Official Game Day Thread - Hamilton at Winnipeg - June 9, 2023

[dd]

Oh my gosh, that?s what a field goal kicker looks like!! We needed that, 2 score game now

[Blue In BC]

A bit of ugly but we dominated the game and won. Not often a team can give up 3 TD's directly on turnovers and still win. I'll attribute that to a bit of rust.

Ugly bits

1. Short kick offs
2. Poor coverage on kick offs
3. Blocked punt. I wonder if Kramdi was supposed to block that player.

Good bits

Pretty much everything.  A couple of warts but little playing time in pre season and a couple of good plays by TiCats on defence.

I'll re-watch game in the morning.

[Blue In BC]

Haba forced a turnover on a hit of BLM. To end the game he sacked BLM on 3rd down. Overall he seemed to play very well.

Jeffcoat was taken out of the game at half time. He looked ok on the sidelines. Did he re-injure whatever was bothering him in TC?  Or was the lead so big they allowed Haba to play.

Agudosi was invisible after that 1st catch. Didn't see him again. What happened? Don't tell me he experienced another injury!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saw Jackson a couple of time but he didn't make a specific impression. Still confused on why that change was made unless Cole was injured this week?

A few of our players are going to need some ice tonight. I don't think there were other injuries.

The new stats info on CFL.CA  SUCKS!!!

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Oh my gosh, that?s what a field goal kicker looks like!! We needed that, 2 score game now

If Castillo kicked like that in the Grey Cup, we have three rings.

[GOLDMEMBER]

If Castillo kicked like that in the Grey Cup, we have three rings.

that is what crossed my mind many times during this game.

[pjrocksmb]

If Castillo kicked like that in the Grey Cup, we have three rings.

Better team won that day wasn't just the kicking that let us down

[ModAdmin]

Game Recap | HAM 31 WPG 42

It had the early makings of an Oscar winner, temporarily morphed into a horror show and ultimately settled into a **** fine bit of drama.

And my goodness, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers season-opening, all-over-the-map 42-31 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had enough moments to keep the 29,057 diehards at IG Field on the edge of their seats all evening long.

"That was a wild one, for sure," said Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros, who was sensational in throwing for 354 yards and three TDs. "The viewers at home and the people in the stadium got their money's worth.

"Our fans were probably a little nervous there at the end, but it was a great CFL football game, and it was a great team we played over there. Thought we did a lot of good things and lot of things we can clean up. It's always better watching film after the win, there's a lot of things we can need to get better at, but we'll enjoy this one tonight."

The Blue Bombers forced six turnovers - and spit out four of their own in springing some leaks in the second half after a 29-4 lead at the intermission - in what started out as a waltz and transformed into a mosh pit brawl.

"It's a win. We made enough mistakes to make things interesting but listen (Hamilton) is going to be a very good football team, they've got a lot of very good players, so it's good just to come out with a win," said head coach Mike O'Shea. "We'll fix all the mistakes tomorrow."

"It was a little crazy out there, but you know what, we came through," added slotback Nic Demski, who finished with six catches for 113 yards and a superb touchdown.

"Our team is always going to depend on each other, we've always got each other's backs. We came through even through that roller-coaster of a game. Obviously, we've got a lot of things to clean up, but we got the win."

Here are the post-game observations from our perch in the press box...

FIVE THOUGHTS

1. THE ZACH ATTACK IS BACK

The reigning two-time CFL Most Outstanding Player was dominant with the 354 yards passing and three TDs as the Blue Bombers rolled up 481 yards of net offence. In addition to connecting with Demski, he also found Rasheed Bailey and Drew Wolitarsky for scores.

"We had some stuff we had been working on and we got the right looks in coverage and the guys made great plays on the ball," said Collaros. "As the game went on Brady (Oliveira) got on a roll a little bit and the offensive line got going so it was a complete effort on offence. So, it was good."

