Biggie's GC Role

[Lincoln Locomotive]

Dalton converted two second down throws.....perhaps he wasn't as big a threat as he usually can be....however he did make an impact.    It was hard to tell if AB4 was contributing from what I saw on the screen.....he was in pass coverage on one TD where he was clearly not in any position to disrupt the pass.....our D had some shining moments particularly when we stuffed them at the goal line to preserve our 10 point lead going into the 2nd half.

Gauthier had a hell of a game imho.....When Adam pulled up lame with a torn calf, I was thinking perhaps he should've sat out.....however he has been the QB of our D all season.....so tough call.    At the end of the day our D couldn't stop the Als on their last drive and that there was the old ball game.    We had them on the ropes on a 3rd and 5 and Fjardo completes a gutsy pass to preserve the drive and then drives a dagger into Bombers and fans with that last TD strike.    I don't cast any blame on either Dalton or Adam but rather I tip my hat to Cody Fjardo and the Als for wanting to win it just that much more than we did. 
I actually believe we may have beaten the Argos had they advanced as we may have been more motivated to avenge last years loss to them.....however it was the Als turn this time to make history and I'd rather have lost to them than to the Argos twice....

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Haha, ya.  I love how the pundits and even us fans dance around that issue.  Especially Dunnigan, he's the funniest coming up with euphimisms.  Just jack Schoen/Biggie up with massive direct injections and pain killers LOL!  But then they need to Strevie out the whole game: no quit unless a bone is showing!  (Easy for me to say.)

"Modern medicine".

[TecnoGenius]

Bighill hurt the team today.

Schoen did not help the team.

Neither should have played. 

I tend to agree.

You guys said DS83 made some clutch 2nd downs, but honestly I didn't even notice sitting at the stadium.  But no big plays, no mid-range plays, and no deep shot or TD.  If we had McCrae dressed instead, maybe we get some different sweep looks instead of just going to Demski?

Bighill is a bit harder to judge because it's not just him and his physical impact, but his direction of the whole D.   And we really can't know how critical he is for that.  The D as a whole was ok.  Made some big plays, screwed up a few times.  I want to say he should have stayed out, especially since he clearly re-injured the exact same part, but I can't really know.

I do know that if the decision was at all based on giving Biggie and Schoen their chance to get their name on the cup, even knowing they really weren't good to go, then that is very un-MOS-like and should not be acceptable for our team.

[TecnoGenius]

Dalton converted two second down throws.....perhaps he wasn't as big a threat as he usually can be....however he did make an impact.    It was hard to tell if AB4 was contributing from what I saw on the screen.....he was in pass coverage on one TD where he was clearly not in any position to disrupt the pass

That play was a travesty and should never have occurred.  Was it MTL #17?  A fast spry young receiver and our only man on him is Biggie?  What on earth happened there?  It was a shambles.  I don't mind Biggie dropping back to help and run interference but in no world should our MLB be the only guy on a legit, lanky SB.  So... who screwed up?

[Jesse]

And Bailey was playing with a torn hamstring, so it would have been nice to have some healthy bodies in the receiving core. Sure looked like Zach was having trouble finding open targets.

[Ricky Bobby]

Anyone else think our d-line was nullified by the Al's o-line, seemed like we had almost no pressure. I love Jeffcoat, but he was a non-factor.

[Horseman]

Anyone else think our d-line was nullified by the Al's o-line, seemed like we had almost no pressure. I love Jeffcoat, but he was a non-factor.

Yes, our DL was handled by the Mtl O line, we did not get any consistent pressure on Cody the entire game.

[TecnoGenius]

Anyone else think our d-line was nullified by the Al's o-line, seemed like we had almost no pressure. I love Jeffcoat, but he was a non-factor.

I still think it was part of the plan on many downs to worry about Cody contain rather than pass-rush.  We had to be careful we didn't just rush to him an lose outside contain if he dodges the initial lunge.  He made us pay that way on that late drive.

The problem was we weren't rattling him.  We managed to rattle VAJ by just getting close, and closing the pocket.  Cody didn't give a crap.

But yes, MTL's OL did appear to play quite well.  Even McGloster, who we let go and now may be turning into a legit OT, and could have been our future Yoshi or Stan replacement.

[Lincoln Locomotive]

I tend to agree.

You guys said DS83 made some clutch 2nd downs, but honestly I didn't even notice sitting at the stadium.  But no big plays, no mid-range plays, and no deep shot or TD.  If we had McCrae dressed instead, maybe we get some different sweep looks instead of just going to Demski?

Bighill is a bit harder to judge because it's not just him and his physical impact, but his direction of the whole D.   And we really can't know how critical he is for that.  The D as a whole was ok.  Made some big plays, screwed up a few times.  I want to say he should have stayed out, especially since he clearly re-injured the exact same part, but I can't really know.

I do know that if the decision was at all based on giving Biggie and Schoen their chance to get their name on the cup, even knowing they really weren't good to go, then that is very un-MOS-like and should not be acceptable for our team.

This is precisely why MOS wouldn't make it as a GM.....he's a players coach and to a fault, loyal to his players because he deeply cares for all of them....especially his all star vets!   That being said, he already indicated that given the same circumstances, he would do exactly the same thing.   MOS is unlike a Wally Buono in that regard nor would he ever want to be compared with any other coach.    MOS for all his faults and tendencies is still one of the greatest coaches in Bomber history and he does things his way!

