Official Game Day Thread - WDF -Saskatchewan at Winnipeg - November 9, 2024

[TecnoGenius]

I hope that this isn't the case with Alexander and Wilson this time around. (I wonder if Cole is hurt?)

The good thing about "hand" is no matter how badly it gets beat up, you can just shoot him up with more pain killers and tape it up and throw him back out there.  Besides "pain" it shouldn't impact his game much.

I'd be more worried about Kyrie re-aggravating his issue.

[TecnoGenius]

Agree, I think Cole would be more handy than Taylor in this situation, it doesn't show much confidence in Kelly or the Hallet boys to fill in when needed.

I think 1 or 2 of those guys will be on the outs in FA.  Nick is the only definite keeper.  Has Noah done anything at all since returning?

None of these guys is the next Dequoy.

[TecnoGenius]

Can't say I expected Cole to be bumped off the AR. Also the changes on the DL surprised me as well.

Nah, we're going all in on the sacks-be-darned concept.  We're not even going to try.  If we get lucky against their patchwork OL, great.  If not, doesn't matter.

Unless of course we have some tricks up our sleeve and we go mega-blitz in a mega way... but I won't hold my breath on that one.

[TecnoGenius]

SSK's chart clearly shows they are copying the TOR 8 DL (6 IMP) approach to beating the Bombers.  I guarantee you Buck/MOS have been working on concepts to counter it.  We can't just do nothing and eat sacks like we did vs TOR.  Zach is likely to not survive vs "I can't control my body!" Brown.

Sweeps & edge runs can help here.  Draw screens, quick passes, FB dumps, and thrown-to-spot mid/deep routes in 1-on-1s can too.  We could and should and will use a ton of jumbo, with lots of 6 and 7 (and 8!) OL/TE/FB sets.

We can't let them dictate the pace of our throws.

[TecnoGenius]

I'm not sure we even try with our up-the-gut Brady game.  If SSK wants to take it away, then let them waste the resources and use the openings elsewhere to get our yards.

If SSK starts to back away from protecting the run, then we can change our tune.  But why start the game running into a brick wall and waste downs?

I would rather see draw runs on 2nd down, and some creative screens or dump passes.

Remember that one CGY GC year when Cornish said post-game that the plan the whole time was to use him solely as a decoy?  Ya, let's copy that.  CGY won it all that year.  Brady makes a very good decoy because the entire SSK D will be keying on him.

The key to beating SSK is a good mix in the mid & deep games.  Attack Fields and Henderson.  Get Sayles to IC you.  Look off Milligan so he doesn't cheat on routes.  They will give up many explosions in the air.

[Slingin Sammy]

Re watched Banjo Bowl.  On O we had a lot of check down Charlie tosses to Brady because that's what they gave us in the first half.  I kept thinking what if someone like Whitehead was our safety valve.  With his speed a 2-5 yard pass could turn into a lot of YAC? 

Hoping Buck is creative and has an answer for Sasks D...

[Blue In BC]

But aren't we starting 8 Cdns and only need 7?

3 OL, 2 receivers, 1 RB, 1 SAM, 1 DT and 1 CB = 9 at the moment

[Blue In BC]

Is Cole dinged up?

This whole chart & GTD thing for Kyrie might be a ruse.  If Cole was good, why do you roster Ayers instead of Cole?  What does make sense is if you are 80% sure Kyrie won't play, you fool SSK by keeping Cole off the chart and then subbing him in at the last moment.  That's my guess.

The transactions show him moved to the PR and not the IR. However, the roster doesn't match all the transaction activity yesterday.

I don't believe a ruse has any place / credibility in what the Bombers are doing. Cole has played well but he's not the key player the Riders will game plan against. They finished their practice before we even showed him off the roster and Wilson back on. To that end, they planned for him playing already whether that happens or not.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I'm going to suggest a couple things we might see today in an attempt to look smart later:

One - Brady under 7 carries on the ground (under 60 rushing on the day).

Two - Oliveria/Chris-Ike split backfield at a way higher percentage than we're used to. Chris-Ike doesn't have a reception this year but I think he gets THREE today. He's ready.

Three - three man rush all day with a spy linebacker on the running back. If the backer reads pass he blitzes immediately through A or B gap.

Four - all pressure comes up the middle today when we do run it.

Five - Collaros is going to air it out today completely reversing past playoff trends. The weather is nice and the match up screams deep balls. 300 yards for Collaros through the air is likely if we win.  Zach need to earn his money today. He can throw one pick if he throws three TDs.

Six - Were going (to try) to unleash our defensive ends. If they read pass, get to the spot. Harris can't run outside and he's probably even slower than Zach. Screw contain make the play and get off the field.

[Blue In BC]

The good thing about "hand" is no matter how badly it gets beat up, you can just shoot him up with more pain killers and tape it up and throw him back out there.  Besides "pain" it shouldn't impact his game much.

I'd be more worried about Kyrie re-aggravating his issue.

It's not just about the pain level. It may impact his ability to tackle, knockdown a pass or make an int. We didn't get details on whether it was a deep bruise, large cut or something broken.

Alexander may be wearing a cast or just extra tapping. I don't know so that's something to watch.