Six different players caught passes as the Blue Bombers flashed a ton of new looks and wrinkles for a season opener. And all this, it should be noted, without Kenny Lawler.

2. THE DARK SIDE RETURNS

Winnipeg's defence was stellar, forcing six turnovers - including two interceptions by Bo Levi Mitchell, both by Demerio Houston - registering three sacks and limiting the Ticats to just 229 yards net offence.

"The defensive backfield in general were challenged with some deep balls and made some nice plays all round," said O'Shea. "And stayed clean while doing it. I liked their game a lot."

3. BRADY AND THE GROUND GAME

Brady Oliveira missed a ton of training camp but looked fresh and dangerous in the season opener with 22 rushes for 115 yards and a TD, while pulling in two passes for an additional 58 yards.

"Obviously happy with the performance, but the main thing is going 1-0 every single week," said Oliveira. "Starting the season 1-0 is huge. That's the biggest takeaway.

"My individual performance... after missing camp, missing preseason I wasn't on top of my game fully and there's lots of times where if I had hit the hole, I would have got some bigger runs. I'll treat this game as a little preseason game for me and I'm just excited to get back into it."

And there's more on the Game Recap here!

[ModAdmin]

Post-Game interviews with Coach Mike O'Shea, Brady Oliviera and Zach Collaros...

https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/06/09/zach-collaros-post-game-week-1-vs-hamilton/

https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/06/09/brady-oliveira-postgame-week-1-vs-hamilton/

https://www.bluebombers.com/2023/06/09/mike-oshea-postgame-week-1-vs-hamilton/

[Blue In BC]

Our offence is lethal. We did that without Lawler.

[M.O.A.B.]

Im all ready for the next game. 

[GOLDMEMBER]

Im all ready for the next game. 

Couple friends are heading down to the crotch for personnel viewing.
If I?m the Riders I?m am like YIKES! lol

[dd]

Better team won that day wasn't just the kicking that let us down

You keep telling yourself that and you ll believe it. Our kicking game consistently let us down last year, and was it?s typically brutal self in the most important game. Glad to see management isn?t following your patience theory and went out and got us REAL kicker. No more wincing and hoping when it?s time to kick a field goal.!

[theaardvark]

Agudosi seemed to be the man out when they bring in heavy, Dobson and Jackson were on the field a lot...  tough to bee seen when you're not on the field.

Holm impressed me, some real nice coverage and knockdowns, and pursuit to the end of the play.

Houston, we have no problem.  Great play, good ball hawking.  Does he get an INT for the PAT?

Watched JH51 vs JK4 a couple times, looked like JH51 was tossing around a toy.

Castillo, what we expected.  Sheahan, not so much.  I think we will be missing Leggs sooner than later.

JJ95 out by halftime, in street clothes for the 2nd half.  Lets get Lemon in here for a look...

HAM94 was out of control, the bodyslam should have been an ejection.

BLM, well... definitely needs time to get his timing down, overthrew a lot of passes, so the arm is there.  

If white is lost for any time, its going to hurt HAM and BLM

TP13 needs work on SY, frustrating night for him.

Pinnacle seats update:

Parking, awesome.  View great.  Seats good, no horrible neighbors so far.  Row behind me decided the Noggin Boss huge baseball hats ($129) we awesome and bought two.  Glad it was the row behind, and I feel for the two ladies in the row behind the hats.

Pregame meal and post game appies in the Pinnacle disappointed... m'eh at best.  

[Stretch]

If Castillo kicked like that in the Grey Cup and played for the Bombers in 2022, we have three rings.

If Liegghio kicked like that in the Grey Cup, we have three rings.

Not sure where you were going with this, so I fixed it in two possible ways. 

[Waffler]

Sheahan has been the holder for the entire camp. He'll get more chances despite that slow motion wind up. Schmitz kicks just as well but is older and does not hold.

3 flukey plays are the only reason Hamilton is even in it at any point. The stats bear that out.