Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Calgary, August 9, 2025

[Blueforlife]

I was at the game last night. While I do have two season tickets and have had them for around 20 years or so I seldom have time to make a game unless the Bombers or Riders are in town. So here are my comments - remember they are just my thoughts and also remember I have been a Bomber Fan since 1971 (married a Canadian).

First Comment - this is directed to the CFL fans in Calgary - where are you? My Super Reds section was pretty empty. I am not sure what the attendance was but there were not all that many folks there.

Second Comment - The score flattered the Bombers - they were overplayed on both sides of the ball for the entire second half.

Third Comment - there is just not enough talent on the Bomber roster. And too many folks past their best before date.

Forth Comment: The Bomber DL and Secondary is just not good enough. The secondary can not cover nor tackle very well. The DL did not get much pressure on VA all day long.

Fifth and Last Comment: Based on what I could see the Stamps DL, Linebackers and Secondary are far  better than anything the Bombers could put on the field. Like wise talent wise the Calgary offense is better across the board (other that RB) than what the Bombers can put on the field.

I will always be a Bomber Fan but truth be known this is a very weak team and I do not seem much opportunity for improvement.

Some good points while a little harsh at the end.  We are at an inflection point.  Either we improve our record or contine to slide.  A very weak team no imo, an average club imo with some injuries on D and really in need of someone stepping up at receiver.  Yes Calgary is a much better club.

If we can plug and play at DB, patch those holes and get better protection for Zach, I think we can turn our season around.  Key is that our injuries are not that serious to Parker, Schoen and Bonds.  If we can survive their absence we might be able to rise again.  Tough part of the schedule to be without that trio.

[Pigskin]

Did Corcoran and Jon Jones dress. Neither made a play. Jones was VG on teams last week, and Corcoran is automatic for the 7-8 yard pass over the middle. I would also like to see Peterson get a couple of touches a game, just to throw a wrinkle, into the running game. 

[bomb squad]

I was at the game last night. While I do have two season tickets and have had them for around 20 years or so I seldom have time to make a game unless the Bombers or Riders are in town. So here are my comments - remember they are just my thoughts and also remember I have been a Bomber Fan since 1971 (married a Canadian).

First Comment - this is directed to the CFL fans in Calgary - where are you? My Super Reds section was pretty empty. I am not sure what the attendance was but there were not all that many folks there.

Second Comment - The score flattered the Bombers - they were overplayed on both sides of the ball for the entire second half.

Third Comment - there is just not enough talent on the Bomber roster. And too many folks past their best before date.

Forth Comment: The Bomber DL and Secondary is just not good enough. The secondary can not cover nor tackle very well. The DL did not get much pressure on VA all day long.

Fifth and Last Comment: Based on what I could see the Stamps DL, Linebackers and Secondary are far  better than anything the Bombers could put on the field. Like wise talent wise the Calgary offense is better across the board (other that RB) than what the Bombers can put on the field.

I will always be a Bomber Fan but truth be known this is a very weak team and I do not seem much opportunity for improvement.

I get where you're coming from. But there is a lot of season left. There certainly is opportunity for improvement. It starts with the next game.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Calgary has done an amazing job of scouting and bring in talent. This Roberts and Hutchings are outstanding. There D is big and physical. 

Wilson looked very good at MLB as well, how they take him out for Bighill, I don't see. Techno maybe right about the reason Dickenson signed Biggie, I don't think his story ends well.

[Blue In BC]

A few of us believe the D played good enough to win and the O let us down.  And maybe would share your view.  D could have held them maybe with Bonds in.  O laid an egg 2nd half, D held in there.  Yes D not great.  O needed one more 1st down and we win.  Close one.

Agree to disagree. It's OK to let things go, we all have valid pts.
Bang on
It's not as cut and dry as that.  D held in there for most part.  O needed more juice 2nd half.  Not about good and bad about what lost us the game imo.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

As I said, we led the score for the 1st 47 minutes. At one point we had a 17 - 0 lead. Our only turnover was on downs by a failed 3rd and short inside the Stamps 6 yard line. We scored a FG with 1:01 left.

