Hunger?

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Jefferson hasn't really been in attack mode this season and I'm going to assume it's because the defense is different, there's no one on the other side to help draw attention and the three man rush doesn't exactly help him. That said, he needs to win some battles all on his own and that's something he used to do frequently but has done very infrequently this year.

Willie is also on the sideline more than he's used to, the 3 man rush changes the  dynamic of what they're able to accomplish. Don't mind using it occasionally but don't like it when they start using it all of the time.

[The Zipp]

3 man rush does for sure take Willies often dominating force out of the play...and that is wrong IMO

[Sir Blue and Gold]

3 man rush does for sure take Willies often dominating force out of the play...and that is wrong IMO

Maybe but 8 man coverage is a great answer to the quick passing game. With Harris you're not going to get there with three or four very often so it makes sense to see if you can't take the first read or two away and then try and force a mistake or rely on the protection finally breaking down.

[dd]

Maybe but 8 man coverage is a great answer to the quick passing game. With Harris you're not going to get there with three or four very often so it makes sense to see if you can't take the first read or two away and then try and force a mistake or rely on the protection finally breaking down.

Agree 100%. That is the whole premise behind the rushing 3 defense, you're relying on the coverage to take away the quick hitters

[TecnoGenius]

Buck needs to actually call plays to take advantage of Sask aggression. Their corners can be overly aggressive ..fake the short throws and take them deep. Block one direction and have Brady cut across grain.Also have Zac go to some hard counts.
other.then either running or quick throw while d is adjusting.

This is 100% it.  2014-2016 Bombers.  We got killed on explosions all the time because we were built for INTs and relied on INTs.  That's SSK right now.  That is why we've killed SSK with explosions this season.

Milligan is Heath.  Sayles is Fogg.  Reavis is Leggett.  It's the same story.  Let's beat them the way CGY/EDM used to beat us: catch them cheating up and throw it to where they vacated.

And unlike vs MTL, don't be scared to throw anywhere on the field.  Keep them on their toes by throwing it everywhere.  Mix it all up and have no rhyme or reason.

They have a weak FS so there will be a lot of one-on-ones deep.  Give "oven mitts" Sayles a reason to commit IC.  We all know he wants to!

Their main strength will be when they go zone rushing 4 and get pressure.  Zach needs to throw those away, or always have a hot route/dump, because if we try to force it into a 20Y soft zone on the run they'll eat our shorts.

[TecnoGenius]

I'm going to rewatch the LDC and the BB to see what happened in those games because  the Bombers were obviously the superior team at mid-season.  It's possible the Riders have improved since then and the Bombers have stayed even, but I believe overall the Riders have inferior talent.

Your gut feeling is correct, and Riders haven't improved since then.  They simply had a cakewalk of a final few games to rack up easy wins.  See my breakdown on the other thread:

http://forums.bluebombers.com/index.php?topic=56145.msg1645370#msg1645370

[TecnoGenius]

we are going to miss Bighill's energy and Willie needs to shake off the invisibility cloak he has been wearing.

Haha, ya, Willie's infamous +3 blessed Cloak of Invisibility.  Right over top his +5 blessed Chainmail of Injury Avoidance.

However, no one should be surprised.  Willie is doing exactly what he did whenever Jeffcoat was absent (which was a lot).  We all knew this.  Hard to do anything with 2-3 350-lbs giants in your face all game.

Against Trevor our best bet is let Willie block the lanes, keep contain, and get batdowns.  Maybe later in the game we can go cheetah and gets some stats.

I love me some Willie, and don't fault him his tactics.  On the bright side, it keeps getting easier to retain him every year as his stock goes down.  Maybe one day we'll get some legit other beast DL to Free Willy again.

[TecnoGenius]

There better be hunger.

2018 Bombers beat the Riders in the WSF in Regina.
2019 Bombers beat the Riders in the WF in Regina.
2021 Bombers beat the Riders in the WF in Winnipeg.
2022 Rider didn't make the playoffs.
2023 Rider didn't make the playoffs again.

How many players on SSK were on that '21 team?  Probably not a whole lot.  So no memory, no beef to increase hunger.

In the normal course of things, teams usually progress up the ladder, like WPG did.  Start by winning your first WSF, then host a WSF, then win a WDF, then host a WDF, etc.  In Mace's first year with so many changes in that SSK org, they really are at square one and are already beating expectations by hosting and winning the WSF.  I think that's where this fantasy year ends.

By no means are SSK the '23 MTL team that shot out of nowhere to win it all and be the best team for the next full year.  By no means is SSK's ELC or vet talent like MTL's was/is.  All they did so far was luck into a couple of extra wins this season against easier opponents and then beat a totally discombobulated and badly-coached BC team at home.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

How many players on SSK were on that '21 team?  Probably not a whole lot.  So no memory, no beef to increase hunger.

In the normal course of things, teams usually progress up the ladder, like WPG did.  Start by winning your first WSF, then host a WSF, then win a WDF, then host a WDF, etc.  In Mace's first year with so many changes in that SSK org, they really are at square one and are already beating expectations by hosting and winning the WSF.  I think that's where this fantasy year ends.

By no means are SSK the '23 MTL team that shot out of nowhere to win it all and be the best team for the next full year.  By no means is SSK's ELC or vet talent like MTL's was/is.  All they did so far was luck into a couple of extra wins this season against easier opponents and then beat a totally discombobulated and badly-coached BC team at home.

Apparently the Riders haven't won in Winnipeg since the 2018 Banjo Bowl, I like the Bombers odds.