Odds and Sods - Game 3 - Bombers at TigerCats

[pigseye]

Good to see some progress in their game, they needed the win and somehow pulled it out, that's a good sign. And Drew Willy proved that he can beat the blitz, welcome back Drew.

[do or die]

Plenty of things to clean up....but the Bombers were much more physical and showed some grit.    Always somewhat more forgiving, when I see that.....

[BaconNBigBlue]

This is more of what I expect from a team.  The ability to actually move the ball down field.  The constant 2 and outs was getting to be too routine for the Bombers.  It gives me hope for the future.

 

[Root]

As opposed to the Ticats Lapo's offense played a fairly clean game - although it was very clear he didn't trust Willy to throw the long ball - and his lack of trust was justified by the experience of the first 2 games. (which was extremely poor)

The dink 'n dunk stuff worked fairly well although I was impressed by the Ticats tight coverage of our short game. Of course, when their d-coordinator realized Willy was restricted in going deep - it was easy to re-set coverages.

Couple blips with ball-handling and Willy fumbling up deep in Hamilton territory but it was hot and humid and perhaps his hand couldn't feel the ball>

[The Unknown Poster]

Thought Lapo called a good game.  Thought Hall's D was much more aggressive and it paid off.  Willy continues to get a bit better.  Hopefully he gets his old form back.  Wont be comfortable in a turn around until after next week's game....

[17to85]

You know for all the good the D did I still have concerns about them. The coverage is so soft. Masoli was panicked a few times by pressure and made poor throws but a more calm veteran might make them pay, that's what BLM did in Calgary last week. Really need to see them tighten up on the back end. Offense showed some real progress though, especially considering that Hamilton has a pretty stout defence. 

[Noeller]

I'm sick of seeing receivers being given a massive cushion and allowed to just sit at the first down marker with nobody anywhere near them. Drives me bonkers. 

Oh and @Root the CJOB pre-game show is BY FAR the best one....their post game show is only marred by the awful phone-in portion, which would be better served as more interviews from the locker room or at least post-game talk from people who actually know what the hell they're talking about. CJOBs coverage of the Bombers is fantastic, and even though I know they won't keep the rights when the contract is up, I sincerely wish they could...their product right now is fantastic.

[rebusrankin]

One of the reasons, I don't want the Bombers on 1290 is that Westwood is awful.

[Arnold_Palmer]

My thoughts based on last nights win..

 

-Loved Lapo's game plan. People complain about the dink and dunk but it was important to get into a rhythm early and move the ball, and most importantly.. Keep our defense off the field. Thought we did a nice job of getting our play makers the ball. Smith on a shovel pass, Harris on a swing pass, Davis on a hook. Head and shoulders more creative then our Offence in the past.

-Drew Willy. I thought he was effective. Nearly 300 yards passing, 1 TD (NOT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER!!) Completed 75 percent of his passes. Now I know the game plan was simple but I thought considering how disasterous his career has been against Hamilton and how aggressive their defense plays I thought Willy did a good job of getting the ball out quickly. He looked a lot more confident in the pocket too. Now there's still accuracy issues where the ball has been either off the mark, or under/over thrown but this is the most comfortable and efficient i've seen Willy look since 2015's game opener. 

-Andrew Harris. Continues to be worth the big money. The guy NEEDS to be involved in our offense. Great safety valve for Willy in the passing game, and had a couple of huge runs in the fourth quarter to take some time off the clock. He has come as advertised.

-Receiving core is an area of strength. Davis and Adams continue to impress. Smith and Willy finally looked to develop some chemistry. I can honestly see Smith catching a 100 balls this season. He's so good in the short game. Dressler looked a little rusty but it's to be expected.

-O-line effort was much better. Only gave up two sacks against an aggressive Hamilton defense. Goosen was a noticeable weak spot though.

-Pressure? I thought the Bombers did a great job of getting to Masoli. Front four played MUCH better, and a lot of creative blitzes made Masoli's life miserable.

Leggett- What can you say. The guy is a baller. He just has a knack for being in the right spot, his defensive instincts are so good. Two INT, one pick six, one sack, and 5 tackles. Game changing type of player.

-Secondary.  I thought the secondary struggled a little. I was surprised to see Randle get beaten so badly on that dropped end zone pass to Underwood. Owens looked good last night, the guy can still ball. Fantuz and Tasker are also extremely good.

-Special teams. Thought we did a great job at containing Banks minus the one missed field goal, Mcduffie continues to impress, I think he'll return one to the house before too long. Waggoner continues to impress on the teams, and a heads up play by Macho on the kick off.

-O'shea. Finally! One of his best coached games since joining the Bombers. Seems like we always come out short on the challenges but we actually went 2/2 last night. Huge monkey off his back. The whole team looked hungry and focused last night.  Good Job coach! 

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Thought Lapo called a good game.  Thought Hall's D was much more aggressive and it paid off.  Willy continues to get a bit better.  Hopefully he gets his old form back.  Wont be comfortable in a turn around until after next week's game....