It may not have been pretty but it was the defence that kept letting the Stamps back in the game. I gave the specific examples.

Most importantly, our defence was on the field and allowed the Stamps to move the ball about 40 yards to score a FG.

Sure. We didn't score 50 points but it was our defence that allowed the Stamps to get the winning points.

Hindsight is great but it was questioned why we gave up 2 singles on K/O's. It's not unusual to field the ball at the 5 or so yard line. In fact that's almost an over kick which allows the returner to hit the seems at speed.

We'll never know how that would have worked out. We know that teams often let punts inside the 10 yard line to give up the single. Not so much on K/O's.

We won the TOP in the 1st Q. OTOH, it doesn't take long to score a 78 yard pass play. It does indicate our offence kept the Stamps off the field.

How do we check the final TOP.  I suspect we won TOP but again, the Stamps didn't have long multiple play drives. They moved in big chunks.

All of that is on the defence. Those are hard facts.

[gobombersgo]

Final TOP: Bombers 32:17 - Stamps 27:43

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Did Corcoran and Jon Jones dress. Neither made a play. Jones was VG on teams last week, and Corcoran is automatic for the 7-8 yard pass over the middle. I would also like to see Peterson get a couple of touches a game, just to throw a wrinkle, into the running game. 

Corcoran did not start but saw him blocking on a few SY plunges. 

In regards to SY I believe Terry Wilson is better at it than Strev, who barely makes a yard on his plunges.

[bunker]

I was at the game last night. While I do have two season tickets and have had them for around 20 years or so I seldom have time to make a game unless the Bombers or Riders are in town. So here are my comments - remember they are just my thoughts and also remember I have been a Bomber Fan since 1971 (married a Canadian).

First Comment - this is directed to the CFL fans in Calgary - where are you? My Super Reds section was pretty empty. I am not sure what the attendance was but there were not all that many folks there.

Second Comment - The score flattered the Bombers - they were overplayed on both sides of the ball for the entire second half.

Third Comment - there is just not enough talent on the Bomber roster. And too many folks past their best before date.

Forth Comment: The Bomber DL and Secondary is just not good enough. The secondary can not cover nor tackle very well. The DL did not get much pressure on VA all day long.

Fifth and Last Comment: Based on what I could see the Stamps DL, Linebackers and Secondary are far  better than anything the Bombers could put on the field. Like wise talent wise the Calgary offense is better across the board (other that RB) than what the Bombers can put on the field.

I will always be a Bomber Fan but truth be known this is a very weak team and I do not seem much opportunity for improvement.

I think that is a pretty good summary and reflects my view as well. We can rag on the coaches, but the bottom line is the talent is just not there this year to beat the better teams in the league. I'm not optimistic about changes, since NFL cuts (unless they're CFL veterans) rarely make an impact at this stage in the season. Pokey could make a difference as could the return of a healthy Schoen, but neither guaranteed at this point. I would be very frustrated if I was Zach. So many times when he had a little time, he would go from read to read, and no one was open. Partly a very good D on Calgary, partly our mediocre receiving core.

I think those that are going back and forth on whether this loss is on the D or the O are both partly right. It was on both of them. Both had moments where they shined, and moments where they let us down. Needed a few more of the former from either side of the ball and we could have won that game.

I think the biggest bang for the buck is if we could get a couple of decent corners, and find someone better than Kelly at safety. He had a pretty rough game, and cost us alot of yardage and points. He also blew coverage on one of the kickoffs, getting caught inside and letting the returner get around the edge for a long gain.

If you want to be an optimist, you can say we were closer to beating Calgary than the first 2 encounters, and did that on the road. If you want to be a pessimist, a team has to be alot better than another to sweep them 3 times in a row.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Oliveria had a great day and was our leading receiver with 100 yards. Overall he had 50% of our offensive output. Great game for him but it shows the problem with the rest of our offence. Wheatfall has been invisible. Sterns is not bad but we got nearly nothing from anyone else yesterday.

Brady had a great first half, barely used in the second at all.  Bauming mentioned zero yds. rushing in the second half, not sure how many passes were thrown his way either.  There was no reason to move away from their most successful weapon in the 2nd half.  WHY???

