BigBlue

Anybody got a depth charter for the Bombers tonight?

I am just trying to add up the pro's and con's to see who has the edge in the Fridays game: Momentum: BC crushed 'em, we are on a high following our reversal of fortunes against the double blue Line & Run Game: I believe we have a definite edge on both sides of the ball ... Hamilton was no test of BC's lineman; we manhandled the Argos QBing: Lulay was brilliant; Nichols is a lot more careful with the ball than Jennings who will probably sit .... we have no idea what we got if Nichols comes out Receivers: ours are good, BC's are great .... the Lion's flat passes are well executed and we are not as competent there yet Secondary: strangely I think we have the edge but we won't be able to totally stop BC's big play acrobatics LBers & pass D: they are in top form; we are developing and will struggle with their hitch passes Kicking: Medlock Returning: Rainey Coaching: our adjustment are getting better but it is still the fox (Buono) vs the hounds (yappers that we are) Conclusion: We need Harris's rushing to set up our passing game ... then we have a chance ... we won't be able to completely contain BC's explosive receivers; the question is can we frustrate them enough and win the turnover game once again .... we won't win without the giveaway takeaway stats being in our favor

that was the adjustment that changed everything in the Argo game

that and how Fort Knox does at MLB with a week of prep ... I expect lulay will start .... this game we will need more than luck .... we are going to have to be consistent and minimizing our mistakes or in other words against BC we can't afford to take a quarter off

You would need way more than 2 crews Really .... each crew works 2 games per week: Thursday & Saturday or Friday & Another plus 3 days of travel = 5 day week of five half days of doing what you love (even if you are living out of a hotel eating reasonable restaurant food) and being otherwise at your leisure .... not for a married guy but I can think of a ton of single athletes who would love it for a ten year run from June to November.... (the worst problem would be hung over reffs at the game but they would get over that soon enough) ... off season they could train at their sport or do a different job for those 6 months of the year

Would it really cost "millions" to have two crews of referees working full time?

"CFL - Just run into the defender and draw PI..." (Saidin) I agree its getting worse and worse ... I wonder if some of the zebras even thoroughly know the rules .... it seems like if a receiver just falls down the D is going to get penalized Appeal a "no interference because the ball was not catchable" with a "illegal contact on a receiver"; of course that would only work if it was away from the play The best receivers are more and more "pushing off" the DB to gain separation or position ... when was the last time offensive pass interference was called? What is the proportion of offensive to defensive pass interference calls in this league? Isn't it about time we started training our reffs and turning them into full time professionals? We would only need two crews - - this league doesn't schedule three games in one day. The crews could travel with evaluator/trainers. Further they could get greater proficiency through group film work sessions over the net (assuming they were being paid enough to take the time). Lots of things can be done to raise skill and proficiency but, it is not going to happen. Why? Because it is an owner's decision (through the board of governors) .... Owners never paid Gordie Howe one extra nickel as a rising superstar in the 1950's and today they are not going to spend any real money in bringing up the quality of our game through our officiating .... bandages and cosmetics is all they are going to offer unless forced to do so by ..... who? Who can force them? It wouldn't be the fans would it? They don't have any real or organized force or power do they? So there is no force, actually, is there?

Not me ... I think Jennings is the biggest interception cougher in the league .... Lulay is a former MOP and he mighty fine last night with 400+ yards passing ... the concern has always been with his wing and there looked nothing with it in that performance .... if Lulay has totally rehab-ed BC just got better ... we will see how it holds up

After chatting with a rather knowledgeable observer of the game, last night and this afternoon, it is now clear what the adjustment on D was: Knox was moved into Hurl's MLB spot and Hurl was shifted to WIL and it worked amazingly well .... Hurl is just too small and gets shoved around in the middle; on the blitz he is too slow and too easily handled but in pass coverage he gets his job done. Knox on the blitz will be better, but more crucially in the mlb position he can't be shoved around, he can stand his ground like the Rock of Gabraltor. So there you have it; we now have Fort Knox in the middle. We held them to one FG in the 2nd half with our new fort. So no ratio changes, just swapping spots, putting Hurl in a more natural position for him, WIL. Hurl can handle the PASSING STUFF and Knox will be SHUTTING DOWN THE RUN. Go Richie Hall.

Ricky Ray threw for 250 yards in the first half and was assisted by 268 yards of punt and kickoff return yardage .... so how did that 500+ yards translate into only 22 points at the half? Three dropped TD passes, a pick by Leggett , and a million dollar sleezy penalty called on an apparent 2nd kickoff return touchdown ... there was barely contact ... I have never been to a game where I witnessed so much aid given the Blue by the Zebras ... we could easily have been going into the 2nd half trailing by 2 TDs or more Nichols & company managed to generate 13 points in the first half, so adding Lankfords kickoff TD return on the 1st play of the game we were almost tied 22-20 at the Half. Now I have never known the Bombers to be great half time "adjusters" but something changed in the 2nd half. Our D held the Argos to just one field goal. Ray passed for only 80 yards compared to his gunslinging first half.. The highlight was the last 3+ minutes when the Bombers twice shut down Argo drives, This was in complete contrast to the last drive of the first half when Richie Hall's "loose" defense allowed the Argos to drive from deep in their own end to then kick a go-ahead FG. Nichols accuracy was average, or could I say , on again - off again, at different points in the game. The main thing is he got the job done to give us 26 points for the game, 13 in each half. Maybe he was Lankford inspired. Former Argo DB "TJ" Heath got the shutdown interception on the final drive. "I had been hunting the whole game" he said. What went unnoticed was another blown zebra call, roughing Ricky Ray on the play .... but it was missed and Trestman had used up his challenges long ago. Thank you Mr Zebras .... you were game changers once again, and might I add that took some doing. I don't know what our DC Hall changed in the 2nd half, but the D didn't resemble itself compared to the first half, or for that matter compared to its play against Calgary last week (which wasn't awful but not that good either). Something changed - - I just don't know what it is. Lapo changed his play calling too. He called a lot more passes downfield today than last week's dink and dunk strategy. (He used Harris with about the same number of carries, so it was the passing not the running that changed.) Was he motivated by last week's poor offensive performance (that ultimately exhausted our D) in the loss, or did he just get smarter somehow from last week to this? I don't have clue. I only know two things for sure: [1] Something real changed tonight in Bomberville, and [2] Blessings were rained down from heaven on to our Bombers in this game.

