Official Game Day Thread - Hamilton @Winnipeg, June 11, 2026

[J5V]

I dunno. These types of things are rarely ever black and white. When things have gone well for this D we have thought of JY as a genius. I just doubt he's suddenly become an idiot. I suspect we just haven't had enough time to figure out how best to use what we've got. It was game two of eighteen so there's a long way to go yet. 

Last year Calgary looked unbeatable early on but flamed out as the season went along. 

Win or lose I want to see our team improve game by game and catch fire late into the season and playoffs. This is no time to panic and I don't think there will be any panic from this coaching and management group. I'm expecting much better days ahead. 

[Tecno]

We've now seen every team play; including our own team twice.  I don't know about you but I'm really scared of at least half the teams.  SSK, BC, HAM, TOR, MTL are all playing at a level we can't even dream of.  Excluding TOR those other teams are playing at least as good ball as they were to end last season.  Maybe even better.

SSK has lost nothing that matters.  If their D is slightly worse, who cares because their O will dink & dunk for 6 nearly every possession.  They'll just out barnstorm you.  BC is clearly revved up to take everyone out, for "their time".  MTL is unstoppable as long as that hammy holds up (which is 50/50 at this point).  Kelly looked as good as ever.  Bo will dissect anyone if he plays at the level of this week.

And all the D's are tight and hard hitting.  SSK/BC were beating the tar out of each other.  Many players nicked.

Now do us.  Our O is sputtering and not much better than how we ended the ESF.  Nothing comes easy.  Brady has to struggle to get 4 every time.  Every 2nd down conversion is a miracle.  Ignore the big yards from this last game as it was all garbage time to HAM as they knew we didn't have the time nor could we stop BLM.  Broxton hasn't made a big impact yet.  Sterns looking like a world-beater in MTL, but we moved on to whiffer Nield and Cobb.

Our D does extreme soft zone with zero adjustments.  And when in man, that man gets beat 90% of the time.  Everyone is left alone, never any FS help.  Our DL didn't do a single thing against HAM, and their OL isn't that great!!  What's up with that!  Ceresna was no better than Fox or Garbutt in that regard.  Our LBs once again are getting gashed by the run, by nobody no-name RBs.

I'm not saying we can't get better.  Broxton & Ceresna simply have to be better, for example.  But out of the gate we are going to go 10% win/loss vs the aforementioned teams.  And it's those teams we HAVE to beat this year to get anywhere in the post-season.

Ya, we stunk because we always do going into the bye, but there's more to it than that.  Did we really build a still-substandard team?  Did MOS really once again not drive them hard enough in TC, and then rest them all in PS2 -- something he said he'd not do?

And Zach needs to up his game.  It's not just the young studs that can run that make him look bad (Rourke, Alexander), it's even the geriatrics like Trevor & Bo who are playing miles above him.  Why have those geezers improved so much in '25-'26 and Zach is just, Zach?  What's the secret sauce we are missing?

After the bye we better destroy EDM, or I'm afraid I'll be betting/picking against WPG for many weeks to come until I see something to be optimistic about.  Our current team's play is good enough to do well in 2021 or 2022, but it's nowhere near good enough to compete against most teams in 2026.  Have we been left behind?

[Jesse]

We've now seen every team play; including our own team twice.  I don't know about you but I'm really scared of at least half the teams.  SSK, BC, HAM, TOR, MTL are all playing at a level we can't even dream of.  Excluding TOR those other teams are playing at least as good ball as they were to end last season.  Maybe even better.

SSK has lost nothing that matters.  If their D is slightly worse, who cares because their O will dink & dunk for 6 nearly every possession.  They'll just out barnstorm you.  BC is clearly revved up to take everyone out, for "their time".  MTL is unstoppable as long as that hammy holds up (which is 50/50 at this point).  Kelly looked as good as ever.  Bo will dissect anyone if he plays at the level of this week.

And all the D's are tight and hard hitting.  SSK/BC were beating the tar out of each other.  Many players nicked.

Now do us.  Our O is sputtering and not much better than how we ended the ESF.  Nothing comes easy.  Brady has to struggle to get 4 every time.  Every 2nd down conversion is a miracle.  Ignore the big yards from this last game as it was all garbage time to HAM as they knew we didn't have the time nor could we stop BLM.  Broxton hasn't made a big impact yet.  Sterns looking like a world-beater in MTL, but we moved on to whiffer Nield and Cobb.