One of plops better called games. Really adjusted very well. Being up in the booth seems to help a lot. Usually when an offense struggles the HC will pull the OC out of the booth. 

Think he needs to use the SB sweep to smith more selectively. I think we run it too much so far.

Jace davis, has he been good or what? Id say our best wr in all three games so far. 

[Jimmy Pop]

17 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

My thoughts based on last nights win..

 

-Loved Lapo's game plan. People complain about the dink and dunk but it was important to get into a rhythm early and move the ball, and most importantly.. Keep our defense off the field. Thought we did a nice job of getting our play makers the ball. Smith on a shovel pass, Harris on a swing pass, Davis on a hook. Head and shoulders more creative then our Offence in the past.

-Drew Willy. I thought he was effective. Nearly 300 yards passing, 1 TD (NOT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER!!) Completed 75 percent of his passes. Now I know the game plan was simple but I thought considering how disasterous his career has been against Hamilton and how aggressive their defense plays I thought Willy did a good job of getting the ball out quickly. He looked a lot more confident in the pocket too. Now there's still accuracy issues where the ball has been either off the mark, or under/over thrown but this is the most comfortable and efficient i've seen Willy look since 2015's game opener. 

-Andrew Harris. Continues to be worth the big money. The guy NEEDS to be involved in our offense. Great safety valve for Willy in the passing game, and had a couple of huge runs in the fourth quarter to take some time off the clock. He has come as advertised.

-Receiving core is an area of strength. Davis and Adams continue to impress. Smith and Willy finally looked to develop some chemistry. I can honestly see Smith catching a 100 balls this season. He's so good in the short game. Dressler looked a little rusty but it's to be expected.

-O-line effort was much better. Only gave up two sacks against an aggressive Hamilton defense. Goosen was a noticeable weak spot though.

-Pressure? I thought the Bombers did a great job of getting to Masoli. Front four played MUCH better, and a lot of creative blitzes made Masoli's life miserable.

Leggett- What can you say. The guy is a baller. He just has a knack for being in the right spot, his defensive instincts are so good. Two INT, one pick six, one sack, and 5 tackles. Game changing type of player.

-Secondary.  I thought the secondary struggled a little. I was surprised to see Randle get beaten so badly on that dropped end zone pass to Underwood. Owens looked good last night, the guy can still ball. Fantuz and Tasker are also extremely good.

-Special teams. Thought we did a great job at containing Banks minus the one missed field goal, Mcduffie continues to impress, I think he'll return one to the house before too long. Waggoner continues to impress on the teams, and a heads up play by Macho on the kick off.

-O'shea. Finally! One of his best coached games since joining the Bombers. Seems like we always come out short on the challenges but we actually went 2/2 last night. Huge monkey off his back. The whole team looked hungry and focused last night.  Good Job coach! 

Biggest surprise of the game for me was how little Simoni Lawrence's name was mentioned.  I don't know if that was more us working away from him, or just an off game on his part - maybe combination of the two.   But with all that TOP and yardage - only 4 tackles for SL.

Leggett was a difference maker, without a doubt.  Awesome to see. 

[gcdrought]

I respect comments about what the team could have done better.  But you find that in any close CFL win, and I'm sure the BB coaches and players will focus on those things in practice.  I just think it was an impressive win, no matter what.  Hamilton lost badly last week, they were at home and you know they were highly motivated.  Right from the opening whistle the Bombers showed they would be in the game to the end.  And they shook off a 121 yard missed field goal return that would have made many teams say 'here we go again'.  I'm not suggesting that one win proved the BB can hang with the best.  But it showed they could fight and be competitive and that's a major step forward.  I think they deserve full credit.

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

I'm sick of seeing receivers being given a massive cushion and allowed to just sit at the first down marker with nobody anywhere near them. Drives me bonkers. 

Oh and @Root the CJOB pre-game show is BY FAR the best one....their post game show is only marred by the awful phone-in portion, which would be better served as more interviews from the locker room or at least post-game talk from people who actually know what the hell they're talking about. CJOBs coverage of the Bombers is fantastic, and even though I know they won't keep the rights when the contract is up, I sincerely wish they could...their product right now is fantastic.

I've tried to listen to the TSN broadcast a couple of times but just can't stand it.  The tone of their show is confrontational were every sentence is spat out as some profound statement,  whereas the tone Bob Irving sets is conversational.  Sure going to miss Bob when he's gone.

[17to85]

3 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I've tried to listen to the TSN broadcast a couple of times but just can't stand it.  The tone of their show is confrontational were every sentence is spat out as some profound statement,  whereas the tone Bob Irving sets is conversational.  Sure going to miss Bob when he's gone.

Yeah Bob is a ******* legend. Just a real pro who is great at his job. 

[Tracker]

The biggest, most pleasant surprise was the play of the offensive line. LaPolice called a great game plan and Willy was able to execute it but I still have doubts about whether he will develop into one of the top QBs in the league. Despite all the high-fiving, the Bombers scraped by a team that looked disorganized and undewhelming in performance. Masoli looked like a rookie backup, and the real test will come next game.

