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

[Blue72]

Before some guys resign they want to especially know who the OC will be, plus who the GM, HC, DC will be.

It seemed that Walters was missing all year and when FA trade line NO pickups. Now would that be on MOS because he doesn't like putting in new guys 1/2 into a season. Plus MOS doesn't like playing backup QB's or even giving them a chance to prove themselves.

Strev was a fan favorite but is NOT a QB that you can count on, he can't read a defense or throw plus has happy feet.

MOS always says next man up but his pick for OC, DC, and backup QB was a big mistake.

[Pete]

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

the trouble with our defense may have been that it seemed we had one scheme/gemeplan for every one,  We needed to be able to vary it more when an offense has figured it out. (this could also apply to our offense as well.) Part of this could be due to the lack of talent on the dline.
I think Younger is a good coach but we need to give him some more tools to work with, maybe Jenkins and Jaworski can help but we also need an impact dt as well as an upgrade to cdn depth. Thomas and Kornelson just wont cut it. Woods may be ok as a backup.

[Jesse]

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.

Dominate defences allow few points. That's the only job. They were #1 at that. They weren't good on paper. The results were good. Especially since Labour Day.

But we were 6th in points scored, only 2 more per game than Ott and Edm. We turned the ball over more than any other team. We were second worst in opponent points scored on those turnovers.

The defence sucked on Saturday. It has never the issue over the past two season though.

[bunker]

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.

I think any defensive system will be worse against good quarterbacks.

I hate our no pressure defense. Its not fun to watch, and fun is part of the reason I watch football.
But its hard to argue that our D is not effective. We are first in points given up per game, second in yards given up per game, first in (lowest) percentage of drives ending in giving up a touchdown, first in highest percentage of drives ending in a punt. Those are probably the most important stats on D.

Now one could argue that not generating turnovers is a problem for our D. We were third last in percentage of drives leading to turnovers. And although any negative effects of this on defensive effectiveness should ultimately be captured in the other defensive stats, you could argue that the lack of turnovers hampers the offense, since we are less likely to give the offense the ball in good field position. Yet when you look up the average starting yard line for our offense, it is really within a yard or two of the other teams. So I am having trouble mounting a good argument against Younger's defense, even though I would like to.

The best I can come up with is that O'Shea is a big proponent of the idea that whoever wins the turnover battle wins the game, and we often lost the turnover battle. We were at the bottom of the league in interceptions, forced fumbles and tackles for a loss. Yet the amount of forced turnovers by our D was only about 2 less than league average. The turnovers, especially interceptions, by our offense was a bigger issue IMO. Maybe the lack of pressure, sacks and turnovers kills our momentum and excitement? But this feels like grasping at straws.

I would like us to return to a more traditional pressure focused Defense because its more enjoyable to watch. But I'm having a hard time convincing myself its necessary based on effectiveness alone.

[Horseman]

I will say that we need a new OC or a new playbook, a different defensive system where we stress rushing the QB and getting pressure. Sacks would be great however, pressure where the QB has to rush his throw is also effective. Bring a blitz more often than we do.

Now the following players need to be released or traded:

J. Thomas (may retire)
W. Jefferson (trade for a QB, try to get Fajardo or at least Ford from the Elk)
P. Nuefeld (to many whiffs on blocks)
S. Bryant (saw him handing out bus tickets to guys running by him to many times this year)
Vaugters (was only average)
Lawson Jr. (terrible in coverage, can't tackle)
Parker (see above)
D. Mitchell (did nothing)
Eccols (hoe hum)
Schoen (his knee is done)
Streverler (See above)
ZC (trade him for someone or cut him)
P. Logan (total bust)

That is a lot of turn over, but the re-build has to begin. Go hard in FA with the available money saved.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

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.

Problem with Crum is he's a low scoring QB, don't think he'll ever be capable of putting up 40 pt games. Sure good second stringer, but that isn't the problem right now.

For vet QB's good chance Arbuckle, Fajardo and MBT test FA at varying prices, Cody will do whatever he needs to get back into the $400k+ salary range and will use FA to bargain with Hervey.  At this point I think he's more capable than Zach and is a few years younger, he could be a decent short term solution.  A lot rides with the choice of OC, can't see Hogan getting a second chance but likely switches seats with J. Jackson.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Dominate defences allow few points. That's the only job. They were #1 at that. They weren't good on paper. The results were good. Especially since Labour Day.

But we were 6th in points scored, only 2 more per game than Ott and Edm. We turned the ball over more than any other team. We were second worst in opponent points scored on those turnovers.

The defence sucked on Saturday. It has never the issue over the past two season though.

I can't believe you're arguing for a defense that doesn't pressure the QB.

It has been terrible in 2 of the 3 playoff games JY has called. Made freaking Nick Arbuckle look like Tom Brady last year and it let the Als set playoff records this year.

And until we find a way to get pressure with it, it's never going to be successful unless you consider dominating Dru Brown and Montreal's 4th stringer an accomplishment. Reality, they suck against everyone.

