Non-Bomber Games - Week 1

[GOLDMEMBER]

Commish interview during game was utterly annoying. That must have played like crap on CBS.

[Blue In BC]

I disagreeing found the game very entertaining. VAJ looked spot on. Rhymes looked real good other than one bad drop. Calgary D stepped up but no O. Carey already went down in the 4th.

Nice running plays as well by both teams.

Low standards right now I guess but I was thoroughly entertained!

Rhymes is a top receiver without a doubt. Barring injury he could be in the top 3 easily. Really depends more on VAJ success. I still think he'll be mistake prone but he can make plays out of nothing as well.

Calgary's defence looked like Winnipeg in pre season. Couldn't sustain pressure, contain or cover receivers. Their offence was non existent particularly in the 1st half. I think BC had 18 1st downs to 3 in the 1st half.

The game was not competitive even though the score was not as indicative. That's why I suggested it was not entertaining for me. Dominance is one thing but ineffectiveness not so much.

[GOLDMEMBER]

Rhymes is a top receiver without a doubt. Barring injury he could be in the top 3 easily. Really depends more on VAJ success. I still think he'll be mistake prone but he can make plays out of nothing as well.

I agree on all fronts.

That penalty Couture took roughing was as dumb as it gets!

BC on D looks good or is Calgary on O just that bad? Maier was under pressure constantly. BC secondary is legit.

[Blue In BC]

I agree on all fronts.

That penalty Couture took roughing was as dumb as it gets!

BC on D looks good or is Calgary on O just that bad? Maier was under pressure constantly. BC secondary is legit.

Calgary OL didn't look good but BC's front 7 were getting pressure. Calgary hardly tried to run the ball which helped BC defence. It seems like vanilla offence and poor offensive coaching from Calgary.

Maier certainly didn't impress. Late and inaccurate.

[TBURGESS]

By the book it was RTP so it should have been called that way.
VAJ looked great then normal then great again.
Maier never looked good.
Couture's roughing was stupid.
Calgary missed 2 FG's this week and last week.
IF BC didn't fumble their pick it would have been over way earlier.
The story that BC is taking a huge step back may not be right.

[TecnoGenius]

BC on D looks good or is Calgary on O just that bad? Maier was under pressure constantly. BC secondary is legit.

This.  And, on the other side too?  CGY's D was blitzing all night and got zero pressure.  It was pathetic.

Maeir, just like last year, cannot do anything other than the short game.  The mid and deep he just sucks.  He's overthrowing just like BLM did all year.  If he cannot fix this CGY will need to find a new QB in-season, and their backups are not the answer

How does CGY come out the gate looking so bad?  I cannot believe this is a Dickenson The Greater (and Huff in the deep background) team.  All those dumb penalties?  All that slouching and bad morale?  Even in 1st Q their hearts weren't into it.  Doesn't bode well.

Say what you want about whining Dickie, he has a nasty temper and I would not want to be on the receiving end of his ire.  Post-game that locker room must have been death.  Another game like that and there may be some unexpected cuts.  As Kavis would say: "there will be consequences".

[TecnoGenius]

The story that BC is taking a huge step back may not be right.

On paper VAJ is 1/10th what Rourke was.  Their WR corps is half what it was.  RB is nobody.  But their D still looks strong, great DB corps.

It all hinged on VAJ.  Maybe Rourke did some clinics for VAJ right after that WDF loss or something, because VAJ is playing like Rourke.  Good fast reads, insanely quick wind up and release, super zip on the balls, and deadly accurate in short to medium.  Add in his mobility and VAJ could be trouble if he can sustain it.

I thought VAJ's headcase problems, temper, and tendency to mis-read would hobble him.  It still might.

Working in VAJ's favor was CGY was doing zone almost the whole night.  Zone doesn't work when your DL gets zero pressure and the QB is being accurate and guns the balls in.  CGY got lucky on that one INT.  Clearly they were counting on VAJ doing his normal multi-INT thing, and getting pressure.

When they couldn't get pressure, 3 man pass rush did make sense, but they stayed in blanket zone.  Should have used the extra coverage to do man with some double teams, or a man/zone mix.  Why didn't they change to man?  Not sure, but clearly playing like CGY did will not beat BC.  We'll need to remember that.

