Odds and Sods - Blue Bombers at Hamilton Tiger-Cats

[Fatty Liver]

9 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

I'm not worried about 6 FGs in the game last night. That's 18 points. Enough to win us the game last night. I think it's more the fans' reactions than it is the football clubs. "We should have got more TDs in the red zone" kind of thing. And while both Nichols  and O'Shea acknowledged that, Nichols did bring up a good  point about stalled drives. He said even though every drive doesn't produce a major (my words), having the Bombers move the ball constantly keeps the opposing Offence off the field. He feels sometimes they do play too safe (again, my words), but they don't want to lose points, especially with a kicker like Medlock.

 

I believe Medlock also kicked 6 FG's in the win in Edmonton last year, so if that's what they need to do to win the game, I'm all for it.

[deepsixemtoboyd]

I really like the way we are looking at this point in the season. Things seem to be rounding into stronger and stronger form in all three phases.

 That said, I have two continuing concerns: 

1)  The dink and dunk passes on second and long. It appears that Lapo  is content to play the high percentage pass and then hope that our guy can break a tackle or make a guy miss for the first down. sometimes it even works. Like when Harris, on the penultimate drive, caught a pass at about the 6 yard mark and turned it into a 15 yard gain for a critical, drive sustaining first down.  Still, I'd like to see us run  more routes and throw more passes closer to or the 10 yard+ range in second and long.

2)  I still think Sam Hurl is a weak link. He looked very slow when he was running with the ball. If we had a strong MLB, we'd be a more serious,  consistent threat against the best teams. 

A final minor beef? I'd like to have seen the Blue go to Dom Davis in garbage time when we are up by 20 points.  He needs his reps and we don't need to risk Nichols when the game is won.  Anyone remember 2007? When Kevin Glenn goes down in the eastern final and we have to start a quarterback in the Grey cup game who didn't have a single down under his belt? Same goes for Harris versus Flanders at that stage of a contest. 

 Having said all that, I am – overall – extremely content feeling this afternoon as a fan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 

 

 

 

[Arnold_Palmer]

3 minutes ago, deepsixemtoboyd said:

I really like the way we are looking at this point in the season. Things seem to be rounding into stronger and stronger form in all three phases.

 That said, I have two continuing concerns: 

1)  The dink and dunk passes on second and long. It appears that Lapo  is content to play the high percentage pass and then hope that our guy can break a tackle or make a guy miss for the first down. sometimes it even works. Like when Harris, on the penultimate drive, caught a pass at about the 6 yard mark and turned it into a 15 yard gain for a critical, drive sustaining first down.  Still, I'd like to see us run  more routes and throw more passes closer to or the 10 yard+ range in second and long.

2)  I still think Sam Hurl is a weak link. He looked very slow when he was running with the ball. If we had a strong MLB, we'd be a more serious,  consistent threat against the best teams. 

A final minor beef? I'd like to have seen the Blue go to Dom Davis in garbage time when we are up by 20 points.  He needs his reps and we don't need to risk Nichols when the game is won.  Anyone remember 2007? When Kevin Glenn goes down in the eastern final and we have to start a quarterback in the Grey cup game who didn't have a single down under his belt? Same goes for Harris versus Flanders at that stage of a contest. 

 Having said all that, I am – overall – extremely content feeling this afternoon as a fan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. 

 

 

 

Haha I could not believe that OL almost caught Hurl. That's an OL catching up to a LB! Pretty funny to see. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

21 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Haha I could not believe that OL almost caught Hurl. That's an OL catching up to a LB! Pretty funny to see. 

Bomben is one of the most athletic OL you'll ever see.  He played legit tight end in CIS and for Montreal.

[Mark H.]

5 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Bomben is one of the most athletic OL you'll ever see.  He played legit tight end in CIS and for Montreal.

I remember him catching a TD pass a few years ago. 

[Old Bomber Fan]

not sure of the meaning of the post regarding shorts so will dismiss this one.