I'm very down on our defence, but definitely not as high as you on the other teams and flat out disagree with you on our offence.

1. Other teams

The league has allowed like 5 separate 400 yards passers so far this season? I don't know you call Sask/BC "tight and hard hitting". Rourke through for 330 and Harris for 417. It's been a free for all for offences out there.

2. Our Offence

I'm not sure what you're watching, but our offence isn't spluttering...Brady ran for over 100 with a 7 yard average in week one. His stats were suppressed in Week 2 and we took the opportunity to pass for over 400. I'm not going to ignore the passing yards because Zach threw for half of those yards in the first half, it was not a garbage time stat. Our second down conversion rate is about 50% which should be better but certainly isn't a "miracle". Neild's off to a faster start than Sterns and feels like an instrumental part of our offence so far. I honestly don't understand what you're seeing.

[Blue In BC]

I'm very down on our defence, but definitely not as high as you on the other teams and flat out disagree with you on our offence.

1. Other teams

The league has allowed like 5 separate 400 yards passers so far this season? I don't know you call Sask/BC "tight and hard hitting". Rourke through for 330 and Harris for 417. It's been a free for all for offences out there.

2. Our Offence

I'm not sure what you're watching, but our offence isn't spluttering...Brady ran for over 100 with a 7 yard average in week one. His stats were suppressed in Week 2 and we took the opportunity to pass for over 400. I'm not going to ignore the passing yards because Zach threw for half of those yards in the first half, it was not a garbage time stat. Our second down conversion rate is about 50% which should be better but certainly isn't a "miracle". Neild's off to a faster start than Sterns and feels like an instrumental part of our offence so far. I honestly don't understand what you're seeing.

Our offence has been very good. The issue as we've said is that we lose TOP and field position on defence. That's generally why a team loses. Hamilton only punted twice. That's a bad sign.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

We've now seen every team play; including our own team twice.  I don't know about you but I'm really scared of at least half the teams.  SSK, BC, HAM, TOR, MTL are all playing at a level we can't even dream of.  Excluding TOR those other teams are playing at least as good ball as they were to end last season.  Maybe even better.

SSK has lost nothing that matters.  If their D is slightly worse, who cares because their O will dink & dunk for 6 nearly every possession.  They'll just out barnstorm you.  BC is clearly revved up to take everyone out, for "their time".  MTL is unstoppable as long as that hammy holds up (which is 50/50 at this point).  Kelly looked as good as ever.  Bo will dissect anyone if he plays at the level of this week.

And all the D's are tight and hard hitting.  SSK/BC were beating the tar out of each other.  Many players nicked.

Now do us.  Our O is sputtering and not much better than how we ended the ESF.  Nothing comes easy.  Brady has to struggle to get 4 every time.  Every 2nd down conversion is a miracle.  Ignore the big yards from this last game as it was all garbage time to HAM as they knew we didn't have the time nor could we stop BLM.  Broxton hasn't made a big impact yet.  Sterns looking like a world-beater in MTL, but we moved on to whiffer Nield and Cobb.

Our D does extreme soft zone with zero adjustments.  And when in man, that man gets beat 90% of the time.  Everyone is left alone, never any FS help.  Our DL didn't do a single thing against HAM, and their OL isn't that great!!  What's up with that!  Ceresna was no better than Fox or Garbutt in that regard.  Our LBs once again are getting gashed by the run, by nobody no-name RBs.

I'm not saying we can't get better.  Broxton & Ceresna simply have to be better, for example.  But out of the gate we are going to go 10% win/loss vs the aforementioned teams.  And it's those teams we HAVE to beat this year to get anywhere in the post-season.

Ya, we stunk because we always do going into the bye, but there's more to it than that.  Did we really build a still-substandard team?  Did MOS really once again not drive them hard enough in TC, and then rest them all in PS2 -- something he said he'd not do?

And Zach needs to up his game.  It's not just the young studs that can run that make him look bad (Rourke, Alexander), it's even the geriatrics like Trevor & Bo who are playing miles above him.  Why have those geezers improved so much in '25-'26 and Zach is just, Zach?  What's the secret sauce we are missing?

After the bye we better destroy EDM, or I'm afraid I'll be betting/picking against WPG for many weeks to come until I see something to be optimistic about.  Our current team's play is good enough to do well in 2021 or 2022, but it's nowhere near good enough to compete against most teams in 2026.  Have we been left behind?

