In Case You Missed It -

[Mr Dee]

After week 14
Bye Montreal

Rod Pedersen.com
The fourth quarter touchdown by "rookie" Rider Armanti Edwards was his first professional touchdown despite all his years in the National Football League (including four as a receiver in Carolina).  That nugget comes courtesy of the Watauga Democrat newspaper, which I happened to be reading early Monday morning. 
?‍?Geez - for Pedersen and this gem
A lot of things are going on that aren't apparent to the naked eye. Jones will likely be proven to be a genius yet.

CFL Headlines
Edwards: (Drew - not Armanti) Awkward question: are we sure the Ticats are actually good? @scratchingpost #CFL

Collaros has been statistically spectacular since returning from his knee injury six games ago, throwing for an average of 350 yards while posting 16 touchdown passes against six interceptions. But he hasn’t passed the eye test the last two weeks, making questionable decisions and struggling at times with his accuracy.
The team is just 3-3 since he’s been back, the same record they had under backup QB Jeremiah Masoli.
?‍?He brings up blocked punts...4 games in a row, and a questionable secondary. Or a secondary secondary, if you will.
And a question mark on the O-Line. And more injuries. Courtney Stephen and Chad Owens.
Shaky ground for the East's top team. http://3downnation.com/2016/09/19/awkward-question-sure-ticats-actually-good/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

?‍?True words from riderprophet.com Simply put, a team with Reilly, Bowman and Walker should not lose to a team who does not play offense until the 4th quarter.

?‍?What's with the yo-yoing of QB BJ Daniels between Sask to Ham. and back to Saskatchewan?

Mike Beamish
Newest #BCLions defensive back Jeremy Harris was a seventh-round pick by Jacksonville Jaguars out of New Mexico State (2013).

Arash Madani
Let's hope those who came hard after @JDunk12, refuting his report that Jim Popp is done as coach, will apologize with the same vigour. #CFL

Adam Scefter 
Seahawks fined $400,000 for excessive off-season workouts and Pete Carroll fined $200,00 for it.
?‍?Wallace Miles is a free agent..thanks to NFL-induced expanded PR rosters.
Courtney Taylor (BC)..replaced by Sinkfield.

?‍?#4 Bowman sure can make plays out there, and fail on others....

-For the first time all season Trevor Harris was held under 70 and even 60 percent completion percentage in a game. 

Randy Turner
The #Bombers just added receiver named Lonnie Outlaw to practice roster. But I'm not sure how he'll work with an OC named Paul LaPolice.

Blue Bomber History
Jack Jacobs joined the Bombers in 1950 for $6,000 salary and promise that he could play QB. He was a top punter with GB Packers of NFL.

?‍?Adarius bowman picked a bad time to revert with his play last weekend. The guy who can be so good, ended up looking really bad with his attitude and his drops."'nbvf

?‍?Why Edmonton kept Kenzel Doe as a kick returner for so long is beyond me..

?‍?Everybody's talking about the possible extensions of O'Shea and Walters, but not enough attention is being given to Chris Jones extending Darian Durant.

OLB Andy Mulumba and CB Corey Tindal worked out for the #Colts. - Penton

CFL History
In 1915, the #CFL experimented using the latest technology to keep fans in Hamilton aware of the score in the Grey Cup - The Carrier Pigeon
--The experiment failed, when people in Hamilton kept shooting at the pigeons thinking they were German Biplanes invading Ontario #CFL

CFL Communications
The average penalties for the four games in Week 13 was 14.5 per game – the lowest average in a single week this year and the lowest since 2013.

The Hamilton and Montreal game was the second-fastest game of the season, taking two hours and 37 minutes. The fastest game, at two hours and 30 minutes, occurred in Week 11 between Toronto and BC.
Coaches’ challenges were also at a season low with only five plays challenged and two overturned.
Between the four games a total of 232 points were scored, with an average of 58 points per game. That is the second-highest average for a week of games this season, trailing only Week 9 where the average points per game was 59.3.
Week 13 also featured the most rushing yards this season with an average of 219 yards per game.
Toronto and Winnipeg game had six lead changes – tied for the most this season in a single game.
First-time all-year that all four home teams won in a week. In the last 10 games, road teams are 1-9, however they still own the advantage overall this season going 28-24-1 (.528) winning percentage.

This is Calgary’s ninth consecutive season finishing with a record above .500.

