Bombers Playing Better Football

[17to85]

20 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I thought Montreal played some of their worst football of the season, and we still never really put this game away until the final gun sounded. After watching it a second time, there's nothing about the win that makes me think we'll give Calgary a game on Saturday. I'm not saying we're "for sure" going to lose, but just that nothing about the Montreal win gives me confidence. They've got a lot of work to do if they wanna beat Calgary right now...

Didn't Calgary just lose to that Montreal team? Remember this year in the CFL everyone is terrible.

[Mr Dee]

Discipline, a varied game plan, execution. It could possibly be said that the Bombers ‘helped’ the Alouettes play some of their worst football. Montreal was absolutely in the game after their punt return TD. Can you imagine the game for us if they hadn’t. We moved the ball, better yet, we moved the ball against a defence that had been playing pretty well. But then we changed that. With Streveler in charge and Harris  running amuck.

With Bighill and Taylor and Alexander humming, our defence played a very good game. I’m not taking anything away from them.

Sure, Montreal didn’t have their best game, but I still like to think we had a part in that. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Mr Dee

[Tracker]

48 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I thought Montreal played some of their worst football of the season, and we still never really put this game away until the final gun sounded. After watching it a second time, there's nothing about the win that makes me think we'll give Calgary a game on Saturday. I'm not saying we're "for sure" going to lose, but just that nothing about the Montreal win gives me confidence. They've got a lot of work to do if they wanna beat Calgary right now...

Once you disabuse yourself of the notion that the Bombers are a powerhouse team this year, things become clearer. Bombers are going to struggle to win and will have to be at their best to survive the first round of playoffs.

[M.O.A.B.]

..and once proven wrong, Brock is gone. 😂

[Noeller]

26 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Once you disabuse yourself of the notion that the Bombers are a powerhouse team this year, things become clearer. Bombers are going to struggle to win and will have to be at their best to survive the first round of playoffs.

they WERE, but I don't think they are anymore....

[NorthernSkunk]

52 minutes ago, Noeller said:

they WERE, but I don't think they are anymore....

How could any team be considered a powerhouse using a game managing quarterback ?

[BBlink]

We handled Montreal fairly well. Just like we should have handled them in the first game but decided to not cover their receivers in the 2nd half. With our defense on the same page we made Adams look average.

The only team that actually scares me at all is Hamilton. They will probably win the Grey Cup, if I had to guess. But I'd put our team right up there.

When we're playing our best we are better than Sask and Calgary. But unfortunately with losing our starting qb, losing our starting RB and going into a mini slump, and taking the pedal off against some not so great teams, we likely won't have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. And in football that is huge.

Im just hoping that with our run game and defense forcing turnovers we can get it done in the playoffs. 

[J5V]

9 hours ago, Noeller said:

I thought Montreal played some of their worst football of the season, and we still never really put this game away until the final gun sounded. After watching it a second time, there's nothing about the win that makes me think we'll give Calgary a game on Saturday. I'm not saying we're "for sure" going to lose, but just that nothing about the Montreal win gives me confidence. They've got a lot of work to do if they wanna beat Calgary right now...

Agree, but Calgary also didn't look particularly dominant. The biggest difference as I see it are BLM and his receivers. Those guys can go get the ball. Big, physical receivers and a QB that isn't afraid to throw the ball. As someone was saying, and I don't know what's up with the guy, but Matthews used to be one of those kinds of guys and I wish we still had him or at least someone like him for Streveler to throw to. We need someone to step up into that role. Maybe Bailey and/or Lawler. Get Petermann in there for Demski. Woli needs to eliminate the drops. Adams, well, I don't know what's up with him lately. Maybe he's nicked.

BTW, for all the heat Streveler takes for throwing the odd INT, have you seen some of the INTs Bo throws? For a guy that's been in the league as long as he has he chucks up some real boneheaded throws at times. Our D can feast on that kind of stuff if Bo is too cocky, and he's always cocky.   :-)

I think our best chance of beating the Stumps might be to win at least two out of three phases of the game.