A positive with so many top level teams this season is there will plenty of exciting crack ups with unexpected results when they play each other.  No one team is invincible enough to dominate all others and the difference between winning and losing may come down to circumstances of the game, weather, injuries and turnovers being huge factors.  Inevitably once starting QB's start to miss games due to injuries the advantages will be more clear and the high quality of the games we've seen so far will likely drop significantly. 

The purge of the old boys coaching network is probably the best thing that happened in the CFL, no longer easy to point out the weak sisters with the retreaded coaching staff that never finds the way to win, every team has the potential to become great.

[dd]

Missed seeing this game but caught the highlights on you tube, verrrrry questionable PI call on Lawler in the end zone which was far less contact than the interference on Wilson in the end zone that went uncalled. Brutal officiating, that's a 14 point turnaround and the ball game right there.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Missed seeing this game but caught the highlights on you tube, verrrrry questionable PI call on Lawler in the end zone which was far less contact than the interference on Wilson in the end zone that went uncalled. Brutal officiating, that's a 14 point turnaround and the ball game right there.

Agree that call was questionable.

[Tecno]

I'm very down on our defence, but definitely not as high as you on the other teams and flat out disagree with you on our offence.

I don't know how else to say it, but there is zero chance we beat MTL, SSK or BC if we played them tomorrow.  There is no way our O will keep up with those barnstormers, and no way our D will stop the MTL/BC QBs from running for first down every time we blanket cover.  And HAM we just proved we can't beat.  And even TOR/Kelly will give us a run for our money.

The only teams we might beat tomorrow are EDM/OTT.  That's about the level we're playing it.  As for beating CGY, I chalk that up to bad VAJ showing up that day, and for some reason CGY came out of camp even less ready than us.

1. Other teams

The league has allowed like 5 separate 400 yards passers so far this season? I don't know you call Sask/BC "tight and hard hitting".

"Tight" as in D was playing close to their man and most times a REC caught it he was severely punished.  It's the opposite of our useless ubiquitous soft zone and horrid always-2-yards-behind man coverage.  And tight as in crisp fast execution on O with zippy QBs and clean quick/timing routes with so few dropsies.

Hard-hitting as in knocking the snot out of the other team.  It's clear the top teams are way more physical and enthused.  They attempt to crush the will to live.  Our D, they just play D.

I'm not sure what you're watching, but our offence isn't spluttering...Brady ran for over 100 with a 7 yard average in week one. His stats were suppressed in Week 2

Brady week 2, avg 4Y.  Which isn't enough to use him often.  That means the other team successfully took him off the table.  And like I said, every single 4Y was a massive grind, never an open hole, nothing easy.  Now watch the good running teams with gaping holes and massive run explosions.  Like HAM did to us.

and we took the opportunity to pass for over 400. I'm not going to ignore the passing yards because Zach threw for half of those yards in the first half, it was not a garbage time stat.

The whole second half felt like garbage time to me.  Especially after our first possession didn't get us a TD.  HAM started playing the clock knowing they'd probably get points on most drives, and just gave us everything underneath.  We weren't suddenly better than the first half, HAM just started giving us the short stuff.  It was clear by their D alignment: almost always playing way off and deep.  Even when they showed a tighter formation they all backed up by the snap.

Our second down conversion rate is about 50% which should be better but certainly isn't a "miracle".

But is is a miracle compared to SSK/BC/MTL/HAM.  Like was pointed out, HAM barely punted.  SSK barely punted.  MTL barely punted.  The top teams seem to convert 2nd & 10+ most of the time, and they make it look effortless.  You know, kind of like BLM did to us on Thursday.  It was just like back when he was (good) in CGY, no matter what we'd do on first down, he'd move the sticks on second.  Every time we got a sack or pass breakup or run-stuff, it didn't matter -- they converted anyhow, WITH EASE.

We converted nothing with ease.  Every play was a "cross your fingers" moment.  You know, just like last season.

Neild's off to a faster start than Sterns and feels like an instrumental part of our offence so far. I honestly don't understand what you're seeing.

Their week 2 stats were similar, but Nield had the advantage of a garbage time second half.  Luke Wilson was talking like Sterns is the second coming and next big thing.  I haven't yet watched out game on PVR, but I have a feeling no one has calling Nield that.