[Blueforlife]

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

As I said, we led the score for the 1st 47 minutes. At one point we had a 17 - 0 lead. Our only turnover was on downs by a failed 3rd and short inside the Stamps 6 yard line. We scored a FG with 1:01 left.

It may not have been pretty but it was the defence that kept letting the Stamps back in the game. I gave the specific examples.

Most importantly, our defence was on the field and allowed the Stamps to move the ball about 40 yards to score a FG.

Sure. We didn't score 50 points but it was our defence that allowed the Stamps to get the winning points.

Hindsight is great but it was questioned why we gave up 2 singles on K/O's. It's not unusual to field the ball at the 5 or so yard line. In fact that's almost an over kick which allows the returner to hit the seems at speed.

We'll never know how that would have worked out. We know that teams often let punts inside the 10 yard line to give up the single. Not so much on K/O's.

We won the TOP in the 1st Q. OTOH, it doesn't take long to score a 78 yard pass play. It does indicate our offence kept the Stamps off the field.

How do we check the final TOP.  I suspect we won TOP but again, the Stamps didn't have long multiple play drives. They moved in big chunks.

All of that is on the defence. Those are hard facts.

Our D did well in the 2nd half to limit the Stamps as Jesse mentioned.  I agree with the previous poster, it's a combination of factors that lead to our loss but believe you are over  focusing on one of our issues.  Not many teams can stop the Stamps high powered offense.  We did a reasonable job imo, mostly considering we lost Parker, dumped Bridges and lost Bonds during the game.  I think the D did enough to win with obviously some pretty big mistakes.  D needs a stop late and didn't get it.  O needed a first down late and didn't get it.  I put more blame on our O as they are a healthier unit than our D and I expect Zach and the OL to be better than they were.  Need to get consistent on O and plug some holes on D quickly.  You like to back up your opinion with facts, which has merit but others will provide their take on the game based on their opinion and what they seen on the field.

There isn't a black and white, right or wrong answer on this imo.  Just a bunch of best guesses / opinions from arm chair QBs.  A good debate.  Likely best to park it.  We said our thing.  Truth in the middle.

I got excited with our fast start on O, feel like they let me down.  Never really believed in the back end of the D from the start.  Losing Bonds sucks.  See promise in Lawson.

[theaardvark]

Half time adjustments are not only to what their offence is doing, but also to what you expect their defence is going to change to.  I understand having a different 1st half / 2nd half game plan, even if the 1st half goes well.  But they were adapting as the half went on.

We need to be more dynamic in the playcalling.  And I don't mean flea flickers and jet sweep tosses, but just the simple run on passing downs or pass on running downs. Getting mismatches and taking advantage of them.  Brady on a DE was a classic, if Zach had a hair more air on that, its a TD.

We kept them without a first down for 3 series to start, and then not so much.

Losing Bonds did not help, but moving Kramdi to FS was also questionable, when he has been such a force at SAM.  Kelly is a good backup, but he's not ready for prime time, IMHO.  He got torched too much this game.

Lawson was OK, but we need another stud INT DB/FS ASAP. Did we miss out on Ciote Evans?  Does Nichols have another buddy like Bonds? (or was it the other way around?)

"Big Play" Adams lived up to his name, and we should not have been torched like we were.  I don't think we ran Cheetah enough, Willie did not get a chance to shoot through the A gap, did Person get a stat?

I think Sergio's adrenaline was peaked when he drove it through the endzone, that should have been an in bounds, not in endzone kick for sure.  The point didn't matter as much as the time and yardage.

I don't know why, but it seems CFL teams cannot do "prevent".  NFL does, but the extra man and the waggle just seems to kill it in the CFL.

Sergio good from 63 vs. Medlock short from 62...  glad Mr Maracas is here.

Just seems a pity to waste it.

[Blueforlife]

Half time adjustments are not only to what their offence is doing, but also to what you expect their defence is going to change to.  I understand having a different 1st half / 2nd half game plan, even if the 1st half goes well.  But they were adapting as the half went on.