[Big Daddy]

This is precisely why MOS wouldn't make it as a GM.....he's a players coach and to a fault, loyal to his players because he deeply cares for all of them....especially his all star vets!   That being said, he already indicated that given the same circumstances, he would do exactly the same thing.   MOS is unlike a Wally Buono in that regard nor would he ever want to be compared with any other coach.    MOS for all his faults and tendencies is still one of the greatest coaches in Bomber history and he does things his way!

Couldn't put it better myself.  In hindsight I don't think it was a good decision to play Biggie and Schoen, and it bothers me a bit that he says he would do the exact same thing.

However, can't argue with the results.  This team will do anything for him, 4 straight GC appearances with 2 wins.

Who would be questioning if we would want that record going forward back in 2018?  I remember the lean years very well as a STH, and we are still in some amazing times right now as Bomber fans.

So yeah, I may not agree with everything O'Shea does, but I'll take the whole package and live with the minor discrepancies. 

[tlf]

Bighill hurt the team today.

Schoen did not help the team.

Neither should have played. 

I agree with this partly.  We now know they don't get their name on the cup without playing. I wouldn't have had them play so much.

They were keys to us getting as far as we have the past few years, so they deserve their name on it had we won.  I can't imagine a coach wanting to deny them that honor.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Doesn't sound like Bighill is contemplating retirement, especially with one year left to go on his current contract.

"I haven't played my last snap of football by any means."

He also explained the play he ended up covering the receiver was a bust and it wasn't his responsibility.  Coincidentally this occurred right after Parker was injured and they brought in Hallett to cover for B.A., who moved to HB, with Holm moving to the corner.  None of these moves would've been necessary if Rose was dressed.


Bighill wanted set the record straight about Montreal's second touchdown on Sunday, a play on which he figured prominently.

The Alouettes ran a play that seemingly matched up receiver Cole Spieker with a hobbling Bighill in a man-to-man situation, and Alouettes quarterback Cody Fajardo took full advantage.

Many observers questioned why Bighill would be in pass coverage in such a situation and his simple answer was this: He wasn't supposed to be.

"If you guys in the media are maybe a little bit more savvy watching football than maybe your average person, you know that we don't ask linebackers to cover receivers vertically down the field," Bighill said. "Let's just say I was trying to cover up and help out. Was that my man in man-to-man coverage? No. But it's OK, there was a miscommunication that Montreal did a good job of exploiting, coaching-wise. They saw something from the previous game that they went and attacked and made a big play on it. That's the way it goes, good play by them."

The play in question came shortly after starting cornerback Jamal Parker suffered an injury and the Bombers were forced to move their defensive backs around.

Brandon Alexander switched from safety to halfback, Evan Holm from halfback to cornerback and Nick Hallett came in at safety. Alexander and Hallett appeared to get crossed up as they didn?t pick up any receivers on the play in question.

Bighill appeared to pick up Spieker right away and tried to run with him but was easily beaten to the end zone and had no help from the DBs.

[TecnoGenius]

He also explained the play he ended up covering the receiver was a bust and it wasn't his responsibility.

Ya, no kidding, as I said above.  And you're 100% right, the bust likely doesn't occur if Rose was dressed and so many shifts didn't have to occur.

It's part of the trade-off of dressing Biggie, not to mention having an IMP K.  And another indication that injuries cost us in many ways.  Had Parker not been dinged up already, maybe he doesn't go down there.  Not an excuse, but clear choices where we may have chosen wrong.  And once again, MTL with no injuries down the stretch (including miraculously unhurt Lemon) nor in the game.  We've had great injury luck in previous GC years; this year it finally caught up with us.  I guess it was just our turn.

Biggie shouldn't have to worry, I think most here would have known that while we may have a SAM isolated on a fast receiver, we would never task that to MIKE, whoever that may be.  The worst we may see is WILL on a very fast RB.  We don't blame you, Biggie.

[Jesse]

Ya, no kidding, as I said above.  And you're 100% right, the bust likely doesn't occur if Rose was dressed and so many shifts didn't have to occur.

It's part of the trade-off of dressing Biggie, not to mention having an IMP K.  And another indication that injuries cost us in many ways.  Had Parker not been dinged up already, maybe he doesn't go down there.  Not an excuse, but clear choices where we may have chosen wrong.  And once again, MTL with no injuries down the stretch (including miraculously unhurt Lemon) nor in the game.  We've had great injury luck in previous GC years; this year it finally caught up with us.  I guess it was just our turn.

Biggie shouldn't have to worry, I think most here would have known that while we may have a SAM isolated on a fast receiver, we would never task that to MIKE, whoever that may be.  The worst we may see is WILL on a very fast RB.  We don't blame you, Biggie.

Yes. This is the risk when you don't have depth rostered at DB (and receiver too).

[TecnoGenius]

It just dawned on me that everyone who says Biggie is washed up and had a bad 2023 and needs to retire, needs to remember one thing about Biggie in 2023:

How many 3rd & 1's did Biggie stop in 2023?  I don't think I've ever seen a MLB stop so many.  Even Henoc when he was that beast in MTL a few years ago, wasn't stopping that many.

Biggie was so effective at it in 2023 the league had to "change the rules" by fining him for H2H.  So what did Biggie do?  He changed his method slightly (hands between helmets) and then kept on stopping people on SY.  This is simply amazing, and something not captured in any stats because a sneak-plunge by its nature must give the DT stat to many people.  And in any event, a +1 to DT stat doesn't capture the enormity of a 3rd down sneak stop.

I haven't watched the GC loss yet... but did Biggie get us that massive momentum-stealing goal line stand?  If so, I rest my case.

I'm 100% happy with Biggie being our MIKE in 2024, especially at cap-friendly prices.