Good, Bad, Ugly (Winnipeg@Calgary)

[ModAdmin]

Good

Dru Brown - We will be hard-pressed to keep him as a Bomber.
Rasheed Bailey - His touchdown was as good as it gets.
Bomber Dline - Had pretty good pressure on Maier most of the game.
Brendan O'Leary-Orange - Again, nice job to get open and score.

Bad

Calgary in general.  Hard to believe a 6 and 12 team gets into the playoffs
Bailey's injury.
Bomber coverage and tackling at times,

Ugly

Empty stands (although the weather and a nothing game may have contributed to that.

[TecnoGenius]

UGLY

Having to play this game at all, and in a cold, slippery injury-causing climate.

[peg_city]

Good

Dru Brown - We will be hard-pressed to keep him as a Bomber.
Rasheed Bailey - His touchdown was as good as it gets.
Bomber Dline - Had pretty good pressure on Maier most of the game.
Brendan O'Leary-Orange - Again, nice job to get open and score.

Bad

Calgary in general.  Hard to believe a 6 and 12 team gets into the playoffs
Bailey's injury.
Bomber coverage and tackling at times,

Ugly

Empty stands (although the weather and a nothing game may have contributed to that.

How bad was Bailey's injury? Anyone have an update? Being down two of our top 4 receivers wouldn't be a good thing.

[Pigskin]

There is lots of speculation from the online Doctors, but nothing from the Bombers yet. Bombers start practicing later in the week, we will find out then.

[Jesse]

Good

- Dru Brown is fun to watch. Like others have said, it would have been nice if the timeline worked out for him to come after Zach retired, but he's ready now.
- Rasheed Bailey. OMG.
- Brady 2k. What a season.
- The back-up crew. BOO, Richmond, so many on the defence

Bad

- Calgary; what a joke. They looked terrible. And they beat BC last week and good do it again next week.
- Any time Prukop played. Immediately made the game unwatchable.

Ugly

- The Prukop short yardage fake for a pass. Never let him attempt that again.

[bwiser]

Good- I won a Bomber prize pack at the Bombers viewing party at Big Guys
        -Dru Brown very sharp
        -Bailey with an incredible pass and run
        -replacements played well
        -Castillio perfect on the night including a 51 yard field goal in a snow squall
Bad-the weather
      -poor crowd
      -Stampeders in general
Ugly-a 6-12 record gets you a playoff spot

[Blueforlife]

Good
Downtown Dru Brown
Bad
Calgary
Ugly
Couple guys nicked but let's hope be ok

[RyGuy13]

Good:
-Dru Brown. Guy isn?t afraid to sling the football and is a ton of fun to watch. Would love for him to be back with the team next year, but that?s going to be difficult as said above. But, excellent game nonetheless.
-Running game. First, kudos to Brady for hitting 1,500 rushing and 2,000 all purpose yards. But this game, I even thought Augustine looked good. OL was sure opening up some nice holes once again.
-Castillo. Even if the cold winter conditions, he connected from some long distances and made them look easy.
-Bailey TD was fun to watch. A total heart and soul type of player. Always enjoy when he gets into the end zone.
-Defence as a whole, considering how many starter/vets we sat, I thought some of these 2nd string guys looked comfortable and understood the play and what was expected. Nice to see everyone prepared.

Bad:
-Prukop the passer. That wasn?t pretty. Just doesn?t look confident delivering the football. It?s times like these when you?re even more grateful to have a Dru Brown on your team lol.
-Hoping Bailey isn?t too banged up. Thinking he left the game precautionary, but never anything you want to see late in the season. Lawler also almost gave us all a good scare too.

Ugly:
-First time in a long time where a 6-12 record gets you a playoff spot in the West. Stamps will have their hands full next week against the Lions.

[tlf]

Good
Dru Brown
Rasheeed Bailey  wow
Brady
Sergio had a good game in the snow

Bad
Calgary...especialy Maier  He gets guaranteed $ next year?

Ugly
The weather, but it's fun football weather
Suitor's love for Micah Awe

[55StickCar]

Good;

Dru Brown( I think we need to do our best to keep  him)
Brady O
Johnny Augustine
Rasheed Bailey


Bad

Calgary crowd
We lost to Saskatchewan in the Labour Day Classic

Ugly

A 6-12 team makes the playoffs.

