Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Montreal November 1, 2025

[Blue In BC]

Our unofficial roster shows about 37 players that played on Saturday are potential free agents. At the moment I don't see us losing any that we want to retain. The real question is where do we choose to not retain.

I have some opinions but it's early and we'll see things start to play out as we move into the new year.

Currently we have 65 players on the roster which includes 20 on the 1 game or 6 game IR. I have suggested we should release some players by the end of the the year to clear the deck so to speak. I doubt we do that but is there a point waiting until free agency starts to release Echols, Mitchell and Logan as examples?

[Waffler]

allstar Rb coughs up a major fumble that cost us the game

In fairness a Montreal player was in so quick Brady only had the ball a split second before there was an arm in there. Who  missed the block? He should take some blame.

[Waffler]

ZC has showed up

He played the best he can but still 2 fumbles, one lost. 1 pick and 1 more that should have been.  His best play is behind him and only downhill from here. I think we need a rebuild and he's just too old to be that guy we build with.

[Blue In BC]

In fairness a Montreal player was in so quick Brady only had the ball a split second before there was an arm in there. Who  missed the block? He should take some blame.

I agree but that's football in a nutshell. I wouldn't blame anyone in particular. Defences make plays too. Allen's fumble recovery is an example. I think it was Holm that caused the fumble with great effort and it paid off.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

His lowest sack total ever, 3. He has had 12 and 11 sack seasons with the Bombers.  This could be because we just don't rush enough people. He probably knows if he ever got to the QB he'd have no help there, so he spends a lot of reps getting in the passing lane and hopping at the right time.

Sack drop off is on the system employed, 3 against 4 or 5 and sometime max. protect with a RB or FB chipping in to protect the QB.  Not an easy job especially when the Bombers rarely add a blitz, you won't find many D-linemen that can shrug that off and produce sack numbers without heavy rotation. 

Betts has amazing sack numbers because the Lions system allows him to ignore containment and use his speed to pursue QB's wherever they may go, his line-mates take on the other responsibilities.  I could be wrong but I don't recall Betts ever having a great game against the Bombers, with good protection he can be reduced to a non-factor.

[dd]

Our club needs talent plain and simple. Total overhaul on our D line, Willie back only on a restructured contract that reflects his 3 sacks for 2025. I d keep Lawson but absolutely flush everyone else. Not even going to mention the J word.

O line we need to replace yoshi s talent lost from 2 years ago and Dobson last year,

Need to find an impact receiver we lost in lawler

On the up side, we got some decent peices to the puzzle in Brady, demski, Wilson and sterns, jones is a killer mlb, Wilson at will, kramdi sam, holm, Allen


Biggest changes are at coordinator, the 3 man rush must go and if was due to personnel fine get the personnel to get pressure from the front 4,if it's the desired scheme younger must go. Offensively there's no question hogan has to go

[Blue In BC]

Sack drop off is on the system employed, 3 against 4 or 5 and sometime max. protect with a RB or FB chipping in to protect the QB.  Not an easy job especially when the Bombers rarely add a blitz, you won't find many D-linemen that can shrug that off and produce sack numbers without heavy rotation. 

Betts has amazing sack numbers because the Lions system allows him to ignore containment and use his speed to pursue QB's wherever they may go, his line-mates take on the other responsibilities.  I could be wrong but I don't recall Betts ever having a great game against the Bombers, with good protection he can be reduced to a non-factor.

Our defensive strategy didn't seem to change from 2024 so I don't think that's the reason. Willie is on the downside and he got less reps and less results this year.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Our defensive strategy didn't seem to change from 2024 so I don't think that's the reason. Willie is on the downside and he got less reps and less results this year.

JY's defense is situationally good but pretty bad in overall effectiveness. It seems like a defense built to look good statistically while not really translating into wins. It also tends to get shredded by the better QBs more so than other defenses.

He's now: 21-15 regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs as an defensive coordinator.  That's awfully average results.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Our defensive strategy didn't seem to change from 2024 so I don't think that's the reason. Willie is on the downside and he got less reps and less results this year.

I think Younger transitioned into the 3 man line towards the end of last season, once he realized he couldn't replace Jeffcoat's contribution with one player.

[markf]

I was surprised at the apparent lack of energy and enthusiasm in the first half. Players seemed flat and almost bored.

Just an impression I have, but I thought Kyrie Wilson was not that effective this season.