[Blue In BC]

I'm going to suggest a couple things we might see today in an attempt to look smart later:

One - Brady under 7 carries on the ground (under 60 rushing on the day).

Two - Oliveria/Chris-Ike split backfield at a way higher percentage than we're used to. Chris-Ike doesn't have a reception this year but I think he gets THREE today. He's ready.

Three - three man rush all day with a spy linebacker on the running back. If the backer reads pass he blitzes immediately through A or B gap.

Four - all pressure comes up the middle today when we do run it.

Five - Collaros is going to air it out today completely reversing past playoff trends. The weather is nice and the match up screams deep balls. 300 yards for Collaros through the air is likely if we win.  Zach need to earn his money today. He can throw one pick if he throws three TDs.

I am concerned that if we can't have some sort of balance in our attack it could be a long day. Oliveria needs to be a force and the Riders are going to try and take that away. That's how teams have beaten us in the past.

I agree we'll see more mid and deep balls to stretch their defence with speed. It might force them off the LOS. It's complimentary football, if the run succeeds it will open up the pass and vice versa.

The key either way is for our OL to play well and keep Collaros upright with some time.

Taking out Woods, Adams and Cole won't make stopping their run game easier. Maybe Ayers has a bigger role on defence this week.

I think I already mentioned that Alexander is about the same size as Cole and we may see him in the box more with Taylor back at safety.

[Jesse]

SSK's chart clearly shows they are copying the TOR 8 DL (6 IMP) approach to beating the Bombers.  I guarantee you Buck/MOS have been working on concepts to counter it.  We can't just do nothing and eat sacks like we did vs TOR.  Zach is likely to not survive vs "I can't control my body!" Brown.

Sweeps & edge runs can help here.  Draw screens, quick passes, FB dumps, and thrown-to-spot mid/deep routes in 1-on-1s can too.  We could and should and will use a ton of jumbo, with lots of 6 and 7 (and 8!) OL/TE/FB sets.

We can't let them dictate the pace of our throws.

We've been eating sacks from that Toronto line for the past 3 years. I don't have any expectations that we'll "solve" it, but hopefully we can gut out way  through it and not make the egregious mistakes that are sometimes our undoing.

[Jesse]

I'm going to suggest a couple things we might see today in an attempt to look smart later:

One - Brady under 7 carries on the ground (under 60 rushing on the day).

Two - Oliveria/Chris-Ike split backfield at a way higher percentage than we're used to. Chris-Ike doesn't have a reception this year but I think he gets THREE today. He's ready.

Three - three man rush all day with a spy linebacker on the running back. If the backer reads pass he blitzes immediately through A or B gap.

Four - all pressure comes up the middle today when we do run it.

Five - Collaros is going to air it out today completely reversing past playoff trends. The weather is nice and the match up screams deep balls. 300 yards for Collaros through the air is likely if we win.  Zach need to earn his money today. He can throw one pick if he throws three TDs.

Six - Were going (to try) to unleash our defensive ends. If they read pass, get to the spot. Harris can't run outside and he's probably even slower than Zach. Screw contain make the play and get off the field.

A couple comments:

Nothing bugs me more than when we use a 3-man front and then blitz a LB. Not sure if I've ever seen that work. Anecdotally, it feels like your just intentionally matching a guy half the size of the OL. Just run a 4 man front.

The 3 man you suggested seems to go against your other comment of unleashing our ends.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

A couple comments:

Nothing bugs me more than when we use a 3-man front and then blitz a LB. Not sure if I've ever seen that work. Anecdotally, it feels like your just intentionally matching a guy half the size of the OL. Just run a 4 man front.

The 3 man you suggested seems to go against your other comment of unleashing our ends.

It will likely work today when Ouelette is in there because he's not very scary as a pass catcher and doesn't have top end speed. If we're playing a zone behind it we'll be fine. Obviously it's problematic in man schemes and we won't do it there.

You're right that the ends are more aggressive in four man but realistically who is going to scare us if we lose contain? Not Harris. Not Ouelette.

We need A and B gap pressure to beat Harris. We haven't had any luck getting pressure against with our lineman for most of the year. A linebacker on Harris is game over. He's making no one miss.

Who knows what we'll see but that's my prediction.

[Zach Schnitzer]

I'm not sure we even try with our up-the-gut Brady game.  If SSK wants to take it away, then let them waste the resources and use the openings elsewhere to get our yards.

If SSK starts to back away from protecting the run, then we can change our tune.  But why start the game running into a brick wall and waste downs?

I would rather see draw runs on 2nd down, and some creative screens or dump passes.

Remember that one CGY GC year when Cornish said post-game that the plan the whole time was to use him solely as a decoy?  Ya, let's copy that.  CGY won it all that year.  Brady makes a very good decoy because the entire SSK D will be keying on him.

The key to beating SSK is a good mix in the mid & deep games.  Attack Fields and Henderson.  Get Sayles to IC you.  Look off Milligan so he doesn't cheat on routes.  They will give up many explosions in the air.

Great analysis. I completely agree. Short to medium range passes to open up the Sask run-stopping box, then run Brady to ice the game. I'm worried about their run game though against our paltry D-line