Calgary will be finishing their West Division schedule this week and play their final five games against East Division teams.

Ed Tait
“It’s incredible,” said Nichols. “All these guys here want to play for Coach O’Shea. He’s a guy that will go to bat for any of his players at any time. He does a great job and any one of these players would do anything for him and vice versa. I love playing for him and, for me, to have that stability would be great. I’ve bounced around with a lot of coordinators and head coaches in my career and I feel like we have a good one here.”

?‍?Perhaps, one of the biggest reason we might have lost out on acquiring Terrell Sinkfield was at the QB position. He could choose between Collaros and Jennings, and in the end, BC had more money to throw at him..
Mike Beamish - The Province

?‍?Absolute worst play of the week, the losing of the game ball award, goes to Adarius Bowman for that weak-kneed fight for the ball after a first down catch. Bowman, literally lost the game ball by allowing the DB, Gainey, to rip it out of his arms, and score a TD. Bowman, spun, and went to the bench. Shoddy effort in a close game. Cost? 7 points
Ding ding ding, this just in - we have a close contender. Johnny Adams trying to half swat a moving ball and giving up a sure turnover.. Cost? 3 points.

Rod Pedersen
A tip I got on Wednesday morning is that two other teams are preparing contract offers for Darian Durant for this off-season.  The Riders are expected to offer Durant a contract with a lower base salary, and laden with incentives (primarily based on starts) while at least one other team will try to entice Durant with a much higher base salary.  Then it's going to be up to him to decide.

?‍?Huh? The Argos are 5-2 in their seven matchups against the REDBLACKS since Ottawa’s return to the league in 2014. Yet since then, Harris has played for both teams at quarterback and has never lost to either Toronto or Ottawa. - CFL Staff

The potential of this team has definitely not been reached yet. - Weston Dressler

The Stamps have started just four different quarterbacks in games against the Bombers dating back to 2008: Henry Burris (7 GP), Drew Tate (1 GP), Kevin Glenn (3 GP) and Mitchell (8 GP) who have combined to go 16-3 over that stretch.

Over that same span the Bombers have started 14 different QBs: Drew Willy (4 GP), Joey Elliott (3 GP), Ryan Dinwiddie, Kevin Glenn, Stefan LeFors, Michael Bishop, Steven Jyles, Buck Pierce, Alex Brink, Justin Goltz, Max Hall, Brian Brohm, Robert Marve and Matt Nichols (1 GP). Tait

Argonauts.ca
The Argos defence allowed just one touchdown on the night, holding the opposition to just 15 points prior to Trevor Harris’ one-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Redblacks converted just one of four red zone opportunities on the night.
The Argos offensive line held the Redblacks without a sack in Friday’s game, marking the first time this season they’ve prevented their opponents from registering a single sack.

No update on OL SirVincent Rogers from Rick Campbell other than "it looks like a real injury". Not good. #RNation #CFL

CFL.ca
Running the ball was an issue for the Lions, who entered the night as the CFL’s number one rushing team, as BC managed only 69 yards on the ground, including 41 for Johnson on only eight attempts.
?‍?With the victory, Edmonton sets up a big, big game next Friday in Winnipeg. The game will be huge for both teams.

CFL.ca
Over the past 3 weeks, CFL games have taken less time to play, primarily due to many fewer penalties and coaches’ challenges. They have taken just 2:48 to play and penalties and challenges have averaged 20.15 penalties (all calls) and 2.00 challenges (an 18% drop in challenges).
-After an extraordinarily high start with accepted penalties coming at 20.7 per game through Week #4, they have averaged only 18.1 per game since then, a drop of 13% across the season. Through Week #13 accepted penalties have declined to a season cumulative low of 18.9 per game, the lowest since the final week of 2014. Week #13 was a season-low 14.5 per game.

?‍?BLM - <<< he said this "They're finding out who they are and we're going to continue to show that to them." at halftime in the Bomber game.?
?‍?To which Matt Nichols answered “I don’t really care what they have to say,” Nichols said. “We’re a good football team and I look forward to playing these guys again.”

Jeff Hamilton
Asked if the Bombers proved anything in that second half, Mike O'Shea said nothing they didn't already know. No quitters in the room.
-Lots felt they sent a message to the Stamps. Many believe they expect to see them again this year. #playoffs
-Jamaal Westerman called the first half a shitshow from the top down. Said if they played bad they would have won. They played horrible.