On D I'd like to see us disguise blitz and sometimes show blitz but drop back into coverage more often than not, try to confuse Bo and force mistakes. Stay with the 3-man rush and try to do a blanket-job on their receivers and punish those boys when they do try to catch the ball. We're not going to stop them but maybe we can limit their success. Alexander is going to have to continue to play aggressively, as are Sayles and Taylor. Smash-mouth cold weather football is what we're looking for. Hits hurt more in the cold.

On STs we can't be giving up long TDs and big returns off of punts, kickoffs, or FG attempts. Let's be sure of our tackles, stay disciplined, and wrap guys up. Medlock needs to be money.

On offense, pound Andrew Harris down their throats and utilize Strevs legs too. Keep Calgary guessing and for gawd sake Lapo, let Strevs throw the damn ball and stretch the field. It opens things up.

Keep the penalties down and we can do this. We need to want it more than they do.

 

[Deiter Fan]

9 hours ago, Noeller said:

they WERE, but I don't think they are anymore....

Easy to be a powerhouse when you're beating up on the weak kids. Can't overstate the lesser quality of most of the teams we played in the first half of the season.

[Deiter Fan]

1 hour ago, J5V said:

BTW, for all the heat Streveler takes for throwing the odd INT, have you seen some of the INTs Bo throws?

Same thing could be said for Adams. He made some horrible decisions on the weekend and has 2 extra years in the league under his belt. 

[GCn20]

Our gameplan both on O and D can be a headscratcher sometimes, but realistically it is this exact gameplan that wins cold weather games. I think our execution on Saturday would win in the playoffs. We just need good execution when we get there and we will have a very good chance if the weather is not optimal. 

[J5V]

Don Landry said something interesting while talking about the Bombers run-game against the Als.

"There were some design nuances in those runs, certainly. But most of what Winnipeg accomplished along the ground came from brute force and sheer will and you can be sure that that is the identity they’ll stick with in these two gargantuan games upcoming against Calgary.

BONUS TAKEAWAY: Brandon Alexander looks good at safety."

Yes he does. “We’ll watch the film and see the corrections, but we know we’re still going to have to be better,” said safety Brandon Alexander. “We know the team we’re playing next week has been there before, they’ve been there every single year for the past four-five years now. We understand what’s at stake. We know we’ve got to go in there and play Bomber football.”

Is Calgary's D able to stop our running attack?

Unless Lapo outsmarts himself I don't see how. We lead Calgary in almost every statistics next to passing yards. Some of the more interesting ones are ... Rushing yards per game: 148.9 to 77.9, Forced Fumbles per game: 1.4 to .8, Sacks per game: 2.9 to 2.2.

Further, Andrew Harris has 1261 yards rushing and Ka'Deem Carey has 422. 

Winnipeg is ranked #2 in defense behind only Hamilton. Calgary is #4.

Winnipeg has scored 49 TDs, Calgary 39.

Winnipeg is ranked #1 in rushing TDs. Calgary #7.

Winnipeg is #1 in knockdowns, Calgary #5.

The last game we played against Montreal prompted Ed Tait to say ... "smash-mouth football is what the Bombers do better than any team in the country."

And then ... “We feel like that’s our identity. We’re a physical football team up front,” began guard Pat Neufeld after the win Saturday night. “It’s just something we’re comfortable with… it’s not like we can’t win in other ways, it’s just something we like to do. We were hoping for a little snow on the field, to be honest, but we had a group mentality that we really wanted to run the ball today and effectively do that. We finally got back to that bully ball that we’ve done before.”

 

[M.O.A.B.]

One reason that Stamps rushing yards is down is because of injuries in the RB position.
Jackson, Carey and Williams have suffered injuries. They have recently added Flanders as depth.
Also, Bombers should be wary of Milanovic-Litre, he was very effective for them last game.