[bearpants]

2 minutes ago, tracker said:

The biggest, most pleasant surprise was the play of the offensive line. LaPolice called a great game plan and Willy was able to execute it but I still have doubts about whether he will develop into one of the top QBs in the league. Despite all the high-fiving, the Bombers scraped by a team that looked disorganized and undewhelming in performance. Masoli looked like a rookie backup, and the real test will come next game.

He'll be 30 years old by the end of the season... I'm not sure how much more he can develop... If we've seen the best of him I think we know we won't have a hall of famer... but if we can get the best of him most nights... I believe we have a guy who is good enough to lead us to a championship...

[Rich]

37 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I've tried to listen to the TSN broadcast a couple of times but just can't stand it.  The tone of their show is confrontational were every sentence is spat out as some profound statement,  whereas the tone Bob Irving sets is conversational.  Sure going to miss Bob when he's gone.

I can't listen to CJOB due to the sheer number of commercials they air.  I've pretty much gone to TSN 1290 pre and post game with the exception of going back to CJOB after the game to listen to the coaches interview.

Bob is and surely will be missed.

[Arnold_Palmer]

33 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

I've tried to listen to the TSN broadcast a couple of times but just can't stand it.  The tone of their show is confrontational were every sentence is spat out as some profound statement,  whereas the tone Bob Irving sets is conversational.  Sure going to miss Bob when he's gone.

My favourite was when they told the viewers that Macho Harris was on side. Well no **** its a kickoff! The ball is live. It's so bad it doesn't even bother me anymore. In one ear, out the other.

[Arnold_Palmer]

On an amusing note. It's funny how insecure Rider fans are. On their board they keep talking about how bad Hamilton is, how bad BC is, how bad Winnipeg played, how small Smith is ( Even though him and Dressler were Rider royalty last year). I've never seen a fan base coming off a 3 win season and currently 0-3 if you include pre-season so arrogant. I can't wait to see Edmonton spank them tonight.  

[Logan007]

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

I'm sick of seeing receivers being given a massive cushion and allowed to just sit at the first down marker with nobody anywhere near them. Drives me bonkers. 

This happened with Etch's D too.  Drives me nuts.  Our guys seem to always be covered, but then they throw and there's no one around their receivers.  That is definitely something they really need to work on.  Other then that, the D looked great.

[Fatty Liver]

4 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

On an amusing note. It's funny how insecure Rider fans are. On their board they keep talking about how bad Hamilton is, how bad BC is, how bad Winnipeg played, how small Smith is ( Even though him and Dressler were Rider royalty last year). I've never seen a fan base coming off a 3 win season and currently 0-3 if you include pre-season so arrogant. I can't wait to see Edmonton spank them tonight.  

That's par for the course, most of them are Rider fans, not fans of CFL football.  Macho will be forever branded as "useless" and Hank will always be "Frank" despite everything that he has accomplished after he moved on from their organization.

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

You know for all the good the D did I still have concerns about them. The coverage is so soft. Masoli was panicked a few times by pressure and made poor throws but a more calm veteran might make them pay, that's what BLM did in Calgary last week. Really need to see them tighten up on the back end. Offense showed some real progress though, especially considering that Hamilton has a pretty stout defence. 

I completely agree with this comment.   Masoli is probably the worst starting qb in the league.  

But as I said in the game chat... we were warned by rider fans that Hall's defense absolutely relies on a tonne of pressure up front... otherwise the soft zones make it easy for guys like BLM and Ray to pick us apart.  

 

[Blueandgold]

4 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I completely agree with this comment.   Masoli is probably the worst starting qb in the league.  

But as I said in the game chat... we were warned by rider fans that Hall's defense absolutely relies on a tonne of pressure up front... otherwise the soft zones make it easy for guys like BLM and Ray to pick us apart.  

 

Our secondary still sucks though. It'll be a little better when Adams is back, but its hard to know who to blame between the DB's and the scheme.

[Jimmy Pop]

49 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

On an amusing note. It's funny how insecure Rider fans are. On their board they keep talking about how bad Hamilton is, how bad BC is, how bad Winnipeg played, how small Smith is ( Even though him and Dressler were Rider royalty last year). I've never seen a fan base coming off a 3 win season and currently 0-3 if you include pre-season so arrogant. I can't wait to see Edmonton spank them tonight.  

Riders fan in general are some of the most arrogant in all of pro sports. Which is downright astounding given their terrible franchise record, history of nearly folding, and the fact that Saskatchewan is..... Saskatchewan. 

It's Friday, bring on the mob. Tired of arguing with fellow Bomber fans....let's unite in something we ALL agree on: the suckyness of the Green Riders! 

[Fatty Liver]

19 minutes ago, Brandon said:

I completely agree with this comment.   Masoli is probably the worst starting qb in the league.  

But as I said in the game chat... we were warned by rider fans that Hall's defense absolutely relies on a tonne of pressure up front... otherwise the soft zones make it easy for guys like BLM and Ray to pick us apart.  

 

Masoli is not a starting QB, he's a backup and one of the better ones in the league at that.  I was surprised they didn't let him run more as he has great wheels and is hard to contain.