Fatty Liver

I'm hoping if and when the Bombers are eliminated from playoff competition they really give each of the 3 backups a good amount of game play to see how they fare. Going into next season blindly with the existing question marks at backup QB is not desirable and they have to realize it improves the team immensely if the backup QB can step in and actually continue on with the program rather than just being a place holder for Willy. Very few QB's make it through an entire season unscathed but top teams manage to stay competitive if they have a QB in the wings with real game experience. I like how Hamilton used Lefevour last year in every game for a few sets just to get his feet wet even though Burris could have played every down. It paid dividends this year when Collaros was injured for a few games and Lefevour took over and did reasonably well. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

I remember Eugene Goodlow (spelling?) as a standout receiver that Brock threw to in the early 80's. If I remember correctly he broke his neck in a game against Calgary, and it was the last game he played for Winnipeg as he went to the NFL in the off-season. Goodlow became the first player in CFL history to reach 100 receptions in a season during the 1981 season.

He did, but he kept breaking, Willy just doesn't break. He gets hurt, but he stays in the line up. Willy might be tough....but he breaks just like a little girl. Yes, he does. You remind me of a Rider fan. Sorry. That is the enigma that is Bob Dylan. Here's another Bob quote. He used to be greeeen but now he's unseeeen and noooobody knows why he's bluuuuuue. I've got more.

He did, but he kept breaking, Willy just doesn't break. He gets hurt, but he stays in the line up. Willy might be tough....but he breaks just like a little girl. Yes, he does.

Who is Tyler?

Didn't care much for that Dieter fellow. Ralph was a better player I.M.H.O.

When a QB can put up 300+ yards in losing efforts in his first year as a starter, it makes you wonder what he'll accomplish once he gets the knack for winning. Once the building blocks are put in place to provide him with better protection I foresee an airshow that will entertain Bomber fans for many years to come. I'm having flash backs of Ralph Brock already.

You forgot Neufeld, remember him??? He occasionally plays a game now and than but make no mistake he is going to be a cornerstone of the Bomber all Canadian O-line well into the future. In 2013 Kyle Walters went down to the cross-roads and made a deal with the green-horned devil to ensure it. (This is not criticism just apathy mixed with disgust which is often mistaken for criticism).

That's not something that you'd ever see Dave Ritchie or Cal Murphy discussing.

Anyone know how the replacements (Pall, Booker?) fared in the game against BC? As I never heard or caught sight of them during the broadcast I assume they were relatively mediocre.

Well if he isn't there today we will need to come up with another excuse from the " where is American player and why didn't he report for duty with his CFL team as expected" handbook.We have already used Visa problems. Which is pretty funny considering he had already been in Canada with the Argos. I have to admit "we let him go on a pre- planned family vacation" was a new one to me. So this week options include... a) sick family member NFL interest C) **** him we didn't need him anyway. Maybe "Where's Thaddeus this week?" this could replace the Lock of The Week as a game for MBB posters? Love the sound of that, it would make a great game day sign. Also much better than "Where's Waldo?".

Bowman dropped 4 catchable balls in this game, 2 that could have gone for TD's.

Either way that could be why Wally is giving up on him.

If Madu wasn't actually injured than that's pretty poor planning not to have any backup RB on the game day roster. At least the Bombers have Volny if Grigsby gets hurt..

Man is Brandon Banks ever tiny.

Madu is on the Injured list, not sure how serious it is.

Hamilton DB just intercepted a pass and than threw the ball into the stands. Why no penalty?

Looks like Hamilton might be in the market for a RB next week unless Madu is back for the next game. Gables probably gone for the season.

I can think of I don't think we'll "pass" on him. We're limited in what we can offer. BC can get a better deal from other teams. It's the downside of having no assets - it makes it tough to acquire assets. I can think of 3 assets right off the top. JFG, Sherman and Bucknor. I'd hate to see any of them playing on another team but if you're going to play poker you need to have real chips.