Regarding three man rush, in the Lions game B.C. Started using it later in the game and immediately started giving up yards.

Its ok, but it would be nice to see some pressure now and then. Our Lack of pressure probably helped Argos win the cup last season.it would have been nice to see Jenkins in there yesterday. Even if he hasn't worked his way up.

It doesn't have to come from a lineman, could be a linebacker or DB.

Sometimes yesterday it seemed like the als knew what play we were running on O as well as we did.

Our offence seems to be easy to read and predictable.

I have No idea why.

I  read that post game Zach said he's returning next season. Not sure that's all that great for the team. There are a few reasons our offence was bad this season, he was probably one of them.I would rather start finding the next QB.

He played ok yesterday... except for fumble, but the first half stats were pretty bad.

My biggest wish is... improve the O line. It's the biggest flaw that I can see. They were not very good at all this season. Other teams have been taking our guys for years. Now it's time  return the favour.

Anyone know what happened re Neufeld, he was out and 65 was in second half.

I'm not expecting much change in the way OShea and Walters run the team. They are very conservative in their approach.

I was surprised when the ALS traded cup winner Fajardo, and went with the young guy, we would not do that. But it seems like the right move doesn't it? The Wally Buono approach. Cold but mostly effective.

Semi and final, then season over. It's going to be wierd cheering for Bo Levi..😂 in the East final . Then On the NFL (not a big fan of it)

Anyway, I enjoyed following the season here at the forum, thanks everyone for that. Looking forward to the post season opinions and developements.

😀

[dd]

Yeah, Zach and Brady both had a fumble each yesterday, and they do happen, but our leaders on offence have got to lead us statistically and it can't be in the fumble category

[theaardvark]

I don't care how much $$$ a player makes.  They have to contribute to winning.

If the player produces, he's worth whatever his contract is.  But, when they don't, do we want them on the team, regardless the price?

Getting a "deal" on a player that is not contributing, bad decision.

Love Zach, and his getting us back to backs.  But between his performance and injury absences, sorry, he's not the answer and hasn't been for a while.  Bringing him back for 2026 would be a terrible choice.  There is no doubting his experience or his drive, or his leadership, but at the end of the day, you cannot defend his results.

I get it, he had a rookie OC and a somewhat new Oline, and was missing some of his targets... but those are excuses. 

One of the highest paid players in the league needs to perform like one of the best players in the league.

He's not in the top 10 QB's in the league now.  And he's scheduled to be one of the highest paid.

If he has guaranteed money on his contract, can we 6 game him for the year?  Does "guaranteed money" get paid out like regular game cheques, or like a roster bonus? If he gets cut before they next $SMS cycle, does the guaranteed money apply to the 2025 cap, or the 2026...

Does he have the brain and desire to be an OC?

[Jesse]

JY's defense is situationally good but pretty bad in overall effectiveness. It seems like a defense built to look good statistically while not really translating into wins. It also tends to get shredded by the better QBs more so than other defenses.

He's now: 21-15 regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs as an defensive coordinator.  That's awfully average results.

Ignoring the fact that our defense finished #1 in points allowed both years and it's been our offence dragging us down these past 2 years. Tough to point any of this at JY in my opinion. I know everyone wants more sacks, but the ineffectiveness of the offence has made winning difficult lately.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Ignoring the fact that our defense finished #1 in points allowed both years and it's been our offence dragging us down these past 2 years. Tough to point any of this at JY in my opinion. I know everyone wants more sacks, but the ineffectiveness of the offence has made winning difficult lately.

We gave up 560 offensive yards yesterday. We went 0-3 against Vernon Adams. They went 0-2 against Trevor Harris. The unit generates very few turnovers and in practice is lets every offense we play against dictate to us every play.

Dominate defenses win more football games. They give offenses short fields. They get turnovers.

Who cares how "good" the defense is on paper or how effective they are at confusing bad quarterbacks. In practice it's average. Against good quarterbacks who can read defenses it's below average.

[dd]

No doubt Zach is on the decline, no doubt about it, but assuming every team retains their #1 Qb, who do you propose we replace him with--Arbuckle??, Crum??, MBT??

I am hoping we could get either Arbuckle or Crum here, but as our #2 next year and that would be a huge coo for our team!!

I think Crum grew exponentially as a Qb this past season, and think he'll continue to grow, I'd be going after him, he's got a decent are, he can run if forced, rarely turns the ball over, and moves the ball. That's all you want from your #2.