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

[Blue In BC]

The common banter in Winnipeg is that they don't beat themselves. Last night they got an entire season of beating themselves mode into the 1st game. The 3 major gaffs would defeat most teams. In Winnipeg they just shrug it off and proceed to victory. Nothing to worry about here.

It certainly made the 2nd half dramatic.

Aside from those few plays, the team was operating at a very high level. Very few penalties. I'm getting used to the Bombers will an early big lead. It changes the opponent game plan in our favour.

We win TOP and field position most of the time. Our opponents often self destruct as a consequence.

Great game for the home crowd on a nice night.

[Blue In BC]

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.

Football is full of situations like that. Adeleke fell twice and we scored TD's to some degree as a result. We might have still scored but it made it look easier than it might have been.

Houston makes an astounding int on the sidelines. 6" closer to the sideline and it's an incomplete pass.

A couple of forced fumbles by both defences.

Winnipeg generally wins the turnover battle as they did last night.  There is a fine line between a great offensive play or bad defensive play at times.

I don't think we saw anything to be concerned about last night. Coming out of pre season where starters played very little, the team played well overall. Stats do show that.

[Pete]

Our special teams were poor, I think last minute scratches of cole and miller really impacted this. Both on kick returns and in the case of the blocked punt where miller normally would have block coverage.
Also I think they need to work on fumble recoveries, both Holm and Dobson got outfought

[blueraid]

Errors made this one close.....we'll shore those one's up....Made the game entertaining but giving up the lead we had as quick as we did got scary.....Zack was on his game....Bo ...not so much....We seem to have the cats number and it continues on

[Lincoln Locomotive]

To be honest I predicted a Cat victory by a narrow margin based on my "gut feeling".  Well. it turned out it was a bad case of gas however there were moments in the game both very early and later in the game, where it looked like the Bombers were imploding.    I've never seen a game with so many turnovers resulting majors, in fact 21 points for the Cats and yet we still win the game, racking up close to 500 yards in offence.    Brady was magnificent in his home opener....and yeah throw to him as he is effective as a receiver coming out of the backfield.    Demski was a force as well despite turning over the ball on our very first offensive play.

We really missed Miller on special teams and our new punter had a rough night especially the blocked punt for a Cat TD!  

Castillo showed us why the Bombers signed him as he was picture perfect on the night and there wasn't this sense of dread every time he lined up.  He's a winner for sure!

Jeffcoat leaving the game allowed Haba a chance and for only being signed just over a week ago, made an impression, especially that timely sack late in the game, sealing the W for us.

It was a wild and roller coaster ride and an extremely entertaining game....albeit somewhat nerve wracking!    

It was great to get that first game out of the way and secure the W....

[Stats Junkie]

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.

Sheahan & Schmitz alternated holds during the pre-season - perhaps that was a sign that Liegghio was on his way out.

Sheahan held 3 times (2/3) - included Staton's missed convert vs Ssk & the convert off the post and in vs Edm
Schmitz held 4 times (4/4) - 3 converts and Castillo's FG

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

Houston does get credit for the interception on the convert attempt. It does not count as a turnover for the team because Winnipeg didn't get to scrimmage the ball on the next play.

[Blue In BC]

Starting field position after a FG is the 40 yard line. Is that a rule change new this year?

On the positive side, better starting field position. Less injuries due to K/O returns.

On the negative side, less returns which can be very exciting plays. Bad field position for the opponent if kick is deep and coverage is very good. Potentially takes away certain wind advantages.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Starting field position after a FG is the 40 yard line. Is that a rule change new this year?

On the positive side, better starting field position. Less injuries due to K/O returns.

On the negative side, less returns which can be very exciting plays. Bad field position for the opponent if kick is deep and coverage is very good. Potentially takes away certain wind advantages.

Nope.

[TecnoGenius]

Starting field position after a FG is the 40 yard line. Is that a rule change new this year?

I think it was new in 2022, not 2023.  Part of the "more O" initiative.

Almost all starting points have been moved up 5Y.  But the kickoffs are moved up 5 also, so whether you opt for a kickoff or placement on the 40, it's kind of the same advantage.

My fave was that illegal kickoff in our game where we got to start at the 50.  Can't argue with that!

[GOLDMEMBER]

To be honest I predicted a Cat victory by a narrow margin based on my "gut feeling".  Well. it turned out it was a bad case of gas however there were moments in the game both very early and later in the game, where it looked like the Bombers were imploding.    I've never seen a game with so many turnovers resulting majors, in fact 21 points for the Cats and yet we still win the game, racking up close to 500 yards in offence.    Brady was magnificent in his home opener....and yeah throw to him as he is effective as a receiver coming out of the backfield.    Demski was a force as well despite turning over the ball on our very first offensive play.

