Breathe...

[IC Khari]

I also want to see Dressler in this offence for more than 5 minutes this season, which is all we've seen because of injury ...

[Old Bomber Fan]

I have watched Willy for 2 seasons now and what I'm seeing is not good. He came into the starting position and was quick with his decisions, precise with his throws, mixed his throw between bullets (as much as he can) and touch passes. Since that time and up to Friday night, he has become hesitant, his throws never or seldom seem to catch the receiver in full flight but standing still instead or overthrowing them by 5 yards or more most of the time, and he has no touch with the football. He has become unsure of what to do, who to throw it to and his reads are terrible. Now with that said the offense he has been given was to have been imaginative and dynamic (those are not my words but MOS and LaPo) but in fact was nowhere close to that.

Now with that said I'm sure we are going to hear the naysayers say it was only the first game and with a new offense etc etc. Well we spent an entire mini camp with only the offense on the field. We have had two exhibition games in which in my opinion our offense went downhill, and an entire training camp, not unlike the other teams in the CFL who have had the EXACT same amount of time to "gel" and what do we get? We get a second rate offense not unlike that which we have seen in the past number of years. There really is no excuse in saying we have a new OC or we have a new offensive game plan; many of the other teams have the same with several with new OCs as well. Did they flounder? Perhaps but nothing like what we saw on Friday.

I have stated earlier in another thread that I would be satisfied if our offense got 300+ yards in this game and it was entertaining and close regardless of whether we win or lose. Well they did get 303 in total yards however the other two aspects were sorely missing. And when one looks at the 4th quarter stats and deducts them from the totals, it was yet again another pitiful performance no matter what way you want to look at it.

Now many will start to find reasons (I'll say excuses) as to why the offense didn't play well. They will say we lost Dressler in the 1st quarter; yes we did but we didn't utilize Smith at all for the remainder of the game - why? They will say Willy didn't have much time to make decisions before he throws; really- he had much more time than Glenn only difference is Glenn can make a decision a lot faster that Willy. Notice Glenn wasn't dancing in the pocket whereas Willy was doing the polka on most down. They will say the receivers didn't run the correct routes - perhaps on occasion that might have been the case but if the receiver did run the wrong route what is wrong with checking down to the other receivers or the running back out of the backfield if in fact he did that rather than being stuck in the blocking scheme. And then there will some who will say the line didn't do a good job. Fair statement maybe they didn't but I would offer that they gave Willy as much time as Glenn had and the results speak for themselves.

Finally I couldn't help but notice that when Montreal was on offense, other than those reverses and running plays, Glenn threw the ball for 8-10 yards or more most of the time. Willy threw it for 3-5 yards in plays designed to take the receiver to a place on the field where there were few teammates to block for him. In fact on two plays I believe in the first quarter they ran the wide receiver screen on two consecutive plays. The first went well as there were 3 other receivers their to block and for the most part did their jobs. However on the second, there were only 2 receivers and they didn't block well against 4 defenders.

What does all this say: well in my humble opinion it says LaPo hasn't learned a lot about offense in his what 2+ years on TV; it says we have a QB who has lost HIS confidence; it says our QB cannot complete, at least on a consistent basis, any passes 15 yards or longer; and last but not least, little has changed from last year or subsequent years. Unless something drastic changes the defense will be blamed for inflated opposition numbers even though they will spend 2/3 or the game on the field; the team will continue to lack excitement, and the loyal season ticket holders will continue to become disillusioned and eventually give up their seats in the stadium which will mean there will be less revenue and less revenue leads to you know what!

So here's hoping that I am totally wrong in my observations. I hope they will turn this around. I hope that the fan base will return and this franchise will return to the proud dynamic one is once was. There are efforts in my opinion that are being made to return it to that status however the product on the field, be it the players or the coaches are hindering any major movement forward. As I said  here's hoping!

Sorry for the long rant.

 

[iso_55]

Rant accepted! I know your frustration as we all have been through some dismal seasons. Your take on Willy is pretty good. No doubt the guy has lost his confidence & looks to be panicking. I think he should have been taken out in the third quarter & replaced by Nicholls for a couple of series so he could have had the opportunity to get his bearings back. That didn't happen & I believe that Willy's problems are going to take down this team & Mike O'Shea with it.

[do or die]

Breathing is ok....the key is not to inhale.....

[Floyd]

I think a very good comparison is Calgary...  next week will show us who the bombers really are.

Mitchell has an awful OL, receivers legit running the wrong routes, pretty solid RBs, new QB coach...  

Calgary very much have the same excuses as the bombers.  

BC actually has more excuses than us...  but we don't play them until October

[northof60]

The guy I want to see more of is Jace Davis. I think he had 83 yards. 

How did Macho Harris look? Was he out of position? Did he miss tackles? 

Any word on Johnny Adams?

[Tracker]

1 minute ago, northof60 said:

The guy I want to see more of is Jace Davis. I think he had 83 yards. 

How did Macho Harris look? Was he out of position? Did he miss tackles? 

Any word on Johnny Adams?

Harris wasn't the worst defensive player, but he was often late and ought to have been penalized for an out of bounds hit on a Montreal receiver.

[wbbfan]

On 6/25/2016 at 7:57 AM, Noeller said:

Even knowing full well it'll likely get derailed by crazy people, I'm going to do my best to create a little sanctuary for those willing to take a couple breaths and relax...

 

Bombers were pretty awful on offense for the first 3/4 of this game. No getting around that. OL wasn't good enough, and Drew Willy will be the first to tell you he didn't have a good game. Missing weapons on O, and neither Harris nor Dressler were 100% to begin with. 

