Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Edmonton, August 10, 2023

[TecnoGenius]

Rewatched up to the Zach injury.

1. The first guy to touch Zach does a horsecollar with his fingertips right on the nameplate.  It doesn't look like much and he lets go, but it pulls Zach's whole upper body back in typical HC fashion that the refs should have caught.  It's that falling backwards motion that causes Zach to stumble.  Watch it clearly on the first replay.

2. Ridersfans had a good point: Zach was seeing ghosts all night and leaving a perfectly secure pocket.  It's like when Zach's internal timer goes off he scrambles, whether he needs to or not.  I hope (and think) the coaches will coach him up on staying in his usually-secure pocket.  Many of his scrambles were needless and we outnumbered the pass rushers by +2.  EDM coaches must have spotted this flaw in film study because the edge guys were always just waiting there for Zach to bail so they could pursue with big speed.  We need to fix this.

I have more info on the injury, I'll post to the Zach Injury thread.

[pjrocksmb]

Brown had most of the playbook, and played like Zach 2.0.  He was dropping dimes Collaros style.  He started with not the usual cast, but ended with them.  Buck called a great game, adapting on the fly.  We have by far the best QB room in the league, and not because our #1 is the defending 2 time MOP.

Hall was facing a new QB, and had some early hiccups.  But the D settled in nicely, and finished off holding them to 7 points in the 3rd quarter and o in the 4th. 

Hanging the 22nd home L on Jones after he had a 22 point lead was really satisfying.  Totally apropos result.

Great points, agree all, Brown showed how much he has learned in his long time here.

Yup, an active GDT is awesome.  Ridersfans forum really excels in that regard; so I'm glad to see and pump up more activity here for our game.  Since I'm a game-rewatching guy, I like busy forums so I can go back and read along with the rewatches.

P.S. Ridersfans made it to 30 pages of posts for our GDT, maybe a new record for a non-SSK game.  I got to read maybe half of them realtime but the game got to fast & frenetic for me to keep up since I was concentrating on our forum here.

I missed some of the game with all the posts but also enjoyed it.  I don't rewatch.

I rewatched bits and I'll have to hand you back the spy crow piece.  Watch 4Q2:24... We did use a spy!  Maruo is the spy on this play.  Pretends to pass rush but hangs back and does nothing but shadow Ford.  He's not watching Brown (in blocking) at all.  Just Ford.

Ford does take off on the play and Maruo keeps up enough to force him out 2 yards short on 2nd down, leading to the Brown 2 yard failure to lose the game.  (Funny thing on that final play is a Ford keep likely gets the first down as only Willie is in contain (with no spy) and would already be too far inside.  That's quite the gamble by Hall/players.)

And this is after just rewatching 5 mins.  I have a feeling I'll find a fair bit of spy technique in the 2nd half on a rewatch.

I never guessed Maruo could be used as the spy.  I guess he's a pretty fast guy, and then it frees up Wilson to watch for Brown and passes in the flat.  That was a great move by Hall.

P.S. Good shed on the block on Walker to get Brown for a loss.

Thanks for the info let me know how much the spy was used and who it was.  I think an occasional spy is best. Using the spy too much makes you venerable and I think we mixed it up well.
Crow pie is returnable for 24 hrs.  Next game I'll try to re gift lol.

Rewatched up to the Zach injury.

1. The first guy to touch Zach does a horsecollar with his fingertips right on the nameplate.  It doesn't look like much and he lets go, but it pulls Zach's whole upper body back in typical HC fashion that the refs should have caught.  It's that falling backwards motion that causes Zach to stumble.  Watch it clearly on the first replay.

2. Ridersfans had a good point: Zach was seeing ghosts all night and leaving a perfectly secure pocket.  It's like when Zach's internal timer goes off he scrambles, whether he needs to or not.  I hope (and think) the coaches will coach him up on staying in his usually-secure pocket.  Many of his scrambles were needless and we outnumbered the pass rushers by +2.  EDM coaches must have spotted this flaw in film study because the edge guys were always just waiting there for Zach to bail so they could pursue with big speed.  We need to fix this.

I have more info on the injury, I'll post to the Zach Injury thread.

Interesting thanks

I don't recall the Dinwiddie game, but there was a period I was not watching.  Ya, I bet you have to go way back to match Dru.

I'm nearly positive Dru had zero INTs.  Fantasy has him down as zero INTs.

Thanks for confirming, my memory is real good for about 10 seconds lol

[Blue In BC]

Will re-watch the game later this morning. We didn't start well but certainly finished well. Great performance from Brown and the team overall adjusted accordingly. Bombers start a few games in " slow mode " and I can't explain why that happens. Made for an entertaining game when you still find a way to win.

Yikes.

Note:

1. Didn't see Jackson on the field except for ST's.
2. Didn't see Darby at all.
3. McCrae as a returner is not the spark we need and doesn't help field position.

[TBURGESS]

Well the Elks found a new way to lose. Who thought they could do that 22 games into a losing streak?

Up 22-0. Knock out our starting QB. All they need to do is to not let us score more than 23 points more than they do, but they couldn't even do that!

