OT: 2019 Blue Bomber (10-6) Regular Season Thread - Oct 19 @ Calgary (10-5)

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WPGChief

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I can't wait until our "bend-don't-break" defence turns into "we're giving up 5 touchdowns a game, how could this have ever happened!?" Poor zone coverage, poor tackling - they should be much better than this. Richie Hall has got to go.

Andrew Harris looked below-average for the first time in forever. Hope he bounces back.

Matt Nichols looks like 2018 Matt Nichols. 2 seconds elapse and he's panicking in the pocket. Basically has no composure and can't extend plays even though we have receivers like Matthews, Whitehead, Demski, and Adams that are either bigger or quicker than their coverage but no time for the play to develop. LaPolice doesn't help with some of his play calls either.

We are lucky to have Lucky and Edmonton dropping 5 balls and having Maas as their head coach. He might be worse then O'Shea which is a challenge in and of itself.
 
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None

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Edmonton took away Nichols' crutch in Andrew Harris and he struggled to use any of his other options.

238 yards passing including the PI call that Adams drew and 120 were YAC.

The defense looked just okay, I think the d-line is making up for really poor pass coverage. The secondary seemed to get routinely beaten even when they numbers when Edmonton ran full protect plays in the first half. Edmonton seemed to go away from protection packages in the second half and the Bombers reaction seemed to be calling off their safety and blitzes down the middle.

Overall I'm glad they won, but this team just feels like more of the same. It's hard to feel confident when it looks like they're just spinning their tires.

Edit: Forgot to give props to Lucky Whitehead, awesome game from him. I'd hope that without him another receiver would've made up for the yards he had, but the plays he made definitely weren't the type of plays any of our other receivers are built for.
 
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Jets 31

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My sister can throw the ball better than Nichols and my grandmother can run faster . Nichols is horrible , just play Streveler already , he can run and is just as accurate as Nichols . Every time Nichols even attempts to throw long our receivers have to wait for the ball , they are wide open but by the time the ball gets there they have to become defensive backs to prevent interceptions . :shakehead
 

Holden Caulfield

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Well that was a UW (Ugly Win) but luckily UW's count for just as much as every other W. First win in a home opener in half a decade, first 2-0 start since 2014. That is nice.

I had to leave the game after the 2nd Whitehead touchdown to get to a prior engagement but my thoughts are below.

On the positive note, Whitehead is one of the fastest players I have ever seen in the CFL. His top end speed is unreal and his agility is actually amazing as well, a rare combination. No doubt we've seen through the early going his pass catching is still a work in progress, but once that ball is in his hands he might just be the most dangerous player in the CFL. What a game from him. Jeffcoat was a beast in this game in both run stopping and rushing the passer. The only guy on that defensive front that was getting consistent pressure. Loved the work on special teams from Nelson. One real good return, a couple so-so returns, but he was also beastly on the cover teams, twice making great players right as the EDM returner caught the ball that forced him into a bad situation so someone slower could come clean up the tackle.

The bad is going to take longer. You are not going to win many football games losing the time of possession battle that badly. The offense was pretty bad outside of two great runs by Demski and two big passes to Whitehead. Harris had his worst game as a Bomber by a country mile. I'm hoping he uses this poor performance as motivation. Adams and Wolitarsky were not on the same page at all as Nichols (I'll get back to Nichols later). Matthews was underused. The O-Line got abused quite a few times, including in 3 man rushes. The defense played well in spurts (the 3rd quarter mostly) but still giving up too much through the air. Of course T. Harris is notorious for being a yardage piler while terrible in the red zone (ie why Lewis kicked like 55 field goals last year for OTT), so they stiffened near the red zone, but not sure how much was the defense how much was Harris/Maas. Alexander in particular was an absolute trainwreck out there. Rose was the only DB I thought was ok, and that's all I give him is just ok. Didn't we sign some guy who was supposed to rush the passer? Some big time name that we paid a bunch of money? I saw some empty jersey wearing 5, that couldn't have been him right? And Matt Nichols. What can I say? Not sure what to do about him. Missed big time on some relatively easy passes to Demski, Wolitarsky in particular, terrible pass to Matthews caused that interception, struggled to find open receivers, happy feet every time rush got anywhere close, doesn't keep eyes down field as soon as someone got within 10 feet. This was 2018 Nichols, not the 2017 Nichols we saw two week ago in BC. Hard to get a read on the season yet for him.

