WF - Bombers @ Riders

[SpeedFlex27]

32 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Even with his mobility issues and frequent injuries?  

Well, look who is playing for us now. 

[Brandon]

14 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Well, look who is playing for us now. 

Nothing wrong with ZC's mobility.   His brains are scrambled but it's not like he's running at a glacially slow speed and then falls to the ground like a scared goat as soon as he feels any sort of rush on him. 

 

 

[SpeedFlex27]

10 hours ago, 66 Chevelle said:

I'm well aware of that, hence the word 'propaganda'... some people actually believe that it's legit journalism... 

but having a job component of checking a Bombers' fan forum??? 

Teams do check. It depends upon who it is. 

[SpeedFlex27]

6 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Nothing wrong with ZC's mobility.   His brains are scrambled but it's not like he's running at a glacially slow speed and then falls to the ground like a scared goat as soon as he feels any sort of rush on him. 

 

 

Talking about health & injuries. 

[66 Chevelle]

1 minute ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Teams do check. It depends upon who it is. 

you 'd have to take what you read with a grain of salt... after all, it's an anonymous format which allows people to say just about anything they want, whether it be real or true or not... I guess it would be a way to get some unsolicited fan opinion on everyday happenings...

I did notice a few weeks back that we were having a discussion on the other place and I had made a statement in regards to a topic, one that I thought hadn't been discussed before and the very next day there was an article on 3 down that was almost word for word what I posted... I thought, that's an odd coincidence... 

[66 Chevelle]

5 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Teams do check. It depends upon who it is. 

I would check from time to time as to how many people were actually viewing the forum and at times there would be a crazy number of people checking it out... 10, 20 times the number of people that actually actively participated in discussion... I guess someone found us interesting from time to time, lol...

[Esks1975]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

He was revered in Winnipeg. So, in 86 we had Clements, Hufnagel, former Seattle great  Jim Zorn & a young Tom Muecke on our practice roster. Talk about a stacked line up at qb. 

Not quite like having Matt Dunigan and Damon Allen on your 86 team but okay.

[The Zipp]

5 hours ago, Esks1975 said:

Not quite like having Matt Dunigan and Damon Allen on your 86 team but okay.

Pretty sure at one point the Esks had Dunigan, Allen and Ham all on their team!!   

[Geebrr]

Anyway, this isn't a general talk about the old days. 

**** the Riders 

Edited November 14, 2019 by Geebrr

[TheTecno]

To jump back a bit, I'm with the people who think Fajito & co are faking it.  He's probably perfectly healthy.  Just think of it, he magically starts on Sunday and looks perfect (maybe faking a "slow" start with short passes).  Then he rips open a few spectacular 25 yard runs because our guys think no way is he running injured.  Crowd goes wild.

If they win then they have a great storyline even when HAM smokes them.  If they lose, well Cody "was brave but was too injured".  It's the perfect setup for the org and for their fans and for the CFL.  So if Fajito has no issues on Sunday, assume it was all fake.

Check out the Fajito video on the Regina news which shows him throwing about 7 times.  Note in his warmup when he's bending over he winces when getting back up, but he looks straight at the camera after, like "make sure the cameras caught that!".  Fakery.  If it was the other way around he'd try not to wince, or look for a camera before doing the move and then not do it at all.

SSK was the luckiest team all year: fluke they finished 1st.  They can possibly win if they're super lucky again.  WPG just needs to play Bomber ball to win.  WPG is far and away the better team.  Football gods smiled on us in CGY.  All we need is them to be neutral to Bomber-positive to win.  And a ref that calls holding (down to just Proulx and Kroeker now).

The last 3 years we were the team that needed luck to win a playoff.  This year we are the team that just needs to play clean football.  I'll take that any day!  I hope the WFC is ignoring the whole Fajito "is he / isn't he" thing as it's a big distraction and really irrelevant.  Plan to beat Fajito and you can beat any of the non-Fajitos they may start instead.

[blue_or_die]

9 hours ago, 66 Chevelle said:

now I would agree with that... and he showed that for a brief time earlier this year, but, when he struggled at Hamilton early this year Lapo went right back to the dink and dunk and he wasn't the same for the rest of the year... in my opinion anyway...

I use to think Lapo did what he did because of Nichols... this year I saw that wasn't the case, it's Lapo holding others back... he does the same with the receivers and the way that he uses them...

but, here's the kicker... you willing to pay Nichols north of $450K to keep him and the safe game play that may or may result in playoff success? that's a lot of coin...

I think it's safe to say that Nichols' stock has fallen with the injuries. It's not his fault but he hasn't proven himself worthy of a raise. With the emergence of all these young QBs this year due to all starters getting hurt, supply > demand. One of the reasons Bomber fans were so high on Nichols and why he was paid the way he was is because the QB market was deadsville and we were thrilled to pick up someone who "could start and be decent". I would call ~2016-18 a low point in the CFL QB market, as the old guard (Ray, Burris, Durant) were donezo and the crop was slow to be replaced.

