17to85

you know as much as people like to talk about Goosen being a good kid and all that, he was getting worked over badly all game long in Edmonton too.

Explaining that the team has shitty depth and can't handle injuries is not making excuses, it's looking at a roster and recognizing that the depth isn't there. We all talked about that in the offseason for christs sake! This is playing out pretty much as we knew it would. Etch is crazy and is hit or miss, Bellefeuille is average at best and the team couldn't get through any injury troubles because the depth, especially on OL and at NI positions isn't there.

Etch D needs pressure on the qb, Reilly was basically untouched all game. I only remember the Edmonton qbs getting hit like 3 times all game and that's embarassing when you consider how many plays they ran. That's not a good OL in Edmonton but they just stuffed the DL like it wasn't there. Throw in some shitty timing on blitzes and you see the result.

Just imagine getting to see that live! Love investing the time to drive up to Edmonton to watch them **** their pants.

In garbage time. The entire 2nd half. He still looked good, was throwing the ball quickly and for the most part on target. Willy had a real bad problem with bracing for a hit rather than throwing quickly lately, he's shell shocked, for his own good he needs a break.

No question 2012 was more depressing. There was that feeling that Macks time was coming and we would blow **** up yet again and hope we hired someone better. You can't just pull the plug on that kind of talent recruiter willy nilly. At least this year we got a qb and I guy I really do like at head coach so there's that. Just a shame the talent level on this team is so poor.

Looked like a fairly normal warmup to me I think you're really reaching for things to ***** about here, not like there's a lack of things.

Yeah Noeller and I have been talking about that all summer, Willy ain't right, the accuracy just disappeared on him. The offseason is going to hit and we're going to get a long list of the things Willy has been playing through. Guy is beat up some kind of bad and it's not getting better. He is at the point where he doesn't trust his protection anymore either. Play Brohm, he looked decent for a backup, was throwing the ball quickly at least rather than just bracing for the hit.

The esks absolutely embarassed the Etch D, they had a plan to get 7, 7 or 9 yards every first down and that was a huge problem in the game, but number 2 on my problems defensively list is the fact that the only time they could get pressure is when they sent 8 or 9 guys. The defensive line was just completely neutralized by a pretty shitty edmonton OL. Need to improve that area in the offseason big time so they can disrupt things without having to completely sell out on a blitz. Offensively the OL just got completely worked. They might as well have turned around pre-snap because that would have given them an advantage in chasing after the DL who blow by them. Bellefeuille I felt got really bland with his play calling as well and obviously hates Paris Cotton because he didn't give the guy a chance to succeed at all. He had like 2 or 3 carries in the first half, one was one of those stupid wide runs that the Bombers never seem to block properly on and the 2nd was completely blown by the OL getting worked.

you can like a coach without blindly endorsing his every move. As long as the good outweighs the bad.

well this is a tough call. Kelly pulls his disappearing act a lot, but man Bryant and Willy have no chemistry at all and every time they've tried to go deep to Bryant the ball has been about 10 yards away from him.

There are lots of individual plays that can sum up the problems people have with Grigsby... one happened in a recent game, he had a hole from the OL and he hit that hole, but a defensive lineman got a hand on him and rather than shaking off an arm tackle like every other RB in the league can do down he goes for 3 yards. He keeps on his feet at minor contact and he probably runs for at least 10 yards maybe more. It's not asking too much to expect a running back to be able to run through arm tackles, but Grigsby goes down on contact way way too easily. I suspect he just has terrible balance.

The reason for trying to make a splash in free agency before you host the Grey Cup is a pretty simple one... Make that big sexy signing and get fans excited about the season and the Grey Cup and sell more tickets to the game. It's nothing new, if fans expect the home team has a chance to play in the game they'll sell more tickets more quickly.

It's not better than last year just because, it's better than last year because it's better than last year. We've used the same qb every game this year, that alone is leaps and bounds better than last year, and he's even performed well! The team doesn't just roll over and die this year. It's better than last year because the bar last year was set so incredibly low. I don't disagree & even agree with you to a large extent 17 but like TBurg said that alone shouldn't be good enough. This team is better in some areas like qb but on the OL other than Morley it's the same or even worse than last season. We can't consistently stop the run & I think at times this season last year's defense under Casey Creehan has played better than this year's version under Etch. And for me to say that The Crazy Man had a better defense well, that's an indictment on the work Etch has been doing & the kind of schemes he runs along with the kind of personnel he likes. I really do think that there are much better DC's out there that would do a better job than what we have now. I can live with MB as an OC but not Etcheverry as DC. You are letting your bias against Etch cloud your judgement here. I don't like it either and ideally we'd have someone else there, but the D with all it's warts has been a lot better than we got last year. There has been a lot of progress made this year, enough that there shouldn't be criticism of it. Now if they don't improve the depth and their recruiting in the offseason then we will talk about whether or not there has been enough, but for one year considering the mess that was going on here it's plenty. You have to keep in mind how unappealing a destination Winnipeg was. It was always going to take time to get away from that.