Again, it's not that I think we played too badly.  It's just that I think the best teams are playing at a massively higher level.  They score on most drives.  We are lucky to score on even a third of the drives.  They are playing sooo good so early in the season it just doesn't seem fair.  And it's quite abnormal from a CFL-norm standpoint.  So many teams are clearly "going for it", and many seem to really believe they can do it.  Pretty sure our D has zero confidence in "the system" after it was brutalized in the game.

If the D's are not up to snuff this year -- or just not yet -- it'll come down to keeping up with the other team's majors.  And right now we can't do that.  The other teams get TDs soooo easily.  We struggle, and whiff, and make bad calls, and don't execute.  Just like last season.

I'll try to take your word for it that we don't suck compared to the other contenders.  I'll do a rewatch shortly.  Maybe I got too bummed out getting wet in the stands.  But man, that SSK/BC game was at a whole other level compared to what I remember seeing!

[Tecno]

Did anyone get or see if they had the BBQ feasts for this game?  I could swear none of my 200-level spots had it on the menu anymore.  I didn't even bother asking as we opted for lighter fare this time.

[dd]

after 2 weeks, I agree that Mtl, Tor, BC and Sask all look far better on O and D than we do. If we played them tomorrow, ya, I don't think it ends well for us. But we're still trying to figure things out on D, our O is middle of the road right now, but hopefully in time, Tim White busts some big ones for us. Wilson has played well and Demski will get going.

[Tecno]

but hopefully in time, Tim White busts some big ones for us. Wilson has played well and Demski will get going.

"2 more weeks, brah".  Smoke that hopium!

Starting to sound like 2025.  Which sounded like 2024...

I'll join you, because I prefer to be an optimist.  But that "get going" better get going real darn soon.  Except garbage time, White hasn't done much of anything yet.  I think teams are purposely taking him away, as he's our this year's Kenny.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

after 2 weeks, I agree that Mtl, Tor, BC and Sask all look far better on O and D than we do. If we played them tomorrow, ya, I don't think it ends well for us. But we're still trying to figure things out on D, our O is middle of the road right now, but hopefully in time, Tim White busts some big ones for us. Wilson has played well and Demski will get going.

Well one thing for sure the Bombers are no longer a dominant team and will have to fight like hell to get to the Grey Cup.  Could be Zach's last ride.

[dd]

Well one thing for sure the Bombers are no longer a dominant team and will have to fight like hell to get to the Grey Cup.  Could be Zach's last ride.

Agreed. Its going to be a dog fight all year just to stay in contention

[Tecno]

Nield not good enough?  Watching the other top NATs & up&comers in the other week 1-3 games... I think we may have a middling guy at best.  Heck, maybe not even Woli level.

That dropsie in the EZ by Nield would have been caught by the best NATs in the league, and easily by most non-last-read IMPs.  What a beaut spiral by Zach, and in the perfect place (though he could have recognized coverage was a step slow and could have thrown a little less deep).

The margins are so thin this season you have to make those TDs.  There is no excuse.  Just have to make them.

Nield was a nobody I barely noticed in his previous seasons until that 2025 WDF catch.  He literally was not on my radar.  Never a good fantasy pick.  Not particularly great hands.  No diving "Dressler" ability.  No Kenny ladder circus.  Just a bigger body guy who seems at Woli level and has the right passport.

Then we signed him at pretty big money, for a non-star NAT who has basically done only one thing of note in his career so far.  Mistake?  And, as such, asking too much of him on that all-Nield first drive?

The pass immediately after, we throw a quick dig to tiny Cobb, who whiffs because the DB was on his back and just reached around his tiny body.  THAT is the play that Nield is made for!  Not the corner fade.  Bass ackwards.

We may need to temper our expectations on Nield.  We want the next McInnis (even since he's been diminished in mid-2025), but we may be lucky to have a Brissett.

One thing I will add in his favor, though, is he seems spot on with his routes, and it's nice that teams aren't keying on him so he's often more open than a star would be.

[Tecno]

1Q5:47 On the Cobb attempt after the Nield TD whiff, someone (probably Demski) is getting severely molested 6-8Y downfield on the double-move post route by HAM #1.  Like total egregious IC all day long.  Blind refs see naaaathing.

That's probably why Zach goes for the won't-be-first-down-anyhow Cobb-with-DB-draped read.

I think Demski would have been a clean TD over the crossbar had he not been impeded because it was man, probably cover 1.  Maybe Zach needs to learn to throw to the accosted REC rather than avoid him because he clearly won't get open.  Let MOS challenge if zebras don't spot the DPI.