Not the case this offseason. It is going to be a very, very interesting offseason with both the QB and coaching carousel.

Edited November 14, 2019 by blue_or_die

[17to85]

14 minutes ago, blue_or_die said:

It's not his fault but he hasn't proven himself worthy of a raise. With the emergence of all these young QBs this year due to all starters getting hurt, supply > demand.

Before he got hurt the Bombers were cruising to first in the west and Nichols was looking like the only thing that would prevent him from being an MOP candidate was Andrew Harris...

I just do not understand how people can downplay Matt Nichols at this point. All he does for this team is win football games. Yeah it's not pretty and can be boring at times, but that's a Lapo gameplan when you're playing with a lead, which Nichols had more times than not this season. 

[NorthernSkunk]

12 hours ago, 66 Chevelle said:

but I will say that I like the combo attack of Zach and Chris and even said before the game that I was hoping that Lapo had spent the 2 weeks prior to the game putting together a dynamic game plan featuring them both...  I'm not sure that it was actually dynamic but it did work and hope to see more of it this week...

I had even suggested they do that with Nichols earlier in the year before he got hurt...

I suggested it last year.  And got treated very badly. Lol.

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, TheTecno said:

To jump back a bit, I'm with the people who think Fajito & co are faking it.  He's probably perfectly healthy.  Just think of it, he magically starts on Sunday and looks perfect (maybe faking a "slow" start with short passes).  Then he rips open a few spectacular 25 yard runs because our guys think no way is he running injured.  Crowd goes wild.

If they win then they have a great storyline even when HAM smokes them.  If they lose, well Cody "was brave but was too injured".  It's the perfect setup for the org and for their fans and for the CFL.  So if Fajito has no issues on Sunday, assume it was all fake.

Check out the Fajito video on the Regina news which shows him throwing about 7 times.  Note in his warmup when he's bending over he winces when getting back up, but he looks straight at the camera after, like "make sure the cameras caught that!".  Fakery.  If it was the other way around he'd try not to wince, or look for a camera before doing the move and then not do it at all.

SSK was the luckiest team all year: fluke they finished 1st.  They can possibly win if they're super lucky again.  WPG just needs to play Bomber ball to win.  WPG is far and away the better team.  Football gods smiled on us in CGY.  All we need is them to be neutral to Bomber-positive to win.  And a ref that calls holding (down to just Proulx and Kroeker now).

The last 3 years we were the team that needed luck to win a playoff.  This year we are the team that just needs to play clean football.  I'll take that any day!  I hope the WFC is ignoring the whole Fajito "is he / isn't he" thing as it's a big distraction and really irrelevant.  Plan to beat Fajito and you can beat any of the non-Fajitos they may start instead.

Like I said, this is to good to be true. Ask yourself.... a  closed practice yet the Regina media's there reporting everything like it's totally open. Don't you find that strange? If MOS closed practice would he allow the media in Winnipeg to watch, tweet & take videos of his supposed injured qb throwing? Yet there they were, reporters tweeting first that Fajardo hasn't thrown the first 30 mins of practice. Oh, he's throwing now... 5 yards.... Now he's playing catch with his receivers & he's waving them back to 15 yards while excited Bomber fans are giving us their medical prognosis here that he's finished... Like ****... The Riders & their lapdog media in Regina. If it's a closed practice then why are the media allowwd to see it in the first place & using their phones to show Fajardo throwing?? They are drawing us & the Bombers in. Fake news, people. He'll play ay 100% on Sunday running & throwing like there's nothing wrong & we'll all go WTH? If Fajardo is fine on Sunday & the Riders were trying to set us up then there should be fines, suspensions & firings by the league for a serious lack of integrity by the Riders. Like **** that.  I don't trust those Rider bastards. Team or media. 

[Mr Dee]

September 6th 2017.

Fake injuries? Nah, a professional football team would never do that...

[Wideleft]

So I took a little time to check the box scores of the 3 Wpg-SSK games and I really don't care if Fajardo plays or at what percentage of 110% he will be able to play, as long as the Bombers win the turnover battle.

The Bombers won T.O.P. in every game:

• 33:16/26:44  L
• 34:26/25:34  W
• 30:16/29:44 L
• 97:58/82:02  Total. (We had the ball an entire quarter more, over 3 games).

Total offense for all 3 games showed a difference of just 14 yards (1058/1072)

• 347/370
• 341/303
• 370/399

So how did we lose 2 of 3?  Labour Day was just a blown game, but even with Streveler, it could be argued that our offense was more solid based on the TOP.  Streveler threw interceptions on the Wpg40 and the SK35.  Fajardo threw picks on the Wpg12 and Wpg29, so both teams gave up good opportunities.  No lost fumbles that game.