You driven around The 'Peg lately? Roads are bad all over the country. A lot of it is simply to do with weather. Go to North Dakota or Minnesota, where they get the same weather, and see how nice their roads are compared to ours. Must be a Canadian thing then. When looking for answers to humanity's great questions, always start with money. As in having a tenth of the population means our budget for capital works projects is a tenth of theirs. Less really, as we prioritize the tax dollars differently, with health care getting a massive chunk of the pie. Although their budget for miscellaneous wars is much higher than ours. The roads they construct have a base that's twice as thick as ours, that's why they don't experience similar road heaves when the temperatures fluctuate. In addition, for the US typically road repairs is the first idea that politicians trot out anytime there is a downturn in the economy. Job creation, yada yada yada, but the long term effect is not the creation of a sustainable job, so their economy cycles thru mini-recessions quite frequently, which helps keep their roads under constant repair. Which is why sections of road on the I-29 are getting ripped out and replaced despite being nicer than sections of the 75 that were poured 2 years ago. The reason the interstate highway system is structurally overbuilt in the U.S. is because it was designed to transport the military for defencive purposes at a cost of over 5 billion dollars. All other roads in the US are built to the same standards as the roads in Canada and are in about the same condition. Frost does play a huge role in the deterioration of roadways so in general highways in the south last longer and require far less maintenance. Areas that have a clay base (lake bottom) subject to freezing such as are found in the Red River Valley are notoriously difficult to maintain. Fact of geography.

Great game, lots of back and forth between two good offences, much more entertaining than the low scoring defencive battles that have been so prevalent this year.

I don't take Neufeld's injuries lightly, he has missed over 50% of the games this year so I'm not sure he is going to be part of a solution moving forward and suspect he is damaged goods. If he can't stay in the lineup it depletes the Natl. talent along the line even further. May well be that if Neufeld can't stay healthy he is moved to backup position and spot duty so that they can prolong his career another 3-4 years. Next season Swiston and/or Hinse have to step up along with Goosen so that the Bombers have a core of Natl. O-linemen to build upon in the future. If 2 of the 3 wash out or fail to improve the line won't look much different next year than it does now in regard to ratio. Not holding my breath on free-agency and the acquisition of any staring quality Natl. O-liners falling into the Bombers lap either. I can't recall a single decent O-lineman who was headed for free-agency last year that didn't re-sign with their club before they hit the open market. It takes excess quantity of quality candidates for any movement to take place and that just has not been the case recently.

I disagree. There's huge value in keeping a defense off balance and guessing. A few passes per game to Fitzgerald, and a few runs up the middle for Pontbriand would help do that. I never said replace Watson with Fitzgerald in the slot. There are much better ways to break tendency that would keep the ball in the hands of playmakers. For the most part, defenses won't lose track of eligible receivers, especially downfield. So you're basically tossing a 2-3 yard pass (vertically, might be a much longer pass in real distance for the QB) out to Fitzgerald or Pontbriand in space and hoping they can maybe gain a few more yards. You're looking at maybe a couple opportunities per game for either guy who plays those tight end spots where the QB can check down to them when they are wide-open. You hit that once for a first down, and it's probably closed for the rest of the game because the LB/DB who is responsible for that flat was probably cheating downfield or looking into the backfield. There's no purpose in running plays for those guys regularly, they just don't have the speed or quickness to win 1 on 1 against coverage. If they are redesigning the offence, spend time figuring out how to get the ball to Denmark, Watson and Kohlert more effectively. This is exactly the situation the Bombers would want to create. By causing the opposing D to pay more attention to Pontbriand or Fitzgerald it creates more space and more time for the skilled receivers to get open. If the D continues to cheat by ignoring those two, than the Bombers can continue to take advantage of what is given. The goal is to gain consistent first downs using as many tools as possible to keep the D. from focusing on singular targets, it doesn't all need to tie into dramatic 30 yard gains. When Ricky Ray is at his best this is exactly what he does, he takes what is given and punishes with the long ball when the D. tries to cheat. We might not yet realize it but Drew Willy is quite possibly the heir apparent to Ricky Ray as the best throwing QB in the CFL.

Again referring to the last Coach's Show, O'Shea explained that Romby is here because of his speed and his ability to outrun coverage. He has shown flashes of in past games but I think the real problem with Romby has been getting on the same page with Willy and developing timing. Willy has been off on most of his long balls and corner routes since the second game of the season and not just with Romby.

On this weeks Coach's Show MOS had a very similar response to a caller's question about occasionally using Pontbriand as a FB. O'Shea said that they had no package in their playbook to accommodate such a setup, he then went on to obfuscate by pointing out how it didn't make sense to hand the ball off 3 yards deep in the backfield. This tells me Marcel has a rigid playbook that doesn't easily accommodate adjustment either in personnel or play during an entire season much less being able to make adjustments on the fly during a game.