[TecnoGenius]

Bad

We lost to Saskatchewan in the Labour Day Classic

Haha, you pulled that one out of left field.    Yes, the '23 LDC will forever remain a mystery.  What a bizarre game.  Makes me want to go back and watch it.  They were bringing heat on Zach all the time.  They were playing like they were possessed and we were just flat.

[J5V]

Good - Dru Brown, Rasheed Bailey
Bad - Prukop
Ugly - Bailey Injury. Please Football Gods, let it be minor.

[Blue In BC]

Good - Dru Brown, Rasheed Bailey
Bad - Prukop
Ugly - Bailey Injury. Please Football Gods, let it be minor.

No kidding. There is doubt that Schoen will play again this season. Demski was nicked as well. Now Bailey is in a TBD situation. Those are all concerns going forward.

[TecnoGenius]

No kidding. There is doubt that Schoen will play again this season. Demski was nicked as well. Now Bailey is in a TBD situation. Those are all concerns going forward.

That's why it's critical we won the W, get the bye, avoid more wear & tear in the WSF, rest up, and only have 1 game to play to get to the GC.  The WSF and ESF teams will be even more beat up before they come into the DF's.

[Waffler]

They were really pumping Alston's tires in the pre-game on CJOB... Maybe tecno can tell us if he even saw him in one of his re-watches.

[TecnoGenius]

They were really pumping Alston's tires in the pre-game on CJOB... Maybe tecno can tell us if he even saw him in one of his re-watches.

I think he was out there a decent bit, but not all the time.  They were rotating between BOLO and McCrae and Alston.  I'm sure Alston was blocking a fair bit, but I didn't see anything in particular.  And I'm pretty sure he got no targets and no carries.

Would have been better to just have kept Agudosi... oh well.  Heaven help us if we need Alston to slot in for a injured Bailey or Schoen in the GC (or even WDF)!!  It'll be like rolling the craps dice and hoping for snake eyes.

[The Fresh Prince Of Belair, MB]

Haha, you pulled that one out of left field.    Yes, the '23 LDC will forever remain a mystery.  What a bizarre game.  Makes me want to go back and watch it.  They were bringing heat on Zach all the time.  They were playing like they were possessed and we were just flat.

Give the Riders credit, they left it all on the field. Literally. Nothing left in the tank for the final 7 games LOL

[Pigskin]

Good - Dru Brown, Rasheed Bailey
Bad - Prukop
Ugly - Bailey Injury. Please Football Gods, let it be minor.

Have to agree. re-watched the game with our bomber border. He thought Prukop had a rough game. We also noticed that 42 Karamoko missed a few to many tackles. On the other hand, 41 Cole had a very good game.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Have to agree. re-watched the game with our bomber border. He thought Prukop had a rough game. We also noticed that 42 Karamoko missed a few to many tackles. On the other hand, 41 Cole had a very good game.

Alston was invisible but than I was shocked to hear before last game BOLO had only 5 targets so far this season, can't see how they're going to convince him to come back without more attention.  Fox and Garbutt both looked solid and even Schmekel made a play or two.  Neither Bennett or Haba stood out considering they've received the most playing time this season, Bennett can pursue but he doesn't have the physicality to make plays happen.

[Pigskin]

Alston was invisible but than I was shocked to hear before last game BOLO had only 5 targets so far this season, can't see how they're going to convince him to come back without more attention.  Fox and Garbutt both looked solid and even Schmekel made a play or two.  Neither Bennett or Haba stood out considering they've received the most playing time this season, Bennett can pursue but he doesn't have the physicality to make plays happen.

Schmekel is another guy that works very hard in practice. Pretty happy with his play.

[TecnoGenius]

Alston was invisible but than I was shocked to hear before last game BOLO had only 5 targets so far this season, can't see how they're going to convince him to come back without more attention.

As a team that fields 2 NAT WR, as well as a NAT RB, having a decent NAT backup like BOLO is critical.  We can't just let him walk.  Plus, he's often dressed as the sole WR backup, so at least he's getting AR money.

If you need to bump BOLO $$ up to stay happy and here, then bump his $$.  He's not proven starter material (thankfully!) yet, even though he has looked like he probably could as a lower tier NAT starter WR.  The only way we can let BOLO walk is if we get a ready-to-roll NAT WR in DP, say like a Philpot.  And we rarely draft receivers, at least ones that work out.