Ok now that the rant is out of the way, let's refocus and move forward. Even the best teams are going to have some losses and ugly wins tossed in. Playing poorly but coming out with a win I'll take. It looks to me more and more it's gonna be us and Edmonton for the division unless Calgary starts to find their way. This was a damn good team we played. And won. But not in a sustainable way and that needs to change. But they have the talent to make it work.

Lastly question for those watching on TV, I heard the Oliveira injury was pretty brutal. We couldn't see much from where we were but some people told me it was real ugly. So was it that bad? Luckily RB is one place I am very confident in the Bombers depth (I'd argue Augustine is a great backup, maybe borderline starter and he's our #3) but it looks like that's gonna be a longterm injury from what I heard.
 

AlphaLackey

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hey, we won, right?

So this is the sport where I blunder in with zero math background, and I just like what i see.

In fact, I saw a video clip that I turned into a meme, gonna save it for the Jets next year.

But, in light of our 2-0 start, I thought I'd save it to celebrate for the Bombers; given the CFL as it is, congratulations on cinching a playoff spot (I think :P) with their second win.

PS may or may not be drurnk. You decide :P

ezgif-2-b54d91ba7888.gif
 

jetsforever

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Fun game to watch, but we played pretty badly in general - need to step that up next week. The fumble at the end was the icing on the cake.
Whitehead was amazing though - 155 receiving yards, 2 TD, 1 carry, 2 defensive tackles!
Good to get the win though!!

As an aside, I wonder what the record is for most field goals in a game without a TD - 7 is a lot
 

None

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Didn't we sign some guy who was supposed to rush the passer? Some big time name that we paid a bunch of money? I saw some empty jersey wearing 5, that couldn't have been him right?

Lastly question for those watching on TV, I heard the Oliveira injury was pretty brutal. We couldn't see much from where we were but some people told me it was real ugly. So was it that bad? Luckily RB is one place I am very confident in the Bombers depth (I'd argue Augustine is a great backup, maybe borderline starter and he's our #3) but it looks like that's gonna be a longterm injury from what I heard.

Agreed about everything aside from your criticism of Jefferson/the d-line's pressure. I thought there was solid pressure all night from both ends, Jeffcoat was definitely the better of the two on the run but I thought Jefferson was getting held a lot.

As for Oliveira, I took this from someone's Twitter, I didn't link it because I wasn't sure about the other content -
o9bGZc3.jpg
 

VictoriaJetsFan

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hey, we won, right?

So this is the sport where I blunder in with zero math background, and I just like what i see.

In fact, I saw a video clip that I turned into a meme, gonna save it for the Jets next year.

But, in light of our 2-0 start, I thought I'd save it to celebrate for the Bombers; given the CFL as it is, congratulations on cinching a playoff spot (I think :P) with their second win.

PS may or may not be drurnk. You decide :P

View attachment 240895


I would like to vote drunk...
 

Holden Caulfield

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Agreed about everything aside from your criticism of Jefferson/the d-line's pressure. I thought there was solid pressure all night from both ends, Jeffcoat was definitely the better of the two on the run but I thought Jefferson was getting held a lot.