(Jamaal Westerman was the man BLM was aiming his wrath towards at halftime)
"Specifically, it was a very certain player who was hitting people after the whistle, chirping, holding guys down, trying to do stuff and playing dirty like he always does." BLM
Daniel Austin -Calgary Herald
+1: The Bombers turnover ratio in the game, pushing their season total to +26. The club record is +27, set in 1987.

Sept. 25 CFL.ca Staff
“What we’ve got to do is put it all together.”
"I'm a believer. I think we're going to come back and get hot" - Scott Milanovich.

“I felt good,” said Willy. “Any time you get to play it’s fun to be out there. I wish we could’ve gotten the win .  I thought we did some good things in the second half but obviously it wasn’t enough.
“I haven’t thrown to a single one of those guys in practice. They’re very, very talented, so I just need to learn their body language and I think we’ll do some good things.”

Rob Vanstone re-tweeted:
Old habits... John Chick started running towards home tunnel at half time. #Riders #Ticats #CFLGameDay

?‍?This point cannot be hammered in enough..
Bomber Buzz
Stamps’ returner Roy Finch averaged 34.2 yards-per-return on kickoffs and 11.5 yards-per-return on punt returns, as the Stamps only ever had to drive half the field for the entire first half.
The Bombers don’t need to score 27 points in the second half if their special-teams aren’t a garbage fire for the opening 40 minutes.
-Coach Hall is going to have to re-evaluate his approach to stopping the Stamps in future games.

BC Lions re-tweeted Baron Von Awesome
Seems #CFL fans have digressed. We no longer give credit to winning teams. 
We either beat ourselves, or blame referees for our team losses.

?‍?Drew Edwards tweets
Edwards: Depleted Ticats lose to Riders on last-second field goal bit.ly/2cWtn6R @scratchingpost #CFL
?‍?But Drew, weren't the Riders depleted also?

?‍? Have to ask. What's up with Johnny Adams this year? Head not into it yet?

?‍?"It’s been a while since we lost and so it’s a bad feeling right now. It’s a bad taste I want to get out of my mouth right now. I’m ready to play Edmonton." - Jermarcus Hardrick
?‍? By the way, now I can say it. 
Back in Feb. 2016 the Bombers announced the signing of Jermarcus Hardrick. A 6'6" 320 Nebraska product. 
He started with BC in 2014 - 12 games, then in 2015, went to Saskatchewan, 10 starts in 12 games.
I had to wonder...what was wrong with this guy, and why did we sign him. 3 teams in 3 years.
I'm not wondering anymore. Great team guy, and seems to be the answer at R. tackle. Whoever is responsible for this scouting..thank you.

Blue Bombers.com
"We’ve got to find a way to start faster,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “I’ve got to do a better job of making sure that practice week is conducted in a manner that allows us to start faster."

Ed Tait's Numbers Game

8.6: Yards per carry by Bombers RB Timothy Flanders, who finished the afternoon with 95 yards on 11 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown run.

+1: The Bombers turnover ratio in the game, pushing their season total to +26. The club record is +27, set in 1987.

1-14: Winnipeg’s record at McMahon in their last 15 starts. The Bombers are now 3-23 in Calgary dating back to 1992.

6-95: Ryan Smith’s receiving totals, his best as a Bomber.

?‍? I might add 60. As Mike O'Shea said: "Play 60 minutes and have a smile on your face."

Marquay McDaniel
Just saw the replay. If the tip of the ball hit the ground then you would've seen black pebbles pop up. Dez caught it and I caught it.

Derek Taylor
It's not much, but there has to be zero tolerance for hitting an official. Zero.  #Ticats #CFL
?‍? Did It deserve an ejection? How many actually saw it?

CFL Headlines
@CFLHistory  Do you have a website or blog page?
@CFL_Headlines We do not, this way we can recycle tweets from years ago, without anyone knowing.

Josh Smith -3downnation
Brett Maher did not have a punt blocked against Saskatchewan. So the ignominious streak ends at four games. That’s worth at least a Bronx cheer.

