Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg @ Edmonton, August 21, 2026

[jdrattops]

You changed the narrative to try to win the argument and it doesn't pass the sniff test

Bad does not equate to below average in any situation lol

Bomber coordinators are below average, and are also bad at their jobs.

[Blueforlife]

Nope, sorry.  9 team league bad and below average are the same.  If we are talking about the NFL there is a little more room for nuance. 

Doesn't matter if he is a hall of famer or not.  He is one of the worst in the league RIGHT NOW!  Peyton Manning was one of the best of all time and in his last year and half he was a below average to bad QB.

Keep riding that Zach is not bad train though...

Below average" means ranking lower than the middle point of a group. "Bad" means poor quality, harmful, or failing to meet a basic standard. Something below average can still be acceptable or functional, while bad implies it is inadequate or unwanted.Below AverageDefinition: Less than the norm.Position: Sits in the lower half of a scale.Value: May still be passing or useful.Example: Getting a 65% on a test when the class mean is 75%.BadDefinition: Low quality or wrong.Position: Fails to meet a required baseline.Value: Unacceptable or broken.Example: Getting a 30% on a test and failing the class.

In sports, "below average" means a player or team performs worse than the league median but is still competitive. "Bad" means they are a liability, significantly hurt the team's chances of winning, or belong in a lower tier of competition.Below AveragePerformance: Serviceable but limited.Impact: Does not carry the team, but does not completely ruin the game.Roster Role: A reliable backup or a low-end starter.Example: A baseball player batting .230 when the league average is .250.BadPerformance: Actively harmful.Impact: Consistently makes costly errors or gives up points.Roster Role: Risk of being cut, benched, or demoted to the minor leagues.Example: A quarterback throwing three times as many interceptions as touchdowns.

In the CFL, a below-average quarterback can still win a Grey Cup by protecting the football and relying on a strong defense, whereas a bad quarterback actively derails the franchise through a high volume of turnovers and an inability to sustain offensive drives.Below AverageThe Playstyle: Operates primarily as a passive "game manager". They rarely attack deep downfield but efficiently take what the defense provides.The Performance: Achieves a respectable completion percentage (often around 68–70%) but generates low average yards per pass attempt and few big-time plays.The Impact: Keeps the offense on schedule. They avoid critical mistakes to ensure the team stays competitive in low-scoring matchups.2026 CFL Context: Zach Collaros of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers fits this description for the 2026 season. Dealing with a limited roster, he has managed a solid 70.9% completion rate but has only thrown 5 touchdowns across his appearances, letting Winnipeg's defense carry the team to a 5–5 record.BadThe Playstyle: Consistently forces throws into tight coverage, fails to recognize pre-snap defensive looks, and displays panicky pocket presence.The Performance: Yields a high turnover-to-touchdown ratio, a low quarterback efficiency rating, and an inability to convert on critical second-down scenarios.The Impact: Puts their own defense in terrible positions via frequent interceptions, which stalls out momentum and leads directly to losses.2026 CFL Context: Jake Maier of the Ottawa Redblacks has slipped into this tier for 2026. Despite passing for 2,680 yards, his league-high 11 interceptions against just 12 touchdowns have directly contributed to Ottawa's winless 0–10 record, resulting in his midseason benching.

[Tecno]

Zach is not a D&D QB and I'm happy we don't have that offense

I want a gun slinger bombs and Brady

Our O in 1st H was much more a d&d O.  It was when we went away from that in 2nd H that we got nothing.  That said, my d&d comments are purely about our D limitations, and nothing to do with our O.  I don't really care what our O does as long as it's working.  The problem was we went away from what EDM had no answer (no Brady runs on 1st down) for and played right into what they schemed for (Brady run on every 1st down).

[Jesse]

Below average" means ranking lower than the middle point of a group. "Bad" means poor quality, harmful, or failing to meet a basic standard. Something below average can still be acceptable or functional, while bad implies it is inadequate or unwanted.Below AverageDefinition: Less than the norm.Position: Sits in the lower half of a scale.Value: May still be passing or useful.Example: Getting a 65% on a test when the class mean is 75%.BadDefinition: Low quality or wrong.Position: Fails to meet a required baseline.Value: Unacceptable or broken.Example: Getting a 30% on a test and failing the class.

In sports, "below average" means a player or team performs worse than the league median but is still competitive. "Bad" means they are a liability, significantly hurt the team's chances of winning, or belong in a lower tier of competition.Below AveragePerformance: Serviceable but limited.Impact: Does not carry the team, but does not completely ruin the game.Roster Role: A reliable backup or a low-end starter.Example: A baseball player batting .230 when the league average is .250.BadPerformance: Actively harmful.Impact: Consistently makes costly errors or gives up points.Roster Role: Risk of being cut, benched, or demoted to the minor leagues.Example: A quarterback throwing three times as many interceptions as touchdowns.

My guy. Being below average in a 9 team league puts you in the bottom 30%

[blueandgoldguy]

Nah changing narrative to try to dig yourself out of a hole

You said bad

Then agrees below average

Then went back to bad

Then said same thing

Not buying it

Actually i said bad/below average it doesn't matter in one of my earlier posts.  See?  Hope that helps.