As for the other querry, well simply put yes we were on a par with BC last year and played them hard this year...ok I get it but remember they are in a tie for 3rd with us and are a far stretch from Calgary or Edmonton, so I will stand by my point that when we start beating the top tier in the league then I will consider them a top tier team....simple. As for Edmonton having a hard time with Hamilton, I will agree they did but did you forget the injury list that is Edmonton's? I will venture to say ours is a lot less than theirs and while all teams should have replacements capable of stepping up, they seem to have that whereas we are more challenged.

Hey I'm a fan as you are but I guess I might be just a little more objective than others. We are not killing the league in offense and certainly not defense but hey they are playing well in all three phases right now against lower tier teams. Let's just wait and see until after the weekend and then I think we will all have a better idea of what kind of team this is. We know right now for sure, they don't quit and good on them for that.

[SPuDS]

23 hours ago, Old Bomber Fan said:

A well deserved victory for Winnipeg. Still am a little unsettled on the offensive play calling, we seem content to settle for field goals when we get inside their 30. Think there has to be a more distinct effort to salt away the games early. Other than that I thought it was an all round good game. BUT and I don't want to rain on the parade, BUT it was Hamilton and they are not a good team right now. I believe our true test will be when we play Edmonton.  The Sask  games should be victories if they continue on the same path but that means we beat the teams below us and we have to beat the teams above us to be successful. In any event if we continue at this rate, beat the teams below us that is, we will cross over to the east and get a bye I believe. Easy way to the Grey Cup. The team is rounding into forum and if that continues I will gladly take back my words that I have posted here before. Again cautious only because the wins are against low standing teams BUT nonetheless wins.

I don't see it as "settling" for FGs.. its taking what the defense is giving them.. why force a pass into double/triple coverage and risk a pick?  Take the 3.  I know, this is a hard concept to believe but sometimes a defense can actually cause a team to not do what they had intented.. crazy thought huh. 

 

we also scored 3 TDs to go with those 6 FGs so its not like we solely relied on Medlock..   much ado about nothing.

[SPuDS]

21 hours ago, Old Bomber Fan said:

not sure of the meaning of the post regarding shorts so will dismiss this one.

As for the other querry, well simply put yes we were on a par with BC last year and played them hard this year...ok I get it but remember they are in a tie for 3rd with us and are a far stretch from Calgary or Edmonton, so I will stand by my point that when we start beating the top tier in the league then I will consider them a top tier team....simple. As for Edmonton having a hard time with Hamilton, I will agree they did but did you forget the injury list that is Edmonton's? I will venture to say ours is a lot less than theirs and while all teams should have replacements capable of stepping up, they seem to have that whereas we are more challenged.

Hey I'm a fan as you are but I guess I might be just a little more objective than others. We are not killing the league in offense and certainly not defense but hey they are playing well in all three phases right now against lower tier teams. Let's just wait and see until after the weekend and then I think we will all have a better idea of what kind of team this is. We know right now for sure, they don't quit and good on them for that.

actually.. we kinda are, we are second in the league.

[17to85]

21 hours ago, Old Bomber Fan said:

not sure of the meaning of the post regarding shorts so will dismiss this one.

As for the other querry, well simply put yes we were on a par with BC last year and played them hard this year...ok I get it but remember they are in a tie for 3rd with us and are a far stretch from Calgary or Edmonton, so I will stand by my point that when we start beating the top tier in the league then I will consider them a top tier team....simple. As for Edmonton having a hard time with Hamilton, I will agree they did but did you forget the injury list that is Edmonton's? I will venture to say ours is a lot less than theirs and while all teams should have replacements capable of stepping up, they seem to have that whereas we are more challenged.

Hey I'm a fan as you are but I guess I might be just a little more objective than others. We are not killing the league in offense and certainly not defense but hey they are playing well in all three phases right now against lower tier teams. Let's just wait and see until after the weekend and then I think we will all have a better idea of what kind of team this is. We know right now for sure, they don't quit and good on them for that.