?‍? Another reminder to Chris Jones:
Chick, who is now tied for the league lead in sacks with Shawn Lemon, Alex Bazzie and Charleston Hughes with 10, has been a force on defense for the Ticats in almost every game. - Josh Smith

Ed Tait
-lost in the Bombers’ recent run was an accomplishment by Denmark we need to point out here. Denmark has quietly moved into the club’s Top 10 receiving-yardage list, passing Bomber hall of famers Ken ‘Doc’ Nielsen, who played from 1965-70, and Gerald Wilcox, who starred from 1992-97, to move into ninth place.

Next bye - Week 15
Saskatchewan

Edited September 30, 2016 by Mr Dee

[Tracker]

Apparently it is not a secret that the Bombers both sucked and blew in the first half against Calgary, that Johnny Adams suffered a massive brain cramp and the "special teams" were anything but for the first half.

[Brandon]

Quote

A tip I got on Wednesday morning is that two other teams are preparing contract offers for Darian Durant for this off-season.  The Riders are expected to offer Durant a contract with a lower base salary, and laden with incentives (primarily based on starts) while at least one other team will try to entice Durant with a much higher base salary.  Then it's going to be up to him to decide.

I'm guessing Montreal and Toronto?

Wouldn't it be funny if we signed him.... how many Rider fans would freak out if we beat them with massive games by Durant,  Dressler and Smith?

 

[JCon]

I seriously doubt anyone is preparing a contract offer for Durant at this point. Still lots of season left to explore other options and see how Durant does. Even if it is hyperbole,

He's probably just guessing and probably read a fans forum or something. But then again, anything Pedersen says is a joke, meant to elicit a response.

[yogi]

3 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

CFL History
In 1915, the #CFL experimented using the latest technology to keep fans in Hamilton aware of the score in the Grey Cup - The Carrier Pigeon
--The experiment failed, when people in Hamilton kept shooting at the pigeons thinking they were German Biplanes invading Ontario #CFL

What a time to be alive.

[Jpan85]

Big loss for Ottawa looks like Sir Vincent Rogers is out for the year with a ankle injury

[Noeller]

Arguably league top OL....big loss for them.

[iso_55]

Last year their OL  stayed intact. Now., they'll have to do some roster juggling.

[Guest J5V]

Great job as always, Dee. Thanks for digging this stuff up. Loved this little gem ...

"It’s been a while since we lost and so it’s a bad feeling right now. It’s a bad taste I want to get out of my mouth right now. I’m ready to play Edmonton." - Jermarcus Hardrick

[Mr Dee]

3 hours ago, J5V said:

Great job as always, Dee. Thanks for digging this stuff up. Loved this little gem ...

"It’s been a while since we lost and so it’s a bad feeling right now. It’s a bad taste I want to get out of my mouth right now. I’m ready to play Edmonton." - Jermarcus Hardrick

Thanks you very much. I enjoy these tidbits and like to share "in case you missed it"...

[Guest J5V]

You're welcome. Pulling all that data together and feeding us the juicy bits saves us a lot of time and energy. 

[Tracker]

5 minutes ago, J5V said:

You're welcome. Pulling all that data together and feeding us the juicy bits saves us a lot of time and energy. 

And gives us more to kvetch about. Much appreciated.

[bearpants]

22 hours ago, iso_55 said:

Last year their OL  stayed intact. Now., they'll have to do some roster juggling.

Overall health was such a major factor in Ottawa's success last year... they suffered basically no significant injuries and just barely snuck by the Collaros-less Ti-cat in the east final... I think most would agree Hamilton was the best team in the East last year...

[iso_55]

8 hours ago, bearpants said:

Overall health was such a major factor in Ottawa's success last year... they suffered basically no significant injuries and just barely snuck by the Collaros-less Ti-cat in the east final... I think most would agree Hamilton was the best team in the East last year...

Before the Collaros injury it wasn't even close.

[Mr Dee]

THE INSIDERS SAY   (Kirk Penton)
CFL coaches and managers give their anonymous thoughts on what they’re talking about behind closed doors:

-The East is garbage. It’s time for us to get away from having two divisions. Let the best six teams in our league make the playoffs ... 
-The Bombers are for real. They aren’t elite, but they are, as their record shows, an upper-third team ... 
-Something’s wrong in Toronto and Hamilton. Both of them have better talent than their records ... 
-(Kent) Austin should be suspended. If that were a player who had done it, he would have been ejected right away and then suspended. Coaches should be held to a higher standard than players ... 
-If Winnipeg can continue to get turnovers they’ll beat the Eskimos, because the Bombers offence is safe with the football. All things being equal, though, I’m gonna pick (Mike) Reilly over (Matt) Nichols. (Adarius) Bowman and (Derel) Walker are too dominant ... 
-Did you hear Bo Levi Mitchell’s halftime interview? That guy is so (bleeping) cocky. The East crossover might be easier to get to the Grey Cup, but that’s not what I want. Let’s do it in our division. I want to beat Calgary in Calgary ... 
-Chris Williams doesn’t have the production he did earlier on because defences are rolling coverages his way and daring other guys to beat them. They need to move him around more ...

