davis has to throw into a crowd of Als either way ... just an ugly looking offensive play.

Week 4 Stamps @ Blue (halftime) Blue pregame popcorn an explanation for some buttery fingers? beat us with your arm, Bomber D challenges Maier. no problem, says rook

yeah, don't overlook how bad Ottawa's talent on O is ... look at their O roster compared to the 2019 Bombers ... compare them position to position, there's not many positions where Ottawa has the superior talent. I count zero but I might be missing someone. They had two years to recruit and came up with Flanders as their starting tailback and Dom Davis (!) as their QB2, not to mention busted-up old guys like Nichols and Coombs. Their only real dangerous receiver is a holdover from 2019. Just really brutal player personnel work there. Lapo ain't helping them any but I don't think Don Matthews himself could win with that bunch.