TLDR; we'll be keeping BOLO.  Bonus: with our injuries, maybe BOLO starts in the GC!!

[Waffler]

I'd like to keep him but all depends on money. We have Murphy in the pipeline, he looked decent. Can't see us over paying here.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I'd like to keep him but all depends on money. We have Murphy in the pipeline, he looked decent. Can't see us over paying here.

That is the most likely scenario but he would be worth retaining if they lose Schoen, we'll see if he gets playing time and does well in the final few games.

[Stats Junkie]

Good - Blue Bombers only punted once vs Calgary (4th time this season). Since Labour Day, Sheahan has punted a total of 11 times.

Bad - For the 2nd time in 3 games, Chris Kolankowski bounced a snap off himself resulting in a fumble (also vs BC)

Ugly - Dakota Prukop fumbled twice and now leads the Bombers with 5 fumbles on the season

Things that make you go huh!?
Zach Collaros had 5 drives end in a missed field goal in 2023. Zach Collaros only had 3 drives end in a missed field goal in 2022.

[Blue In BC]

Good - Blue Bombers only punted once vs Calgary (4th time this season). Since Labour Day, Sheahan has punted a total of 11 times.

Bad - For the 2nd time in 3 games, Chris Kolankowski bounced a snap off himself resulting in a fumble (also vs BC)

Ugly - Dakota Prukop fumbled twice and now leads the Bombers with 5 fumbles on the season

Things that make you go huh!?
Zach Collaros had 5 drives end in a missed field goal in 2023. Zach Collaros only had 3 drives end in a missed field goal in 2022.

Castillo probably has been an improvement but he's also had some short falls as well. We seem to always have short kick offs. Maybe that's a coaching choice? Hindsight is great but perhaps we should have kept Liegghio to be our punter and back up kicker? I don't see an improvement in our punting game and losing a Global player on defence had it's impact as well.

[TecnoGenius]

I don't see an improvement in our punting game and losing a Global player on defence had it's impact as well.

I agree about the more-than-meets-the-eye roster impact of Castillo; but you already knew that.  However, we are so far along in the season that let's see how the end game plays out... we really made this move for one reason: FGs under extreme pressure.  It's to fill in that puzzle piece for the '23 vs '22 GC.  As such we can't judge the move until the GC is won!

If a/some pressure kicks win us the GC, then all of the ratio and roster issues of having Castillo become moot.

[Blue In BC]

I agree about the more-than-meets-the-eye roster impact of Castillo; but you already knew that.  However, we are so far along in the season that let's see how the end game plays out... we really made this move for one reason: FGs under extreme pressure.  It's to fill in that puzzle piece for the '23 vs '22 GC.  As such we can't judge the move until the GC is won!

If a/some pressure kicks win us the GC, then all of the ratio and roster issues of having Castillo become moot.

Signing Castillo was more of an issue once we decided to add a Global punter. That took away 2 spots we normally would have had on defence. If we had signed any Canadian as a punter I would have been more agreeable with the changes.

Castillo won't fold under pressure in the Grey Cup but can we block better this time to prevent a blocked kick? Better yet can the offence get another couple of 1st downs to make the FG attempt closer?

[Pete]

Castillo probably has been an improvement but he's also had some short falls as well. We seem to always have short kick offs. Maybe that's a coaching choice? Hindsight is great but perhaps we should have kept Liegghio to be our punter and back up kicker? I don't see an improvement in our punting game and losing a Global player on defence had it's impact as well.

. Actually castillo has one of the better kickoff yard average, the problem was he was outkicking the coverage because of the short hang time. Later in season he went shorter but with higher kicks, the end result seemed to be a better net.

[J5V]

. Actually castillo has one of the better kickoff yard average, the problem was he was outkicking the coverage because of the short hang time. Later in season he went shorter but with higher kicks, the end result seemed to be a better net.

That's a great observation. Thanks for that. I was wondering what was going on there and that explains it perfectly. Just think if he had been kicking for us in last year's Grey Cup game. Maybe that game would have had a different outcome.

Castillo reminds me a bit of Medlock. Maybe not as talented but seems to have a live leg and is very professional in his approach. I feel much better with him kicking than I ever did with Liegghio. He is all-business out there.