Brown was an eye opener last night. Great game.

Bighill had a horrible first half. Chasing RB's down the field then jumping on the pile. He played much better in the 2nd half.

Edmonton went away from the running game that was working so well in the first half. They should have kept running on most first downs to stay away from 2nd and 10's where we blitz.

They fell apart after the fumble. Gave us 50 yards in penalties on our 60 yard drive for a TD.

Way more entertaining game than most expected.

[M.O.A.B.]

On the road, the Bombers need to play 15-min O vs D scrimmage before the game on a nearby field or something. 

[bwiser]

Well the Elks found a new way to lose. Who thought they could do that 22 games into a losing streak?

Up 22-0. Knock out our starting QB. All they need to do is to not let us score more than 23 points more than they do, but they couldn't even do that!

Brown was an eye opener last night. Great game.

Bighill had a horrible first half. Chasing RB's down the field then jumping on the pile. He played much better in the 2nd half.

Edmonton went away from the running game that was working so well in the first half. They should have kept running on most first downs to stay away from 2nd and 10's where we blitz.

fell apartThey  after the fumble. Gave us 50 yards in penalties on our 60 yard drive for a TD.

Way more entertaining game than most expected.

The Elks gave up 50 yards in penalties on one drive but the whole drive started at the 50 because the kicker booted the ball out of bounds. Just a series of self destructing mistakes by the Elks.

[3rdand1.5]

Well, we got the twelve we needed! Only real blemish was the one long TD against when Ford read and best the blitz.

I really hope it's not a concussion for Zach,!

BOO made some nice plays in place of Woli..who I also hope doesn't have a concussion

Dru played great, very happy to win this

Bennet made a good play this game

I thought McCrea was much improved in his handling of the ball in particular on punts

I thought the TSN shocked face bit was awesome

Brady ran hard but so did Demski,  Lawlers catch was unreal, and Baily played lights out!

A win is a win, but we sure made it way more interesting that it should have been

[Blue In BC]

I thought the Elks committed PI against Lawler when he made that one handed reception. Not sure why it wasn't called but he made a spectacular catch so it's somewhat moot.

Houston got torched on the long TD catch and run. Elks caught us in the right defence and Houston perhaps gave up slightly too much cushion. It was about 2 yards behind the LOS and with no safety help if you miss the tackle then it's over. Close but no cigar. Good move by Elk receiver to evade the tackle. Can't really fault Houston per se but that was disappointing to watch.

The 1st play of the game, the 53 yard reception  in double coverage and that screen resulting in a TD was all the Elks did on offence. Bombers held the Elks to 32 yards passing in the 1st half but gave up about 130 yards rushing. At odd circumstance in the CFL.

[Waffler]

Kudos to Dru Brown. Can't say enough about the game he had. Where did that even come from? To me he always seemed a capable back up and nothing more. That changed last night. The whole O fought for him too but he put the ball where it needed to be most times. He took a giant step in that game.


Feeling shocked and amazed but happy. I am more comfortable now that we have 2 QB's that can win as BC has and Toronto does not.

[Waffler]

I thought the Elks committed PI against Lawler when he made that one handed reception. Not sure why it wasn't called but he made a spectacular catch so it's somewhat moot.

Agree. I thought the official was reaching back for his flag too but saw it was caught and just gave the touchdown signal instead. Loved how Lawler pointed to his one arm as if to say this is all I need. haha. Maybe it was hot dogging but that catch was spectacular.

[M.O.A.B.]

I like Dru's accuracy last night. Hope that's not just for this game.

[M.O.A.B.]

I thought the Elks committed PI against Lawler when he made that one handed reception. Not sure why it wasn't called but he made a spectacular catch so it's somewhat moot.

Houston got torched on the long TD catch and run. Elks caught us in the right defence and Houston perhaps gave up slightly too much cushion. It was about 2 yards behind the LOS and with no safety help if you miss the tackle then it's over. Close but no cigar. Good move by Elk receiver to evade the tackle. Can't really fault Houston per se but that was disappointing to watch.

The 1st play of the game, the 53 yard reception  in double coverage and that screen resulting in a TD was all the Elks did on offence. Bombers held the Elks to 32 yards passing in the 1st half but gave up about 130 yards rushing. At odd circumstance in the CFL.

Thought the same too. That should go as the #1 the play of the week.

[Nic16]

The Lawler sideline catch early in the game was an exceptable miss by the refs.
The reckless hit on Zach was an opportunity for the CC to protect QBs.
A flag should have come out on the amazing one-handed TD catch by Lawler.
The late tackle with the forearm shiver to the head received by Bailey was in clear view but yet no flag! A review by the league and fine should be handed out.

Fantastic win led by Downtown Comeback Brown!

[Pigskin]

I am not sure why so many are surprised at DB6 performance. Anytime DB6 has had the opportunity to play, he has played well. I am sure a few teams will take a run at him in FA.

[Pigskin]

With Woli82 coming out of the game it was nice to have a very good backup in BOO84. 2/29 yards not bad for a half of football.