Official Game Day Thread - Ottawa @ Winnipeg, August 14, 2026

[Tecno]

Tecno's Take - Midweek Edition:

GOOD PLAY count
zach 17.5
brady 10.5
white 7
willie 5.5
demski 4.5
ceresna 4.5
perkins 4.5
vaval 4
lawson 3.5
kyrie 3
moxey 3
nichols 3
nield 2.5
neuf 2.5
wallace 2.5
holm 2.5
fletcher 2.5
ayers 2.5
eli 2.5
2 each: sheahan, kelly, major, hallett, ike, reese
1.5 each: els, woodbey, stan, smith
1 each: goalpost, broxton, demski, jones, daniels, castillo, pokey

BAD PLAYS count
zach 3
pokey 2.5
kelly 2.5
brady 2
neuf 1.5
wallace 1.5
1 each: els, wallace, cobb, ball, major, kyrie, fletcher
0.5 each: white, smith, nichols

1Q11:38 Too many men?  How do you do that on the first drive of the first game back from the bye?

2Q9:07 Brady's big 2nd & 17 conversion: very AH-esque, nice!  This is the stuff that AH would do and win you playoffs and cups.  And he managed to stay up even after low leg hits/tackles.  Maybe we're seeing some progression & improvement by Brady.

3Q10:46 White's "dancing" is very entertaining, and pretty incredible.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a WPG REC that nimble and quick to change direction.  Want to see more of that!  And 4Q9:39

4Q6:08 Hardy mugs Nichols and gets the free 1st down call.  D has to be taught to take muggings without using their hands.  Make it clear to the refs that you are the one being mugged.

Nice mega-holding all over the place on that huge Pimpleton return to end the half.

Can't overstate how difficult that last pass before the half is, with 6s on the clock to execute within 5.  Very well done.  So few appreciate this.

Brady's best game in forever.  And I don't just mean stats.  He was taking low hits and leg/foot interference and keeping going -- something he's had trouble with.  Balance is looking way better.  Certainly the effort level has massively increased.

Ball non-contact again.  Kid can't stay healthy.  Another Schoen-like case, whose body can't handle football?

On OTT's final TD drive our DL is getting after it 4 on 5 shows the true potential of that group in a pressure situation when they can pin their ears back.

Has Eli put on weight?  Looks much bigger out there than normal.  And he was making more of a positive impact than usual.  He was in on jumbo quite a bit and I didn't see him blow a single block.  He's often the main grader/selaer on SY.  Good for Eli, bad as starter, but the absolute best 6th in the league by a country mile.  Can you be a jumbo specialist?  Dunno, but that's what he's become!

[dd]

Tecno's Take - Midweek Edition:

GOOD PLAY count
zach 17.5
brady 10.5
white 7
willie 5.5
demski 4.5
ceresna 4.5
perkins 4.5
vaval 4
lawson 3.5
kyrie 3
moxey 3
nichols 3
nield 2.5
neuf 2.5
wallace 2.5
holm 2.5
fletcher 2.5
ayers 2.5
eli 2.5
2 each: sheahan, kelly, major, hallett, ike, reese
1.5 each: els, woodbey, stan, smith
1 each: goalpost, broxton, demski, jones, daniels, castillo, pokey

BAD PLAYS count
zach 3
pokey 2.5
kelly 2.5
brady 2
neuf 1.5
wallace 1.5
1 each: els, wallace, cobb, ball, major, kyrie, fletcher
0.5 each: white, smith, nichols

1Q11:38 Too many men?  How do you do that on the first drive of the first game back from the bye?

2Q9:07 Brady's big 2nd & 17 conversion: very AH-esque, nice!  This is the stuff that AH would do and win you playoffs and cups.  And he managed to stay up even after low leg hits/tackles.  Maybe we're seeing some progression & improvement by Brady.

3Q10:46 White's "dancing" is very entertaining, and pretty incredible.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a WPG REC that nimble and quick to change direction.  Want to see more of that!  And 4Q9:39

4Q6:08 Hardy mugs Nichols and gets the free 1st down call.  D has to be taught to take muggings without using their hands.  Make it clear to the refs that you are the one being mugged.

Nice mega-holding all over the place on that huge Pimpleton return to end the half.

Can't overstate how difficult that last pass before the half is, with 6s on the clock to execute within 5.  Very well done.  So few appreciate this.

Brady's best game in forever.  And I don't just mean stats.  He was taking low hits and leg/foot interference and keeping going -- something he's had trouble with.  Balance is looking way better.  Certainly the effort level has massively increased.

Ball non-contact again.  Kid can't stay healthy.  Another Schoen-like case, whose body can't handle football?

On OTT's final TD drive our DL is getting after it 4 on 5 shows the true potential of that group in a pressure situation when they can pin their ears back.

Has Eli put on weight?  Looks much bigger out there than normal.  And he was making more of a positive impact than usual.  He was in on jumbo quite a bit and I didn't see him blow a single block.  He's often the main grader/selaer on SY.  Good for Eli, bad as starter, but the absolute best 6th in the league by a country mile.  Can you be a jumbo specialist?  Dunno, but that's what he's become!

Thanks for providing this detailed breakdown, it provides good insight into who's really contributing . When I coached high school, I had assistant coach count our defense every play, as well, I had our safety, and when we had too few or too many, the safety was to run up and cross the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped to kill the play before they snapped the ball. Why oh why this simple system isn't being done in the pros is beyond me. Things happen when there's massive substitutions but with 2 people counting you can eliminate the free 10 yd TMM penalties.

good to see Eli kicking but, he may be 6th O lineman now, but he ll make the starting roster

[Tecno]

I really don't think OTT is as bad as their record indicates.  If a couple of plays they botched instead went their way they'd have had us on the ropes in this game.  Some of their units are quite good, and Maier is at least a '15 Nichols or anytime Arbuckle level game manager -- won't win them on his own, but can certainly win.  Even TOR with all-Arbuckle in '25 won 5.

Their biggest problem is their OL is weak, far worse than ours, and their run game doesn't exist (and these are actually 2 sides of the same coin).  So they don't have time or open-ness to use their above-average (on paper) REC corps.  You simply cannot pass every single down.

One of these days someone is going to lose to them, especially if luck finally goes OTT's way.  Hard to believe it'll be MTL in MTL coming up, but certainly vs BC or TOR is doable.  Then again, it's often the most lopsided matchup that turns into the trap game.  The problem is, I really want their first win to be a team I totally hate -- for max schadenfreude.  So I guess BC in week 14, please!