We need to be more dynamic in the playcalling.  And I don't mean flea flickers and jet sweep tosses, but just the simple run on passing downs or pass on running downs. Getting mismatches and taking advantage of them.  Brady on a DE was a classic, if Zach had a hair more air on that, its a TD.

We kept them without a first down for 3 series to start, and then not so much.

Losing Bonds did not help, but moving Kramdi to FS was also questionable, when he has been such a force at SAM.  Kelly is a good backup, but he's not ready for prime time, IMHO.  He got torched too much this game.

Lawson was OK, but we need another stud INT DB/FS ASAP. Did we miss out on Ciote Evans?  Does Nichols have another buddy like Bonds? (or was it the other way around?)

"Big Play" Adams lived up to his name, and we should not have been torched like we were.  I don't think we ran Cheetah enough, Willie did not get a chance to shoot through the A gap, did Person get a stat?

I think Sergio's adrenaline was peaked when he drove it through the endzone, that should have been an in bounds, not in endzone kick for sure.  The point didn't matter as much as the time and yardage.

I don't know why, but it seems CFL teams cannot do "prevent".  NFL does, but the extra man and the waggle just seems to kill it in the CFL.

Sergio good from 63 vs. Medlock short from 62...  glad Mr Maracas is here.

Just seems a pity to waste it.

Make some great points here and I agree with all of them except it's hard to stop VA when he is on.  I was so jacked when he hit that 3.  Such a let down.

Hall had a pretty good prevent D back in the day but it was a little bend don't break, it would strengthen in the red zone.

Good point about Person did not notice him!

[bunker]

Half time adjustments are not only to what their offence is doing, but also to what you expect their defence is going to change to.  I understand having a different 1st half / 2nd half game plan, even if the 1st half goes well.  But they were adapting as the half went on.

We need to be more dynamic in the playcalling.  And I don't mean flea flickers and jet sweep tosses, but just the simple run on passing downs or pass on running downs. Getting mismatches and taking advantage of them.  Brady on a DE was a classic, if Zach had a hair more air on that, its a TD.

We kept them without a first down for 3 series to start, and then not so much.

Losing Bonds did not help, but moving Kramdi to FS was also questionable, when he has been such a force at SAM.  Kelly is a good backup, but he's not ready for prime time, IMHO.  He got torched too much this game.

Lawson was OK, but we need another stud INT DB/FS ASAP. Did we miss out on Ciote Evans?  Does Nichols have another buddy like Bonds? (or was it the other way around?)

"Big Play" Adams lived up to his name, and we should not have been torched like we were.  I don't think we ran Cheetah enough, Willie did not get a chance to shoot through the A gap, did Person get a stat?

I think Sergio's adrenaline was peaked when he drove it through the endzone, that should have been an in bounds, not in endzone kick for sure.  The point didn't matter as much as the time and yardage.

I don't know why, but it seems CFL teams cannot do "prevent".  NFL does, but the extra man and the waggle just seems to kill it in the CFL.

Sergio good from 63 vs. Medlock short from 62...  glad Mr Maracas is here.

Just seems a pity to waste it.

Our current "best" american receiver, Stearns, could not even make the roster for the Riders. All the play calling in the world won't help enough if you don't have the players.

[dd]

Agree we have 2nd rate receiving corps in Sterns (the best of the IMP's and like you said, couldn't make the Riders), Wheatfall, Corcoran, Clercius all 2nd rate receivers, not a play maker in the bunch. Brady and Demski are play makers, they make things happen, the others are just dead weight. We need impact receivers. We don't han't ve a Lawler, or a Lewis or a Coxie or a I could go down the line...every team has a killer deep ball reciever, who's ours?? We don't have one/I haven't seen him yet, and until then, our offense isn't going anywhere as teams will flood the box, shut down the run and force us into the brutal offense we seen the second half

[Waffler]

The 63 yarder by Sergio was a thing of beauty. And a no-brainer call to take the lead. Blaming him for the ensuing KO is wrong. If you don't think he was given instruction then you haven't been paying attention.

In the Post-Game Rewind Ed Tait is saying Sergio was mad at himself in the locker room for that kickoff. So if he was given instruction he didn't execute but I think it more likely that he wasn't told anything special.

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