[Blueforlife]

He's been saying the same thing the whole time. Zach is playing badly by any metric.

And honestly, what does below average mean? If average is QBs 4-6, you're arguing that Zach is a bottom 3 QB and somehow saying that means he's not playing badly?

The posted said Zach was a bad QB (in general, with no other context), I said he was below average.  I have posted some detail about the differences.

The poster agree after he was below average,then said was same thing and then went back to bad.

Below average and bad are not the same.

Zach is a below average QB right now who played great and then terrible today.  His play has varied throughout the season from bad to limited flashes of great and everything in between.

[Blueforlife]

Actually i said bad/below average it doesn't matter in one of my earlier posts.  See?  Hope that helps.

Nah you said

Bad
Below average
Claimed both same
Then back to bad
Just calling it like I see it posted

[Tecno]

That was a blatant FTP call that went uncalled, was challenged and we lost the challenge but dublanko (who is definitely a blanko!!) definitely not Zach late, it was rough and totally unnecessary and he could have pulled up but didnt, you hit him with a flag every time .shame on command centre

I'm not saying I disagree with you about it being RTP.  The refs could easily have flagged it and if EDM challenged they would have lost.  However, with it unflagged I knew it was going to be upheld on challenge.  KNEW!

How did I know?  Because I watch every game and I know what command will and won't do.  There was an unflagged "hand brushed the helmet" RTP challenge a couple of weeks ago, and it too was upheld.  Yes, refs have flagged that before too.  But command has already told us, quite a few times, by their verdicts, that they are not going to hand out RTP like candy on plays where a normal QB cannot get hurt.

If you don't like it, maybe blame Johnston, as he's the "more show!" Commish setting the tone.  Wiping away big sacks because someone poked a QB like the pilsbury dough boy takes away from the "show".  And Johnston hates anything that does that!

Flagging that on-field is Valesi's job.  And Zach looked to him for the flag.  Valesi shakes his head.  Valesi has NEVER liked WPG.  He's screwed us over so many times.  There was that time he left the chain so limp on a measurement to royally screw us over from a 3rd down stop.  I wrote early in the thread I was bummed it was Valesi.  Literally any other ref is better.

[Blue72]

A lot of this loss has to be on the HC, why is he always adding LBers and our receiving core are average and not catching passes when needed. Do we really need that many LBers? The extra IMP LBers only maybe make one play per game so does it make any since.

"No" backup DB's and poor receivers, could be why Zac holds on to the ball longer. He doesn't have confidence in his receivers.

Again MOS says: we will look at the film tomorrow and correct the problems, by this time of the season ( 10 games in) they should have fixed most of these problems. Does he even talk to his OC and DC and tell them what they are doing wrong.

[Blueforlife]

My guy. Being below average in a 9 team league puts you in the bottom 30%

My man I used Google to help illustrate the difference between bad and below average

They are not the same, that's all I was pointing out

[Tecno]

Which half was the outlier in his yearly performance?

Sure, of course.  But I care more about what he's doing right now.  And what he's doing right now is looking like the best QB in the league in that 1st H until they went turtle.

That has to count for something.

[Blueforlife]

A lot of this loss has to be on the HC, why is he always adding LBers and our receiving core are average and not catching passes when needed. Do we really need that many LBers? The extra IMP LBers only maybe make one play per game so does it make any since.

"No" backup DB's and poor receivers, could be why Zac holds on to the ball longer. He doesn't have confidence in his receivers.

Again MOS says: we will look at the film tomorrow and correct the problems, by this time of the season ( 10 games in) they should have fixed most of these problems. Does he even talk to his OC and DC and tell them what they are doing wrong.

Yes I'm sure he talks to the OC and DC and collectively tries to improve

LB heavy isn't our core issue imo

We have backup DBs

Receiver talent an issue yes

[Tecno]

My question is WHY DIDN'T WE RUN THE BALL MORE?

Go back and watch again.  As soon as we went Brady run on every 1st down they stuffed him every single time.  His avg went from 10Y every carry early in the game to probably 1-2Y a carry after that (taking into account just the runs after the pivot point).

You know, just like every team does to him when we show that we're running Brady every 1st D?  The OL and Brady are not good enough to win those battles anyway.  This isn't 2021 with AH.

[blueandgoldguy]

You changed the narrative to try to win the argument and it doesn't pass the sniff test

Bad does not equate to below average in any situation lol

If you are bad that means you are automatically below average. Hope that helps.

Hmmm, offhand I remember earlier this year you saying Zach was still a decent QB Now you saying he is below average.  Which is it?  Seems like someone likes to move goalposts....

[Blueforlife]

Sure, of course.  But I care more about what he's doing right now.  And what he's doing right now is looking like the best QB in the league in that 1st H until they went turtle.

That has to count for something.

Yup slinging nasty to playing nasty lol

The good part counts for sure, looked like Jesus for a bit