Time to go watch the Grey Cup tape for 2019 and 2021 and compare it to now. Or just watch the other teams beat us after.

In big games you need to attack the QB or you will lose. There's a reason no one else runs this stupid system in any league.

[dd]

Problem with Crum is he's a low scoring QB, don't think he'll ever be capable of putting up 40 pt games. Sure good second stringer, but that isn't the problem right now.

For vet QB's good chance Arbuckle, Fajardo and MBT test FA at varying prices, Cody will do whatever he needs to get back into the $400k+ salary range and will use FA to bargain with Hervey.  At this point I think he's more capable than Zach and is a few years younger, he could be a decent short term solution.  A lot rides with the choice of OC, can't see Hogan getting a second chance but likely switches seats with J. Jackson.

I'd take Fajardo over Collaros next year no problem, the thing is most Bomber fans hate his guts!! I can't see MOS taking Fajardo over Collaros, no way, he'll go with Collaros due to his leadership and fit in the locker room, Fajardo on the other hand, seems to wear out his welcome pretty quick.

[dd]

Problem with Crum is he's a low scoring QB, don't think he'll ever be capable of putting up 40 pt games. Sure good second stringer, but that isn't the problem right now.

For vet QB's good chance Arbuckle, Fajardo and MBT test FA at varying prices, Cody will do whatever he needs to get back into the $400k+ salary range and will use FA to bargain with Hervey.  At this point I think he's more capable than Zach and is a few years younger, he could be a decent short term solution.  A lot rides with the choice of OC, can't see Hogan getting a second chance but likely switches seats with J. Jackson.

Yes, he is a low scoring Qb, but more importantly, he doesn't turn the ball over much either. He turns it over far less than much talked about Dru Brown, who is a turnover machine, and Zach, who was the biggest turnover machine this year!!! Our offense had alot of problems, but the biggest by far was coughing the ball up, and that continued in our playoff game, with Collaros fumbling one and Brady the other. We HAVE to eliminate this from our offense, and I don't know how, because we turned it over all year. Give me Crum and his low scoring game he runs and very few turnoevers over our current turn the ball over frequently and give up easy points offense/defense.

[Pete]

fajardo will likely be signed by the elks well before free agency. They don't seem to have any problem throwing big money to free agents. Also I believe Collaros will have a significant signing bonus prior to the start of free agency.
BTW Arbuckle (and Kelly) aren't free agents,

[dd]

Dominate defences allow few points. That's the only job. They were #1 at that. They weren't good on paper. The results were good. Especially since Labour Day.

But we were 6th in points scored, only 2 more per game than Ott and Edm. We turned the ball over more than any other team. We were second worst in opponent points scored on those turnovers.

The defence sucked on Saturday. It has never the issue over the past two season though.

Wow, I never knew our defense allowed the fewest points in the league. That is surprising, not because of our D, but because our offense totally hung our defense out to dry many, many times througout this season and in the playoffs, with turnovers, that resulted in the opposition getting very short fields.  We were very sloppy and careless with the football, THAT has got to change.

To me, our focal point in 2026 has got to be reduce our turnovers, both throwing ill advised passes for pick 6's (how many did we throw this year, I lost track!!) and brutal fumbles which we had 2 of this past weekend.

[ichabod_crane]

Totally agree. They blew it. My Grey Cup tickets are not that valuable to me anymore.

Not sure what the thought process was around all this by the bombers. Playing in a home grey cup would have filled the coffers even more to cover that over the cap limit expense. I have no issue of any team exceeding the cap (at least up to 100k) before losing draft picks to be in a home cup. BC DID IT last year although it blew up In their faces in the end as they went very overboard, but at least they tried.

In any case probably way too many holes to fill during the season.

[ichabod_crane]

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.

To be fair Willie has had NO HELP from the interior d line for at least a year or two now, so teams could use two blockers against him always. Need a new "Stove" or similar again for better push up The middle to have another d lineman to worry about.

[blue_gold_84]

A tumultuous end to a tumultuous season.

Time for some changes in Bomberland - starting with the OC.

The defence sucked on Saturday.

So did the offense. One first down in a quarter of football is embarrassing. The offense, particularly through the air, was pretty putrid all season long outside of maybe three games.

The unorthodox defensive system seemed to work more often than not this season; that was clearly not the case on Saturday.

The offense should be take the higher priority as far as criticism of this 2025 team is concerned, IMO.

[Blue In BC]

Dominate defences allow few points. That's the only job. They were #1 at that. They weren't good on paper. The results were good. Especially since Labour Day.

But we were 6th in points scored, only 2 more per game than Ott and Edm. We turned the ball over more than any other team. We were second worst in opponent points scored on those turnovers.

The defence sucked on Saturday. It has never the issue over the past two season though.

That's not their only job. The need to get the opponent off the field and win TOP and field position. Sure it's great when they hold a team to a FG. OTOH a 6 minute 10 play drive for 90 yards resulting in a FG is not that ideal either.

Someone needs to show the stats on TOP ( when the defence is on the field ) and average starting field position.