Game 2's win was clean and dominant for Winnipeg's offense.  Fajardo threw a pick at the Wpg14 and fumbled on the S40.  TOP was not close.

Game 3's loss:  All I'm going to say is Streveler threw picks on the SK17, the SK goal line and fumbled at the SK 29.  SK did not turn over the ball that game.

Even with Streveler (and without Harris for 2 of 3) we controlled the clock.  Just some unfortunate and untimely TO's did the Bombers in.  Fajardo (while better than I think we give him credit for) and the SK offense do not strike a lot of fear in me.

 

Edited November 14, 2019 by Wideleft

[SpeedFlex27]

3 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

September 6th 2017.

Fake injuries? Nah, a professional football team would never do that...

If a team tried to fake injuries in the NFL, as much as I think he's a dink, but Roger Goodell would paste that team to his wall. There'd be an investigation as well as suspensions. Look what he did to the Saints years ago in particular Sean Payton & Greg Williams with Bountygate. Williams still can't get a HC job in the NFL. Then Deflategate with the Pats. Suspended Tom Brady for 6 games. But teams up here can do this kind of **** because our gutless Commissioner just keeps telling us how good the CFL is while excitedly telling us about their next combine in Zaire. 

[Booch]

The Bomber org doesn't care about any news coming out of Regina, speculation, video..game playing..none of it...doesn't matter to the players or coaching staff...they are game planning for the Rider's at their healtiest, and for what they do, and any possible tweaks that they may employ..straight up and simple...regardless of who is in, they have a plan so speculate away but it doesn't matter...at this point in season teams are pretty much what they are and not much changes, tho we kinda went against the grain in the WSF and changed a lot...I don't see the Rider's doing that as I don't think their staff is experienced enough, and good enough to implement big changes, and are kind of sitting there for most part of the year thinking they are the cats meow and are top notch as it is...and this is a good thing

We have basically been paying CGY and SSK exclusively the last month and a bit so have lots of film..have been studying them a lot, and have been working on stuff in practices for a while now focusing soley on those 2 teams, because regardless of how the season panned out the last month we knew we were basically going to have to play one or the other, and most likely both, so we will be prepared, and it showed in step one dismantling BLM and Whiney ****

Sunday will be much of the same with a similar outcome of dismantling Goofy **** and the Clown show tries to keep in check there....I bet 100 percent you will see those arsebags chirping..crossing midfield in warm-ups and trying to instigate pre-game BS like in LDC and BB, and we will once again ignore it and go about our business, and take em out back to the woodshed and handle business

[17to85]

if the bombers D can make Bo Levi Mitchell look like **** they can easily handle whatever qb the riders trot out there. 

[JCon]

3 Days, 6 hours. 

[blue_or_die]

58 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Before he got hurt the Bombers were cruising to first in the west and Nichols was looking like the only thing that would prevent him from being an MOP candidate was Andrew Harris...

I just do not understand how people can downplay Matt Nichols at this point. All he does for this team is win football games. Yeah it's not pretty and can be boring at times, but that's a Lapo gameplan when you're playing with a lead, which Nichols had more times than not this season. 

Well I certainly do not downplay Nichols.

What I am looking at is the reality, that Nichols' resume is battered with injuries that prevented him from achieving this elusive MOP status (for multiple years), and we have an market correction in the QB department that natrually drives down his value. It's just economics at this point.

[JCon]

O’LEARY: FOR COLLAROS, CHANGE HAS BECOME CONSTANT

https://www.cfl.ca/2019/11/14/oleary-collaros-change-become-constant/

The CFL is a league of quirks, so maybe Zach Collaros’ season shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.

But to see him in-person in Winnipeg on Wednesday, standing in front of the backdrop for his third team of the season, needing a win against his first team of the season to get to the Grey Cup, it hits home. This kind of thing doesn’t happen very often. Not even in this league. But…

“These things happen,” Collaros, proof of the statement, said to a large group of reporters after his team’s practice had wrapped up.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned in this league it’s that things change quickly.”

After this season, Collaros could give TED Talks on change.

He’s gone from the Riders’ Week 1 starter to the six-game injured list, to the Argos and then to the Bombers, landing in Winnipeg with a minute to spare on trade deadline day. When Chris Streveler hurt his foot on Oct. 19 against Calgary, Collaros’ redemption story was set in motion.

Collaros and the Bombers hope that this isn’t the final chapter, that there’s one more to be written after Sunday’s Western Final. He’ll have been a Bomber for 39 days when he’ll go back to where his season started, up against the Roughriders with a berth in the Grey Cup on the line.