On the upside, Jace Davis looked good in spots and Darvin Adams was actually showing some heart, coming back to the ball a couple times. 

Harris showed a lotta hustle and heart...he cared right to the bitter end.

McDuffie had a good night on returns and was really close to busting a couple...that's only going to get better.

Thought kick cover units were outstanding last night...ton of hustle all night.

D was really solid for the most part. Another outstanding effort from Chris Randle. #RandleIsland indeed.

Thought Bruce Johnson got exposed a couple times last night...without knowing coverages and what not, it's hard to tell who's responsible for what, but it APPEARED like he was at fault on two early big plays...

Was pleasantly surprised by both Fogg and Posey. Seemed to me like both had solid nights...

DL came as advertised...3/4 pieces had a really good night. Still not 100% sold on the new end...

 

Anyone else surprised by the overall lack of penalties on the night? Distinct lack of PI calls, overall, was really surprising to me. Really felt like the refs were "letting 'em play" last night.....

 

Bottom line, it's a long season. We all knew it'd take time for all the new pieces to come together, especially with a whole new offense to learn. I'd rather have some stumbles now, and slowly put it all together as we go...hopefully clicking by Labour Day. 

 

I'll be at McMahon next weekend for Game 2 and I'm expecting a MUCH better game from the O....

Mcduffie showed alot. Even more then in camp. He needs to become more secure with his hands though. Id take him over stoudemire 100 times out of 100.

[Goalie]

Why breathe when I can just panic and go bananas and bat crap crazy until next week. 

You know what is interesting about this forum tho.Some/Quite a few people only show up after a loss. They are legit nowhere to be found after a win. Odd.  

Just need a win next week and you will see. 

[White Out]

2 hours ago, Goalie said:

Why breathe when I can just panic and go bananas and bat crap crazy until next week. 

You know what is interesting about this forum tho.Some/Quite a few people only show up after a loss. They are legit nowhere to be found after a win. Odd.  

Just need a win next week and you will see. 

I think you post this crap at least once per season. It's old, garbage, and adds nothing to the conversation. 

[TBURGESS]

There are also a group that only shows up after a win, generally to shout 'I told you so'.

[do or die]

There is also a group thinking "plague on both their houses"

[White Out]

1 hour ago, TBURGESS said:

There are also a group that only shows up after a win, generally to shout 'I told you so'.

Welcome to sports Internet forums. There's always more to talk about and higher emotions after losses. That's the case from riderfans.com to Calgary puck to hf boards. 

[bearpants]

22 hours ago, Old Bomber Fan said:

I have stated earlier in another thread that I would be satisfied if our offense got 300+ yards in this game and it was entertaining and close regardless of whether we win or lose. Well they did get 303 in total yards however the other two aspects were sorely missing. And when one looks at the 4th quarter stats and deducts them from the totals, it was yet again another pitiful performance no matter what way you want to look at it.

 

A lot of your post was well on point... some of it a little crazy ... I don't want to respond to everything you said, I just want to clarify that Willy had 303 passing yards... the team had 411 total yards of offense...

Otherwise, good post...

[17to85]

12 hours ago, White Out said:

I think you post this crap at least once per season. It's old, garbage, and adds nothing to the conversation. 

[White Out]

1 minute ago, 17to85 said:

i detect a little bit of bitterness coming from one of our sites biggest Willy cheerleaders.

[HardCoreBlue]

3 minutes ago, White Out said:

i detect a little bit of bitterness coming from one of our sites biggest Willy cheerleaders.

No and I could be wrong, but I think he's pointing out the hypocrisy of your statement directed at Goalie. We're all hypocrites at varying degrees with some demonstrating it more than others I find.

[IC Khari]

I'm not a hypocrite, I say one thing about a subject and reserve the right to change my mind about it later

[17to85]

58 minutes ago, White Out said:

i detect a little bit of bitterness coming from one of our sites biggest Willy cheerleaders.

No simply pointing out that you could use one of those things in the picture there when you start throwing out statements like you made. 

[do or die]

In the interests of not being too negative and giving it a "fair shake":

Attributing some of Willy's performance to new O system, new guys around him and not playing meaningful minutes, since middle of last year....is fair ball and not necessarily cheerleading.....  

It is also more than fair to expect Willy to be much more effective and productive on Friday.   If this does not happen, asking pretty hard questions is fair ball, as well.

[Guest J5V]

[Dragon37]

On June 25, 2016 at 8:27 AM, Noeller said:

I'll never give up on a team this early, especially after seeing what the Lions did in 2011.....

 

The difference between the 2011 Lions and Winnipeg since 2009 is that they actually had a decent roster. They were a good team playing like crap but managed to wake up. Winnipeg on the other hand does not have the same caliber of players and lacks any significant coaching.

[Dragon37]

On June 26, 2016 at 2:09 AM, IC Khari said:

I also want to see Dressler in this offence for more than 5 minutes this season, which is all we've seen because of injury ...

It's pretty hard to stay healthy when you get speared in the side of the head.

[Goalie]

They gotta do more to eliminate these head shots however... Dressler is at fault on this one as much as the als player if not more since dressler pretty much initiated the helmet to helmet contact 

[WBBFanWest]

13 minutes ago, Goalie said:

They gotta do more to eliminate these head shots however... Dressler is at fault on this one as much as the als player if not more since dressler pretty much initiated the helmet to helmet contact 

^ This.  I've watched the replay a couple of times now and from what I can see, it was Dressler that dropped his shoulder and put the side of his helmet in line with the Al's defender.   Don't really think you can fault the DB on that play.  Just one of those times when two guys moving at full speed collide head to head.