that is taman MO. backups are a great place to save money I didn't mention that in my post, but there is very likely some truth in your statement. Durant is very durable, probably there were some costs savings in mind also considering how little the Riders ever play a backup. Durants age also a factor, by the time DD was done Willy would have been past his prime. There is no question about it, saw it all the time when he was in Winnipeg. Guy pays his starters great, but saves money on the depth. Goes for more than QB too. I don't think it was an entirely bad move on his part with Saskatchewan either. They were already breaking the cap and guys would need raises and I am sure he had an inkling that Dressler might make his way back from the NFL. With Durant being as durable as he has been no one would consider it likely he'd see his season end permanently. They took a gamble and lost but it wasn't really a terrible gamble. They had to save money somewhere (if they wanted to even make an attempt at looking like they were being cap compliant)

he inherited Durant that's the only one. His usual MO if he needs to find his own qb is look around the league at backups and get one of them in hopes they can start. Worked out pretty well for him with Khari Jones and Kevin Glenn. Now my timing is fuzzy, but was Taman the Riders GM when they brought in Drew Willy?

Throw in a few obligatory curse words and this is basically a post I would make.

that is taman MO. backups are a great place to save money

and it's that stupid notion that is the reason you don't see the progress. I'm not over stating anything,you are simply choosing to believe that wins are the only thing that demonstrates progress and that is a ******* stupid mentality. It's not a stupid notion. W's are how teams are judged, unless there aren't enough W's for a positive spin, then folks like you are forced to look for something else point towards progress. It's not black and white either. I see some progress, just not enough to say we're moving in the right direction or that we're that much better than last year. it is a stupid notion. It completely disregards how bad the team was last year. They are absolutely moving in the right direction and we are THAT much better than last year. Give up the idea that wins and losses are the only way to judge progress and you'll see it. We have a qb we know we can win with, we have what appears to be a good head coach who has the team believing in him. When healthy this team was winning a lot of close games, when injuries started piling up they're losing mostly close games. That tells me this team came a long way from being blown out before half time and that with some improved depth and the upgrades that come as a result of that this team is not far off winning more often. It's a process and steps forward are steps forward even if they haven't translated into a 12 win season.

how do they calculate PI penalty yardage? Say a DB takes a PI penalty 40 yards down field, is that 40 yards in penalties? If so then I'd suspect DBs will always be at a disadvantage in terms of penalty yardage.

You're doing it again. Making up things that i neither said nor implied then arguing your side of your made up story. No one, including me, expected the team to become good in one season. Far from it. We didn't make enough of the right changes in the off season IMHO and we haven't made enough changes during the season. I didn't expect an instant fix and I'm not bitching that it isn't faster than can be reasonably expected. None of those things have anything to do with how much or how little better we are than last year anyway. If you haul your head outta your hiney you might be able to follow along. My perspective is... We're still not good enough. We're in a downward death spiral. That's not the right direction. We're doing nothing about it this year. We're hoping to get better in the off season from the draft, free agency, and scouting new players.... Just like every other team in the CFL. No you're basically disregarding the progress the team has made and insisting that wins and losses are the only thing that really matters. What I said is exactly what you are saying. You need to expand your focus and look at the big picture. I'm not disregarding the progress. I'm just not overstating it like you are. The big picture is we still aren't good enough and that we still have a long ways to go. W's are the only thing that matters. and it's that stupid notion that is the reason you don't see the progress. I'm not over stating anything,you are simply choosing to believe that wins are the only thing that demonstrates progress and that is a ******* stupid mentality.

I know where my money is based on the calibre of sports reporters in this city. Why watch practise when you tell the GM to just sign Heenan?

You're doing it again. Making up things that i neither said nor implied then arguing your side of your made up story. No one, including me, expected the team to become good in one season. Far from it. We didn't make enough of the right changes in the off season IMHO and we haven't made enough changes during the season. I didn't expect an instant fix and I'm not bitching that it isn't faster than can be reasonably expected. None of those things have anything to do with how much or how little better we are than last year anyway. If you haul your head outta your hiney you might be able to follow along. My perspective is... We're still not good enough. We're in a downward death spiral. That's not the right direction. We're doing nothing about it this year. We're hoping to get better in the off season from the draft, free agency, and scouting new players.... Just like every other team in the CFL. No you're basically disregarding the progress the team has made and insisting that wins and losses are the only thing that really matters. What I said is exactly what you are saying. You need to expand your focus and look at the big picture.

They've already pulled Tino though. How confident are they really? I think the performance last game was convincing enough. Who knows, he could crap the bed again. But I think he has been a lot more confident since the Calgary game. replace last game with against Ottawa and how is that any different? You'll forgive me if I dismiss your opinion as uninformed, you were afterall on here just a week ago talking about how Doege was the man and better than Sunseri.