Arguably the fiercest rivalry in the CFL, Sunday’s game will mark the first time that the Bombers and Riders have met in the Western Final since 1972.

His numbers weren’t overwhelming in the Bombers’ win over Calgary in the Western Semi Final — he made 11 of 21 passes for 193 yards — but he took care of a ball that was basically an oversized ice cube and made the big plays when he had to. His 71-yard touchdown pass to Darvin Adams early in the fourth quarter shifted the game in the Bombers’ favour, part of the team out-scoring Calgary 27-0 in the second half.

Streveler played a big part in that comfortable lead, rushing 13 times from behind centre for 82 yards and a touchdown. They’re a centaur-like pairing, with Streveler’s legs powering one half of the offence and Collaros’ arm providing the aerial attack.

“It makes it hard for defences, for sure,” Collaros said of their pairing.

“It allows your coaching staff to have even more plays to attack a defence, with the threat that Chris brings. I’m sure it makes life difficult for defensive coordinators. He really is a special talent, a really tough kid.”

Every once in a while in the seven to eight minutes he spoke with reporters on Wednesday, a reminder of Collaros’ newness in Winnipeg would pop up. He didn’t want to say what the win over Calgary meant to the franchise because, honestly, he wasn’t sure. He admitted that he’s still working on timing with his teammates and that cadences are improving by the day.

“That’s probably been the most difficult part is I’ve been different places with different cadences and we’re so hardwired to use those. Sometimes we get out there and I say something and everyone looks at me (strangely),” he said.

“That’s probably been the toughest part is the cadence thing. It’s so hardwired in my brain to use other things.”

Collaros generally tries to steer away from controversial topics in these settings. When he was traded to Toronto he didn’t want to go into great detail about what had happened in Saskatchewan, that the Riders were so confident in Fajardo that they could go all-in on him two months into the season.

Coming off of his first playoff win since the 2014 Eastern Final, Collaros admitted that there was something a little extra special for him in returning to Saskatchewan this week. His teammate, D-lineman Willie Jefferson, was more detailed in his assessment of it.

“It’s very special. It’s a big game for him,” he said.

“Me knowing Zach, I know he’s going to say he’s not worried about it. He’s going to be locked in and focused on what he has to do to win this game for the team.

“It’s not a me thing for him. It’s a we thing for us.”

As good as this chapter is in the Bombers story, it could get even better. If the Bombers and Tiger-Cats win their respective division Finals on Sunday, Collaros would get to face the team that helped him launch his career — and ultimately traded him two and a half years later — with a Grey Cup on the line.

Jefferson laughed as he thought about the possibilities for his quarterback.

“Only in the CFL can you start for a team at the beginning of the season, get traded and then get traded to the team that you played for in the Semi-Final last year.

“It can only be done in one league, in this league.”

[Booch]

Another telling indicator of who is locked in and is going to be the hammer and not the nail is the fact we continue to practice outdoors, Rider's indoors...

[66 Chevelle]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Before he got hurt the Bombers were cruising to first in the west and Nichols was looking like the only thing that would prevent him from being an MOP candidate was Andrew Harris...

I just do not understand how people can downplay Matt Nichols at this point. All he does for this team is win football games. Yeah it's not pretty and can be boring at times, but that's a Lapo gameplan when you're playing with a lead, which Nichols had more times than not this season. 

 

you saw this, right?

"yeah, we'll leave out the part about how 7 of the 9 games (6 of his 7 wins) he played this year were against 4 teams that finished as the bottom 2 teams in each division, or that none of those 4 teams finished over .500 (the best was Edmonton who was 8-10, then BC 5-13, TOR 4-14, OTT 3-15),  and those 4 teams finished 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th in points scored this year, or that 3 of the 4 (with a combined record of 12-42) were eliminated from post season play half way thru the season...

the rest of the season included 8 of 9 games against the 4 teams that finished 1 and 2 in each division and had a combined record of 50-22 as opposed to 20-52 like the teams Nichols played... we'll keep that as our secret...

but yeah, he really smoked them this year... lol..."

I seriously doubt that he would have had similar success in the second half of the season... and that's not necessarily a knock against Nichols, just reality... I don't understand how people can believe that what he did this year was that significant...

•  

[SpeedFlex27]

12 minutes ago, Booch said:

Another telling indicator of who is locked in and is going to be the hammer and not the nail is the fact we continue to practice outdoors, Rider's indoors...

Rider fan posted on another CFL site that after practice yesterday he saw Fajardo was throwing deep balls with no difficulty. He wasn't supposed to throw at all yesterday, he said. If it was a closed practice, then why was he there? Just backs up my feeling that Fajardo's oblique injury is fake news. Funny how he waited until after practice to do it.