Because Roc has shown well at SAM and Leggett is a fine pass defender

Knox or whoever replaces Wilde is going to be picked on .... hope Leggett and Carmichael swap spots

For our coordinators to become more flexible in their packages,schemes and calls ... to get out of their own ruts and biases To better assess our personnel deficits and ACT on that knowledge Increase an already good comoraderie and team spirit so more of our players are at the top of their game and more often performing "in the zone" We are very close talent wise but not team wise

WE have the makings of champions ... our talent level is nearly there but our systems are not

well if he conspired to go to Toronto that is different

when they signed bear yes, now its different

I expect Trestman is going to gameplan at our LBers ... rookie at one spot, slow foot at another and overloaded at the third .... might see a lot of counters and wide receiver sweeps and reverses on the running side while picking apart our zone defense as only Ray can .... we better hope we can get some consistent pressure on him ... so far our blitz has been more like a blintz, very flat with no bite

Atlanta Falcons Woods was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2010. He was waived on September 2, 2011. Montreal Alouettes On September 28, 2011, Woods signed with the Montreal Alouettes.[2] Woods did not see any playing time in his first 2 seasons in the CFL; in the 2013 CFL season Woods played on special teams and sparingly on defense. He accumulated 5 defensive tackles and 13 special teams tackles. The 2014 CFL season proved to be a breakout year for Bear Woods, as he finished the year ranked number 2 in tackles with 89 (BC Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian finished first with 143). He also added an impressive 7 quarterback sacks. He was the East Division nominee for the CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award in 2014, winning the James P. McCaffrey Trophy as consolation.[3]Following his standout season, he signed a three-year extension with the Alouettes on January 2, 2015.[4]Woods missed the vast majority of the 2015 season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle in the second game of the season.[5] Woods returned to being one of the star players on the Al's defense for their 2016 season. He played in all 18 regular season games and for the second time in his career finished second in tackles to Solomon Elimimian. Woods also had five sacks, three forced fumbles, one of which he recovered, and two interceptions. Just like in 2014 both linebackers were nominated to represent their divisions as the finalists for the CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award.[6] Just like in 2014 Solomon Elimimian once again took home the CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award for the 2016 season.[7] On May 29, 2017, at the start of training camp for the 2017 season, the Alouettes announced they had released Woods.[8] Toronto Argonauts On June 7, 2017 the Toronto Argonauts announced they had signed Bear Woods to a contract.[9] So we had a week to sign him .... loyalty counts for a lot but so does the chance to be on a potential championship team instead of a cellar dweller .... money can influence things too especially in terms of ego points .... my guess is we were never really in the hunt .... we had made up our plan already and stubborn is not flexible relative to opportunities

What can't be changed is the inclinations of our two coordinators .... what has changed is the deterioration in the quality of our LBers .... we will have out the worst crew we have had in years .... and its an attitude; we turned up our noses at Bear Woods and he is going to be the difference maker come Thursday night ... we can change our LBing crew but we have to want to do it.

Same thing you said last year

We are what we are ...MOS is average at evaluating talent and our scouting team is also lukewarm .... our defensive coordinator wants to simplify instead of disguising our schemes stunts and blitzes .... and our offensive coordinator turtles at the first sign of trouble. The more we bog down offensively, the shorter the passes become. The whole league knows to shut down the Blue all they have to do is creep up and jam the short game. Same stuff as last year, no judgment, just the facts. It is an "outmuscle them" philosophy - - our best against their best. When we have had success, it has been when Nichols has been making his intermediate passes behind the "creeping" defenses. Lapo knows to do this.... it is just not his inclination. Now that we can't sit on our self satisfied butt after the Regina victory, he will modify what he is doing and open her up, until we win again. Our defensive coordinator: about him I am not so sure. I do NOT know what would motivate him to change. He has a LBer problem with Wilde out and he can't move Carmichael into it. Hurl is too slow to play MLB and with Wilde not roving, he will look even slower .... Leggett is being pressed to do too much. Our D-line oozes with talent and looks invisible. Same story as last year. Simplify, simplify, simplify. The line is all new to the team, right? Mos has delegated the D to his coordinator, right? We have talent, we are going to win some games, when we out muscle them. The question is do we truly have the heart of a champion ... I think we might find that we do, after LEARNING that the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of actually changing our schemes, philosophies, and way of conducting simplification. MOS wants to win real bad... he will get us there as any true leader would.

Over the years I keep getting excited when the Stamps have lineman injuries, and then they keep coming up with outstanding performances from their spare parts .... I am thinking we should win the game in the trenches Friday night, but I have been wrong on the linemen call so many times ..... sigh

If you love the Riders how do you feel about their traditional rival? If you love the Riders, statistically speaking, there is a 97.8653% that you hate the Bombers

"I don't think he hates the Bombers" but I do think Suitor is as close as you can come to that

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/video/3-downs-who-appears-to-be-on-their-way-to-a-breakout-season-in-the-cfl~1161168 a 3 down non prediction .... could not figure out their opinion except that Jones is "desperate'