Edited October 15, 2019 by M.O.A.B.

[wbbfan]

13 hours ago, J5V said:

Agree, but Calgary also didn't look particularly dominant. The biggest difference as I see it are BLM and his receivers. Those guys can go get the ball. Big, physical receivers and a QB that isn't afraid to throw the ball. As someone was saying, and I don't know what's up with the guy, but Matthews used to be one of those kinds of guys and I wish we still had him or at least someone like him for Streveler to throw to. We need someone to step up into that role. Maybe Bailey and/or Lawler. Get Petermann in there for Demski. Woli needs to eliminate the drops. Adams, well, I don't know what's up with him lately. Maybe he's nicked.

BTW, for all the heat Streveler takes for throwing the odd INT, have you seen some of the INTs Bo throws? For a guy that's been in the league as long as he has he chucks up some real boneheaded throws at times. Our D can feast on that kind of stuff if Bo is too cocky, and he's always cocky.  🙂

I think our best chance of beating the Stumps might be to win at least two out of three phases of the game.

On D I'd like to see us disguise blitz and sometimes show blitz but drop back into coverage more often than not, try to confuse Bo and force mistakes. Stay with the 3-man rush and try to do a blanket-job on their receivers and punish those boys when they do try to catch the ball. We're not going to stop them but maybe we can limit their success. Alexander is going to have to continue to play aggressively, as are Sayles and Taylor. Smash-mouth cold weather football is what we're looking for. Hits hurt more in the cold.

On STs we can't be giving up long TDs and big returns off of punts, kickoffs, or FG attempts. Let's be sure of our tackles, stay disciplined, and wrap guys up. Medlock needs to be money.

On offense, pound Andrew Harris down their throats and utilize Strevs legs too. Keep Calgary guessing and for gawd sake Lapo, let Strevs throw the damn ball and stretch the field. It opens things up.

Keep the penalties down and we can do this. We need to want it more than they do.

 

To an extent, we will continue to see more of this league wide. Defensive end has a wealth of huge athletic freaks and high pedigree pass rushers. Mean while the cfl prototype qb is still the smaller 6' shade over 200 guy. And still we see a lot of 3/4 arm slot passers. That means a low release point vs a very high escape point. You need look no further then the insane amount of KDs that willy has. 

The pass selection stinks though. The 2nd play is rookie stuff too. Chopping feet, indecisive, throwing short and into a pile of bodies. 

[Tracker]

If Streveler plays as well against Calgary as he did against Montreal, I like our chances against the Stamps. They are are not as potent a team as in other years and BLM is not as effective. Its probably going to be trench warfare that decides the game, and the Bombers compare favourably there.

[TBURGESS]

This game is like most before it. The formula is, stop our running game and force Streveler to beat us with his arm. Montreal failed miserably at it an lost.

I wouldn't try to confuse BLM. He's seen everything before and will find holes very quickly. He'll beat the blitz more often than not, so I'd use it sparingly. Beating Calgary is the opposite of beating us. Force them to run the ball or BLM will beat you with his arm.

[BBlink]

For me, when we play Calgary, they are Eric Rogers.  It usually comes down to how much we can limit him.  

[TrueBlue4ever]

15 hours ago, J5V said:

BTW, for all the heat Streveler takes for throwing the odd INT, have you seen some of the INTs Bo throws? For a guy that's been in the league as long as he has he chucks up some real boneheaded throws at times. Our D can feast on that kind of stuff if Bo is too cocky, and he's always cocky.   :-)

 

I can only speak for myself, but if I give Streveler heat for throwing the odd INT, it's more to do with pointing out that it is not always LaPo's fault that the offence doesn't click like so many wish it to be because they so desperately wanted Streveler all along, even when Nichols was healthy and we were winning, and they can't bear to admit they were even a bit wrong. Those who thought the offence was dull (I'd use methodical and predicated on zero turnovers), predictable (hey, we have Andrew Harris, guess what we are going to do? - now try and stop us) and easy to defend against (apparently not given we were 7-2) now need to scapegoat LaPo and make excuses for Streveler when he makes obvious errors.