So just to be clear here, the Bombers beating Hamilton and Ottawa and Montreal is meaningless but the Esks beating Hamilton twice, Ottawa twice, Montreal once and BC twice makes them a top teir team? Not like they've rolled over all these teams either. 

The fact is that it's early in the CFL season and a win streak now really doesn't mean a lot when one division has been so putrid that everyone is picking up wins against them. Edmonton has beaten BC twice so good for them, but if they start losing to Winnipeg or Calgary their record starts to look a bit shakier doesn't it? And hell Calgary has played the same teams as Winnipeg and the only difference is that one head to head, which admittedly was not a good game for the Bombers but it is hardly the definitive game of the season. Why don't we all just agree that the best teams in the league are the top 4 teams in the west, which it just so happens includes Winnipeg. 

[do or die]

Well, Bombers can beat the teams they are "supposed" to beat.    Next tasks:  establish winning tradition on home turf, and knock of the teams, people think you "can't beat"

This upcoming Edmonton game would be a good starting point.

[HardCoreBlue]

On 8/12/2017 at 9:50 PM, do or die said:

Westerman get his obligatory rouging penalty on failed  2 point  convert

Mr. Westerman, lesson here, if you feel the need to take a roughing penalty, only take it if the ball is on our three. A yard and half penalty!

You would think they would tag something on to the ensuing kick-off when  a roughing the QB penalty occurs so close to the goal line .

Just seems the penalty in this case doesn't fit the crime. (not that I'm complaining)

[johnzo]

A lot of those dinky 2nd and long plays look like checkdown passes to me. Nicholls' eyes are typically downfield until the steamboats run out, then he takes the high-percentage play and dumps it off to Harris or Thorpe, instead of trying to force it downfield.  Those guys can make plays in traffic, so it's not a bad bet.

Sure, it's frustrating when we wind up 3rd-and-3 on a dinky pass, especially when it happens 2-3x in a game. But it's not like Lapo has an xbox controller wired into his QBs brain and he's mashing the X button as soon as the ball is snapped. Nicholls is the guy making the decisions, and given that his pick totals are so low, it seems like he's making pretty good ones. 

It seems like the Bombers philosophy is entirely about winning giveaway/takeaway: DBs play loose looking for picks but also giving up lots of yards, offense plays conservatively to minimize turnovers and leans heavily on our most reliable ball carrier. That means we're not as aggressive as we could be, and we wind up with lots of 4+ FG games from Medlock.  Can be frustrating to watch but you can't argue about our Nicholls/Medlock-era record.

Edited August 14, 2017 by johnzo

[WBBFanWest]

On 8/13/2017 at 2:54 PM, Old Bomber Fan said:

not sure of the meaning of the post regarding shorts so will dismiss this one.

As for the other querry, well simply put yes we were on a par with BC last year and played them hard this year...ok I get it but remember they are in a tie for 3rd with us and are a far stretch from Calgary or Edmonton, so I will stand by my point that when we start beating the top tier in the league then I will consider them a top tier team....simple. As for Edmonton having a hard time with Hamilton, I will agree they did but did you forget the injury list that is Edmonton's? I will venture to say ours is a lot less than theirs and while all teams should have replacements capable of stepping up, they seem to have that whereas we are more challenged.

Hey I'm a fan as you are but I guess I might be just a little more objective than others. We are not killing the league in offense and certainly not defense but hey they are playing well in all three phases right now against lower tier teams. Let's just wait and see until after the weekend and then I think we will all have a better idea of what kind of team this is. We know right now for sure, they don't quit and good on them for that.

I think I'd describe your "fanship" as something other than objective.  You're what I call a "ya-but see" fan.  Every win is greeted with a "ya-but", every loss with a "see".   Here's the thing.  We don't have to "kill the league in offence or in defense.  We just have to win, which we're doing.  So maybe, drop the ya-buts and just enjoy the ride.

[Goalie]

When we finally do win a grey cup..there will be a bunch of "ya buts"