Official Game Day Thread - Saskatchewan at Winnipeg, October 17, 2025

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

You're right he's as slow as molasses, so while he doesn't get beat physically they usually rush around him like he's a pylon. He's been a down grade from Dobson

Disagree, Dobson often got overpowered and rarely ventured up field, was glad to see him move on. 

[theaardvark]

We talked with Captain Blue and his airplane post-game.  He confirmed the engine did NOT blow up in the HAM game as my son said.  He said the drive chain broke!  So no new engine.  Still has the nice put-putter engine.

But what kind of engine?

[theaardvark]

How on earth are there "seat vagabonds" in Pinnacle?  I thought you needed proof of Pinnacle tickets to get in the door?

As for "loud discussions", if it was about football, then that's the whole point of going to games!  If they were discussing Taylor Swift's love life, then ya, I feel ya.

The seats have no monitoring, unless you call security.  These guys sat behind me to watch the game, commenting on the fact so few seats were filled in the "rich " section.

Taylor Swifts love life would have been a lot more interesting than the mundane crap these guys were yelling in my ear.

[The Zipp]

The seats have no monitoring, unless you call security.  These guys sat behind me to watch the game, commenting on the fact so few seats were filled in the "rich " section.

Taylor Swifts love life would have been a lot more interesting than the mundane crap these guys were yelling in my ear.

Dial up her song "wood" that will be all you need to hear...has anyone asked ZC if he has given that tune a listen?

[Tecno]

But what kind of engine?

Drat.  Forgot to ask.  Still gas, anyhow.  And there are some pretty wild exhaust pipes, like brass or bronze, coming out the sides.  That explains the cool rev noises.

I'll ask next time.  Get to the bottom of this once and for all!

[Tecno]

but it seems like Zac has no time from the get go, shouldn't he be taking a deeper drop?

He doesn't drop deep because the speedy DEs just run around our OTs.  I think it's a conscious decision by our O to compensate for our weaker OTs, and also help out the weaker OGs by keeping everything tighter.  If Zach drops back a lot the OTs would have to drop out wide to cover, and that leaves gaping B-gaps.

[Tecno]

I did and it means absolutely nothing to me. I evaluate his skills as a passer and runner and judge him against his peers in the league. I said in the "ugly" thread how different, how much more successful we would be with Rourke throwing darts and dropping dimes as they say. Zach is no longer capable. When watching those two operate back to back the difference is jarring. Even Adams put him to shame Saturday night.

But comparing Rourke/Alexander/VAJ to Zach is not fair.  Two are early 20's, one is older, but not Zach old.

You should be comparing Zach to Trevor & BLM.  And Zach is as mobile, or more so, than those other 2.  The difference is Trevor & BLM have great OL support this season -- Zach, not so much.  Give Zach a stellar OL and he'll be getting the same yardage as the other geriatrics.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

But comparing Rourke/Alexander/VAJ to Zach is not fair.  Two are early 20's, one is older, but not Zach old.

You should be comparing Zach to Trevor & BLM.  And Zach is as mobile, or more so, than those other 2.  The difference is Trevor & BLM have great OL support this season -- Zach, not so much.  Give Zach a stellar OL and he'll be getting the same yardage as the other geriatrics.

Not sure the Rider O-line is great, Trevor Harris has such a quick release he's almost not worth pursuing, he knows where the ball is going before he receives the snap.

[Tecno]

Not sure the Rider O-line is great, Trevor Harris has such a quick release he's almost not worth pursuing, he knows where the ball is going before he receives the snap.

Then Mafia/coaches failed miserably creating a similar game plan around Zach.  If we knew our OL was crap, which could have been guessed in TC (and certainly known by week 6), then we should have created an O plan like SSK.

That said, Trevor has been fairly protected on his long shots (though all the short/run game can cause that).  And HAM's OL has been stellar.

So one could say Ted did it right, and the SSK OC did it right.  We're trying to execute a HAM O with a bad OL and as we are finding out, it's impossible.

[The Zipp]

Hardrick - gamechanger, he missed most of the season last year but it is no coincidence that when he plays most of the games the team has finished in the top tier of the league.  He is very good at this job - will likely start to fade but he is solid.

[theaardvark]

Drat.  Forgot to ask.  Still gas, anyhow.  And there are some pretty wild exhaust pipes, like brass or bronze, coming out the sides.  That explains the cool rev noises.

I'll ask next time.  Get to the bottom of this once and for all!

He doesn't drop deep because the speedy DEs just run around our OTs.  I think it's a conscious decision by our O to compensate for our weaker OTs, and also help out the weaker OGs by keeping everything tighter.  If Zach drops back a lot the OTs would have to drop out wide to cover, and that leaves gaping B-gaps.

Which would explain CS17's 3 completion game as well.

[Horseman]

If the O line has issues stopping the blitz's through the gaps, then I would recommend the O linemen reduced their splits when they line up, make the gaps smaller which would prevent the opponent rushing through untouched, especially when a blitz package is obvious. Tell ZC to stay in the pocket as narrower splits will give the DE's more of a wide rush to the outside.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

If the O line has issues stopping the blitz's through the gaps, then I would recommend the O linemen reduced their splits when they line up, make the gaps smaller which would prevent the opponent rushing through untouched, especially when a blitz package is obvious. Tell ZC to stay in the pocket as narrower splits will give the DE's more of a wide rush to the outside.

Re-watched the highlights, on the play Zach got swacked he knew he was going to be hit hard and still exposed himself fully by continuing through with the throwing motion instead of attempting to dodge and avoid contact.  Heroic or stupid?  This decision also put the throw in danger as it easily could have been picked off when his throwing motion was interrupted by the blitzing LB.

[theaardvark]

Re-watched the highlights, on the play Zach got swacked he knew he was going to be hit hard and still exposed himself fully by continuing through with the throwing motion instead of attempting to dodge and avoid contact.  Heroic or stupid?  This decision also put the throw in danger as it easily could have been picked off when his throwing motion was interrupted by the blitzing LB.

Why can't it be both?  I'd say that is Zach's TD/INT problem in a nutshell...

[dd]

Hardrick - gamechanger, he missed most of the season last year but it is no coincidence that when he plays most of the games the team has finished in the top tier of the league.  He is very good at this job - will likely start to fade but he is solid.

Agree. Randolph is ok at RT but he ain't no Hardrick, that's for sure.