We really missed Miller on special teams and our new punter had a rough night especially the blocked punt for a Cat TD!  

Castillo showed us why the Bombers signed him as he was picture perfect on the night and there wasn't this sense of dread every time he lined up.  He's a winner for sure!

Jeffcoat leaving the game allowed Haba a chance and for only being signed just over a week ago, made an impression, especially that timely sack late in the game, sealing the W for us.

It was a wild and roller coaster ride and an extremely entertaining game....albeit somewhat nerve wracking!    

It was great to get that first game out of the way and secure the W....

I agree on all fronts. People under estimating Willie in the heat especially.
Brady was been better than what I thought he be like but wow A+.

[TecnoGenius]

I want to note Bighill's play: simply outstanding.  He's been working hard in the off-season, I can tell.  Did you guys see that spin move to get to the QB?  And a couple of amazing open field tackles.  He doesn't wait for the fake, he just pounces.  Very few players can or will do that.  There's also a play where he masterfully sheds a tough block to make a tackle.

He was always around the ball and didn't make a single mistake that I saw.  Could Biggie actually be even better this year after his great '22 revival?  Does the guy never age?

And a shout-out to Willie.  Off to an amazing start.  He's listened to the "takes too many games/plays off" chatter and brought his A-game.  Willie was worth every penny in this game.  He's showing he still has ball, and against a very good (on paper) OL.

BLM will have night terrors seeing Willie's face.

[TecnoGenius]

Watching Pigrome's 2 failures: he's too slow to hit the line.  Not sure what he's waiting for.  He needs to just immediately follow the line.  Don't stand up straight, don't hesitate, just go, especially on that last 3rd & 1.  He'll learn.

HAM's big-$$ DL earned their money on those 2 plays.  Lots of beef.  They were submarining the line real torpedo-like.  It's not all on Pigrome though because our OL wasn't winning on that DL on the sneaks.  Looking back it may have been better to do the over-the-top jump trick.  They probably guessed (correctly) that not-tall PiggyT wasn't going to be jumping.

I still think PiggyT is the better SY choice, but it's going to take more practice.  Brown isn't the right body type.

I bet PiggyT thought the CFL was going to be a walk in the park and the sneaks a piece of cake.  Welcome to the meat-grinder CFL short game, Piggy.  Go watch old Marve, Le Fevour, Strev and McGuire film.  Those 95%+ guys will show you the way.

[GOLDMEMBER]

I want to note Bighill's play: simply outstanding.  He's been working hard in the off-season, I can tell.  Did you guys see that spin move to get to the QB?  And a couple of amazing open field tackles.  He doesn't wait for the fake, he just pounces.  Very few players can or will do that.  There's also a play where he masterfully sheds a tough block to make a tackle.

He was always around the ball and didn't make a single mistake that I saw.  Could Biggie actually be even better this year after his great '22 revival?  Does the guy never age?

And a shout-out to Willie.  Off to an amazing start.  He's listened to the "takes too many games/plays off" chatter and brought his A-game.  Willie was worth every penny in this game.  He's showing he still has ball, and against a very good (on paper) OL.

BLM will have night terrors seeing Willie's face.

Biggie was all over the field.

I am at the point of expecting top notch DB play. Can you blame me?

Willie is a physical anomaly simply put!

[Pete]

with piggyt , his size makes it difficult to get over the pile so teams will focus on getting low and filling gaps. Dru is the better option right now, what i would like to see is him get in on 2nd and less than 4,, that's where a special package can be a big benefit.
Also later in games when we are trying to kill the clock and opposing teams know were gonna run anyway. he gives them more run options and opens it up for Olivera/Bailey etc Also adds a lower risk factor than leaving Collaros in

[TecnoGenius]

with piggyt , his size makes it difficult to get over the pile so teams will focus on getting low and filling gaps. Dru is the better option right now, what i would like to see is him get in on 2nd and less than 4,, that's where a special package can be a big benefit.

But I don't think we can or will make Dru the SY guy, even temporarily.  He's all wrong for it, has looked iffy at it in the past, and we need him as the #2.  We can't get him all beaten up doing SY.  I think we replaced him in-game solely to avoid the loss of morale/momo another botch would create.

Nope, Boudreau and the crew will work all week with PiggyT to address the issues.  The OL will just have to be better, and Piggy will have to move faster and harder.

We should have PiggyT do one or two sideways sneaks just to mix it up for the DLs and force their effort on contain.  Risky, but PiggyT has great mobility, decent speed, and lots of power.  If it's him vs a small DB at the end of the line at the 1, my money is on PiggyT.  Like you said, if we don't do anything every team will just key on stuffing the A gaps down low.