[Mr Dee]

6 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

it is not always LaPo's fault that the offence doesn't click like so many wish it to be because they so desperately wanted Streveler all along,

No, that’s not the reason. It doesn’t matter to me who is playing QB as long as the QB has a game plan that suits his style. LaPo has Nichols pegged to play a certain style. Fine. As long as it works.

The problem arises when LaPo wants Streveler to play Nichol’s style. That’s not fine.

You can plainly see the difference in the last two games. The Saskatchewan game had a round peg in square hole game plan and failed, whereas this last game Streveler’s style was taken into consideration and the game plan worked.

This should have been evident.

That is why LaPo gets so much heat. Not because everybody always wants the backup QB to play. Remember., Streveler is a weapon. He should be used.

[17to85]

38 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

I can only speak for myself, but if I give Streveler heat for throwing the odd INT, it's more to do with pointing out that it is not always LaPo's fault that the offence doesn't click like so many wish it to be because they so desperately wanted Streveler all along, even when Nichols was healthy and we were winning, and they can't bear to admit they were even a bit wrong. Those who thought the offence was dull (I'd use methodical and predicated on zero turnovers), predictable (hey, we have Andrew Harris, guess what we are going to do? - now try and stop us) and easy to defend against (apparently not given we were 7-2) now need to scapegoat LaPo and make excuses for Streveler when he makes obvious errors.

So how do we explain the slump Nichols had last season where he was throwing INTs all over the field?

It's not about which QB is playing, it's about an offensive coordinator who doesn't always put his players in the best position to succeed. The game plan against Montreal was good, the one against Saskatchewan was awful.

I don't think that it's a coincidence that the best game plans have happened the games Whitehead has been out. Not that I think Whitehead is a poor player, but I think the problem is how Lapo uses him (to a lesser extent with Demski too). Lapo gets cute with these players rather than using them like receivers. That's his biggest flaw. That and being passive to a fault. When he has to keep it simple it's fine. 

[Goalie]

We played ok.. Should have won by 30 but we played ok. Montreal is a solid team. Could say we should have won lots of games by 20 atleast but Lapo

Edited October 15, 2019 by Goalie

[bearpants]

I was happy to see Jenarion Grant get some offensive rep last weekend.... he didn't do a whole lot but when you've got a guy with that skill set... I think you gotta try and take advantage of it...

[Brock Streveler]

On 2019-10-13 at 10:52 AM, rebusrankin said:

Hello McFly,

This is from CFL.ca.

"TORONTO — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats clinched first place in the East Division on Saturday night despite not playing a single down of football.

With the Ticats out on a Week 18 bye, Hamilton just needed the Montreal Alouettes to lose or tie against the Blue Bombers to clinch the division.

The Bombers defeated Alouettes 35-24 at IG Field, meaning Hamilton claimed first in the East and will host the Eastern Final on November 17."

So they did have a chance to finish first.

Remember that even a fool can be thought of as wise until he opens his mouth and removes all doubt.

My mistake, I was under the impression that the Als only had 2 games left after their game against the Bombers.

[WBBFanWest]

Just now, Brock Streveler said:

My mistake, I was under the impression that the Als only had 2 games left after their game against the Bombers.

We know, numbers are hard.

[Old Bomber Fan]

Going back to the initial text in the string, could it be that our receivers most of the time are standing still when receiving the ball whereas many other teams the receiver is actually running to the ball. Prime example was on our TD pass last game, receiver runs to the ball DB over him but able to put body between DB and ball and make the catch. Most other times our receiver is standing still waiting for both the ball and the DB often at the same time. Just my thought