As for Oliveira, I took this from someone's Twitter, I didn't link it because I wasn't sure about the other content -
o9bGZc3.jpg

To be fair I sit in the upper deck. Things like holds along the line can be hard to see that far up haha. Perhaps he was. Myself I have not been happy with Jefferson in either game this year, but today in particular I did not like his game. I didn't see him once all game, albeit after I had to leave I did hear on the radio that he had a knockdown of a pass. Part of the reason I am hard on Jefferson is that my expectations for him were sky high though.

That injury looks ugly. Probably at least a 6 game IR. Not sure what the recovery time on a broken ankle is, but to be honest broken is better than ligament damage so hopefully he can return this season. I do like that they can get Augustine back on the roster. And if Harris is starting to lose it a bit I'd like to see Augustine get some time. I was a big proponent of drafting him a few years ago, then he bounced around for a year or two before landing with BB and he has done nothing but impress every single time the ball is in hands. While I have heard from people there are concerns about Augustine's all around game (like blocking) he is a dynamic runner that could be a starter, IMO. I think the succession plan for Harris is in great hands with Augustine and Oliveira, assuming Oliveira recovers. Oliveira has a significant injury history (knees, IIRC) from college so that might be a concern going forward, but this seems to be a freak injury.

Having played the game I understand 100% why recovery time is so neccessary to this sport, but damn I just want more Bomber football. 8 days until we play the pretenders from Ottawa, can't wait to beat down Davis and the Redblacks!
 

GNP

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That injury to Oliveira looks bad, like a broken ankle, and maybe some ligaments torn as well ? Usually it takes 8-12 months to be strong enough to play on, but the player will never be the same again - especially if your a running back IMO.

Reminds me of what happened to Seattle Seahawks running back who replaced Marchand Lynch. He was Thomas Rawls, averaging 5.6 yards per carry, and he was great til he broke his ankle, and when he came back, he was just not the same, averaging only about 3.8 yards per carry. I think also these guys fear it will happen again, and don't run with the same reckless intensity --you can't really blame them.

Hopefully this Oliveira can recover, but I don't expect him back this year. Does not look good. Looks like a "compound fracture."--clean break, and who knows what tendon or ligament damage as well ?
 
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Agreed about everything aside from your criticism of Jefferson/the d-line's pressure. I thought there was solid pressure all night from both ends, Jeffcoat was definitely the better of the two on the run but I thought Jefferson was getting held a lot.

As for Oliveira, I took this from someone's Twitter, I didn't link it because I wasn't sure about the other content -
o9bGZc3.jpg
I hurt my ankle just looking at this .
 
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Mbraunm

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Edmonton had a sound defensive strategy that makes sense as a template to defeat the Bombers. Load all of your resources to shut down Harris and short passes. Force Nichols to have to rely on his mid to long range passing game.
 
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Not like Nichols could get him the ball because he's a wide receiver and is too far away from Nichols but did anyone else think Matthews looked kinda slow out there last night ?
 

Jets 31

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Edmonton had a sound defensive strategy that makes sense as a template to defeat the Bombers. Load all of your resources to shut down Harris and short passes. Force Nichols to have to rely on his mid to long range passing game.
And awesome scrambling ability , don't forget about that . :laugh:
 
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Hank Chinaski

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Edmonton had a sound defensive strategy that makes sense as a template to defeat the Bombers. Load all of your resources to shut down Harris and short passes. Force Nichols to have to rely on his mid to long range passing game.

Nothing new, this is exactly what teams have been doing since last season.
 

Trinity

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Bombers were lucky to win last night. Time of possession was embarrassingly in favour of Edmonton. The Bombers offense could get no momentum, we essentially scored 4 TD's on 4 big play and that was it: 2 big plays to Lucky, one big run for Demski, and then the PI call on Adams that resulted in an easy TD run. Other than that, the offense couldn't move the ball consistently.
 