-I was playing back in 1989 when Edmonton won 16 regular-season games. I hope they don’t, but Calgary could run the table and win 16 this year ... 
-I’ve had a couple teammates miss games because of bar altercations. It’s a thin line out there sometimes. If you have alpha male personalities, and you throw in alcohol and women, things can go south in a hurry. A big thing is to travel together, leave early and de-escalate the situation whenever possible ... 
-The game is won in the trenches. That’s how Edmonton beat B.C. ... 
-As coaches, the No. 1 thing we want from officiating is consistency. I would love to be on the line when the league tries to explain to Austin why they called that (illegal procedure penalty) on his centre in a critical situation, but ignore it 99% of the time when my centre and others have done the same thing without being flagged ... 
-(Drew) Willy missed a couple of open receivers, but had only one week with them. He’ll be better. He couldn’t have landed in a better spot. He’ll learn from (Scott) Milanovich and (Ricky) Ray ... 
-(Antoine) Pruneau is pretty good at safety, but Winnipeg has the best one in the league (Taylor Loffler). Pruneau was a liability at SAM. They had to make a move at that spot ... 
-Why are the Argos blocking so many punts (three in last four games)? The players believe the schemes will work and that’s what’s making them work. Their coach has them believing in what they are doing, and the schemes are well thought out ... 

[Noeller]

Calling Loffler the best safety in the league right now seems like a bit of a stretch. I mean, I'd love it as much as anyone if it were true, but really....?

[Mike]

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

Calling Loffler the best safety in the league right now seems like a bit of a stretch. I mean, I'd love it as much as anyone if it were true, but really....?

It very well could be. Him and Josh Bell have to be considered the top two.

[Mr Dee]

How Loffler has handled the starting position at safety is quite remarkable. It's not the minor leagues anymore. Impressive. He has to be considered one of the top safeties in the league. And he's still learning. I think that last Calgary game was a learning experience as well and he will become better because of it. 

Trending upwards..

[Fan Boy]

46 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Calling Loffler the best safety in the league right now seems like a bit of a stretch. I mean, I'd love it as much as anyone if it were true, but really....?

Probably the opinion is being weighted even if only subconsciously by Loffler's rookie status. I saw (what I thought were) some mistakes Saturday but he really has played extremely well.  Of course there is no such thing as a perfect player but he still has room to grow into a terrific player. 

[Noeller]

I'm wondering, too, if it says something about the dearth of quality safeties around the league.....?  But again, I'm a huge Loffler fanboi, moreso with every game...

[Chaosmonkey]

40 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I'm wondering, too, if it says something about the dearth of quality safeties around the league.....?  But again, I'm a huge Loffler fanboi, moreso with every game...

Edam looked good his first year in mtl, then seemed to drop off. He seems serviceable now but a little invisible at times. Hopefully loffler is still trending up and wont plateau anytime soon.

[rebusrankin]

Its nice we have Loffler under contract for two more years.

[MOBomberFan]

1 minute ago, rebusrankin said:

Its nice we have Loffler under contract for two more years.

We do?

[Noeller]

still on his "ELC" so to speak, which is a 3 year deal. Obviously, playing way above his pay grade, which should have Walters doing cartwheels in his office...

[iso_55]

On 9/26/2016 at 11:42 AM, Brandon said:

I'm guessing Montreal and Toronto?

Wouldn't it be funny if we signed him.... how many Rider fans would freak out if we beat them with massive games by Durant,  Dressler and Smith?

 

We just might be. I have a facebook friend who is an ardent Rider fan. He said DD has an online business in Regina that brings him in an extra $30,000 a year in income & even though he could work the business from elsewhere it's tied to Riders merchandising so he thinks DD will re-sign with the Riders. If he goes elsewhere there goes the business.