I think you have to sack VAJ early, keep him disrupted in the pocket (might be tough against that OL), and get an INT early.  You need to bring out headcase VAJ early so he'll lose the rest of the game all on his own.

Kudos to Campbell for being ready and putting Dickie to shame in comparison.  Campbell is clearly gunning for great things this season.  I think they see themselves as heir apparent in the W.

[theaardvark]

So, Campbell for coach of the year, and Dickenson the first to be fired?

I can see why they let Kongbo go... they are deep on Nat DE's.  If they didn't give up any signing bonus money, then they got a free 4th rounder...

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Good to have football back on a Thursday night, enjoyable game. Vernon Adams looked impressive, all those years as a backup may have finally paid off as he's gotten better over time.  Lions offence is solid from the line out, don't know if going all in on Mizzell at RB was the right decision, he looks quick but delicate and may not be as durable as Butler was.

As for Calgary, years of letting many of their best F.A.'s walk away may be finally catching up with them, just the list of MLB's they've replaced over the last 10 years is impressive. Huff relied on recruiting imports for years to keep the cupboard stocked and never considered paying for high-end F.A. talent, mainly because there was little need.  Dickenson is in charge now, I don't think he will spend big in F.A. either, but he might do a little bit more scrap picking.

[TecnoGenius]

So, Campbell for coach of the year, and Dickenson the first to be fired?

If Campbell manages to beat WPG for #1 in W in regular season, I bet he gets it.  Big if.  I'm sure we'll find weaknesses in BC, it's only week 1.  He did take that team from tummy-rubbing lip-licking doofus to contender in a couple of short years!

I think Dickenson The Greater has sucked for 3 years now.  A shadow of the team when Huff had more involvement.  And he's starting to get as worked up on the sidelines as Maas; but at least he doesn't cry.

If CGY goes 1-5 for first 6 games, there could be trouble.  But I don't see any way you can fire him with the dumb coaches cap in place, doubly so because he's GM and HC.  The smart move might be for him to give up HC and hire someone, but then he has to share the $$ instead of take it all for himself.

[TecnoGenius]

Good to have football back on a Thursday night, enjoyable game. Vernon Adams looked impressive, all those years as a backup may have finally paid off as he's gotten better over time.  Lions offence is solid from the line out, don't know if going all in on Mizzell at RB was the right decision, he looks quick but delicate and may not be as durable as Butler was.

Butler was often injured.  Missed a ton of games IIRC.

Mizzell looked much better than I would have guessed for a first-game CFL IMP RB.  BC doesn't run much anyhow.  Clearly they are continuing with Mike Reilly's air-attack focus until they need to kill the clock.

Don't want to give BC any ideas, but our Salima is just a phone call away.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Butler was often injured.  Missed a ton of games IIRC.

Mizzell looked much better than I would have guessed for a first-game CFL IMP RB.  BC doesn't run much anyhow.  Clearly they are continuing with Mike Reilly's air-attack focus until they need to kill the clock.

Don't want to give BC any ideas, but our Salima is just a phone call away.

Agreed, they should have at least 2 import RB's on their gameday roster and Salima would be a good pickup.  The successful model for RB's in the league right now is 200+ lb. of muscled beast, the bigger the better as power is king.  Skinny little scat back days are fading away fast.

[Pigskin]

So, Campbell for coach of the year, and Dickenson the first to be fired?

I can see why they let Kongbo go... they are deep on Nat DE's.  If they didn't give up any signing bonus money, then they got a free 4th rounder...

I am surprised that people are only starting to see the Canadian talent on the front 7 of BC D.

It's only game one. And we are already talking about coach of the year??

[3rdand1.5]

Commish interview during game was utterly annoying. That must have played like crap on CBS.

I hate this....I really, really hate when they go off on interviews etc. when the actual game is being played. Not as bad as our Grey cup with the country guy, but, c'mon....

[Sir Blue and Gold]

That interview was cringy. Could have said the exact same thing in 30 seconds if they have to do it at all.