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GNP

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Bombers were lucky to win last night. Time of possession was embarrassingly in favour of Edmonton. The Bombers offense could get no momentum, we essentially scored 4 TD's on 4 big play and that was it: 2 big plays to Lucky, one big run for Demski, and then the PI call on Adams that resulted in an east TD run. Other than that, the offense couldn't move the ball consistently.
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Sounds a lot like last years Bombers -- somedays they can't get any consistent momentum going, and other days their firing on all cylinders. Nichols, or the play calling is responsible for this, however if they ever want to win the Cup, they have to be more consistent.

I'm no big fan of relying on just running, like with Harris, as other teams will just wait for him, and shut the offense down. If your a CFL team, and you want to win, you must be able to hit the mid range and deep throws. It's a "must" --like Calgary with Mitchell can do. I think even Harris with Edmonton is also really good at these types of throws.

You know they say that the running game opens up the passing game -- but I say the passing game will open up the running game, and you use what you have. The Bombers running game is not good enough for this. Their stronger passing first -- then open up the running game. A team that does this well, is the New England Patriots --a lot of short and mid range passes to start a game.

The Patriots have never really had a great running game, but once their passing game starts to click, their running game looks pretty good.
 
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Trinity

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Sounds a lot like last years Bombers -- somedays they can't get any consistent momentum going, and other days their firing on all cylinders. Nichols, or the play calling is responsible for this, however if they ever want to win the Cup, they have to be more consistent.

I'm no big fan of relying on just running, like for Harris, as other teams will just wait for him, and shut the offense down. If your a CFL team, and you want to win, you must be able to hit the mid range and deep throws. It's a "must" --like Calgary with Mitchell can do. I think even Harris with Edmonton is also really good at these types of throws.
I find sometimes Lapo can be his own worst enemy. Guy is an offensive genius, but once he gets a lead, he likes to sit on it and he gets ultra conservative; his logic being to try and minimize turnovers. That conservative play calling then allows the other team to get back into the game, and when we then need to get more points late in the game the offense is already out of sync.

And I really didn't like Lapo's play call on that 3rd and 1 where he tried a jet sweep with Lucky Whitehead out of shotgun that resulted in a 2 yard loss. He just outthinks himself sometimes and gets TOO creative. In that situation he needs to let Streveler plunge forward for the guaranteed one yard.
 

GNP

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I find sometimes Lapo can be his own worst enemy. Guy is an offensive genius, but once he gets a lead, he likes to sit on it and he gets ultra conservative; his logic being to try and minimize turnovers. That conservative play calling then allows the other team to get back onto the game, and when we then need to get more points late in the game the offense is already out of sync.

And I really didn't like Lapo's play call on that 3rd and 1 where he tried a jet sweep with Lucky Whitehead out of shotgun that resulted in a 2 yard loss. He just outthinks himself sometimes and gets TOO creative. In that situation he needs to let Streveler plunge forward for the guaranteed one yard.
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Good post Trinity and I totally agree with you. Your best defense is a good strong offense, and not sinking back into a defensive shell. As you state some questionable calls made there by Lapo ?

In the CFL with the big wide field, it's very easy to pile up points quickly if your behind. The defense can only cover so well, but you have to keep your offense rolling and in sync -- I agree with you.
 

Trinity

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And I think I offended a few parents with children sitting near me with my language after Harris fumbled the ball for the second time in the game with a minute to go. If any of you parents who sit near me are reading this, I sincerely apologize! :oops:
 
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Trinity

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Nichols is still awful. Hard to believe we can win a Grey Cup with him.
Nichols is fine. The offense was just out of sync last night. He's still getting used to some of his new weapons and Lapo didn't help with his play calling. I expect the offense will progressively start to look much better. You see what they can do in flashes last night.
 

JetsWillFly4Ever

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Nichols is fine. The offense was just out of sync last night. He's still getting used to some of his new weapons and Lapo didn't help with his play calling. I expect the offense will progressively start to look much better. You see what they can do in flashes last night.
Nichols was fine 2 years ago, awful last year and I don't think he is fine right now, but maybe you are willing to give more of a grace period than I am.
 
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