Did the Bombers fix last year's problems this year?

[Cool Spot]

I know everyone is looking forward to next year (2024) and thinking "Who do we release? Who do we keep? Who do we try to acquire?"

But, I was thinking it might make sense to have a post-mortem on 2022's Grey Cup loss and the issues that were identified at that time. Were they resolved in 2023? If not, were the gaps that we identified at the end of 2022 still problematic in 2023? Or did they turn out to not matter that much? (In my line of work, this is called a Look-Back).

For example:

* We all identified Wpg's kicker (Liegghio) as a weak point, many blaming him (rightly or wrongly) for the Grey Cup loss. In response, Wpg went out and re-acquired Castillo. I would argue that Castillo mostly solved Wpg's FG problems, though he still had some difficulties with Point-After-Attempts. So, that's good enough. However, I don't know that Wpg's kicking problems were solved, especially for punting.
* Wpg definitely had challenges this year with special teams coverage - was that a problem last year? If not, what changed? Is it Wpg's punter?
* On the receiving front, Wpg in 2022 had Schoen, Demski, Bailey, etc. Yet through all of that, there was still agreement that Wpg lacked the big-time receiver so they went out and acquired Lawler. I think that solved that problem this year (too many injuries in the receiving corps hurt the team, IMO, in the Grey Cup)
* I don't recall the Offensive Line being an issue in 2022, and it mostly wasn't in 2023
* The first few games of 2022 were problematic at RB, but improved throughout the rest of the year. RB was a very strong point in 2023.

What else were weaknesses at the end of 2022, particularly on defense? I don't remember them other than the ones above, and I'm sure others on this board are better at this than I am.

[Lincoln Locomotive]

Some good questions.....I for one am not thrilled with our "gadget" punter and our special teams were a disaster without the GOAT Mike Miller leading the charge downfield.

[Blue In BC]

Having an import kicker and Global punter had roster ratio limitations. So in that sense there is work that could potentially be done to make an additional improvement. IMO we should have kept Liegghio as the punter and back up kicker.

Hard to determine whether the ST problems were due to K / P distance, placement and hang time problems. I'd say that was part of it but so were the ST players.

The kicking situation from a ratio point of view eliminated 2 players that would have been defensive depth players. I wasn't particularly impressed with our DI's except for Grant and Castillo.

[TecnoGenius]

But, I was thinking it might make sense to have a post-mortem on 2022's Grey Cup loss and the issues that were identified at that time. Were they resolved in 2023? If not, were the gaps that we identified at the end of 2022 still problematic in 2023? Or did they turn out to not matter that much? (In my line of work, this is called a Look-Back).

For example:

* We all identified Wpg's kicker (Liegghio) as a weak point, many blaming him (rightly or wrongly) for the Grey Cup loss. In response, Wpg went out and re-acquired Castillo. I would argue that Castillo mostly solved Wpg's FG problems, though he still had some difficulties with Point-After-Attempts. So, that's good enough. However, I don't know that Wpg's kicking problems were solved, especially for punting.

I call what you're saying the puzzle-piece approach.  I think that's the main motivating factor for KW/MOS in the off-season.  They've been doing it for many years and the team has improved or maintained greatness each season.

Since Castillo went 100% in the GC, I'd say it was the right move, and the correct puzzle piece.  He did whiff badly in the WDF (twice) which is troubling, but he didn't cost us the game nor the GC.  So even with ratio implications I think we stick with an IMP K.

* On the receiving front, Wpg in 2022 had Schoen, Demski, Bailey, etc. Yet through all of that, there was still agreement that Wpg lacked the big-time receiver so they went out and acquired Lawler. I think that solved that problem this year (too many injuries in the receiving corps hurt the team, IMO, in the Grey Cup)

On the whole, Lawler was a letdown, whether by missing half the season or not getting big yards in most games.  However, having him for the GC when so many were injured was critically important and no matter what stats he's getting he is drawing coverage and opening things up.  So even though it cost us a ton, it was the right puzzle piece, and a smart move.

What else were weaknesses at the end of 2022, particularly on defense? I don't remember them other than the ones above, and I'm sure others on this board are better at this than I am.

People were getting antsy at the sub-par performance of Biggie.  Except for the GC (maybe), Biggie was better this year than last.  Did Biggie cost us the GC?  Probably not.  Is MLB a puzzle piece for 2024?  I don't think so.

SAM wasn't a problem last season but might be a puzzle piece this off-season.  Many aren't convinced NAT Kramdi is the answer, though I must say he's done better than I would have predicted (much like Holm).  Everyone's been moaning about interior D pressure for a couple of years, and it may still be a problem, though I think we did ok.  So I think the D is mostly ok, though they'll have to look long and hard at why our D gave up 75Y to lose the GC against a very sub-par O.  That may be the puzzle piece in the next few months.

I pin the GC loss, and thus the answer to the puzzle, on the coaches/coords, especially MOS and Buck.  See my "Fortune favors the bold" thread.  Did anyone see one new wrinkle all game?  Did anyone see us taking any chances when it was pretty clear the game had become a 50/50 game instead of the expected blowout?  Did we adjust?  Did we just stick with Brady on 1st down no matter what?  Did we just play not to lose when it was clear it was at best a crap shoot?

Buck didn't dazzle.  The O didn't dazzle.  All the great circus plays were made by MTL's O.  We didn't fool MTL's D at all.  The like 1-2 times we threw on 1st down Lemon came and ate our lunch.  Just like the GC vs TOR, the opponent was in our playbook, knew everything ahead of time, and shut us down way too often.  Sitting in the stands, I was like, this is the 2022 GC, and we have a shot at blowing it again.

I don't recommend ditching MOS or Buck as a puzzle piece, but I do think they need to reformulate strategies to be more bold and creative in the big games.  If we had come out swinging and playing against our tendencies, we likely thrash MTL.  When we're in the same position next year, I want to see us play fast and loose and do nothing that everyone expects.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Having an import kicker and Global punter had roster ratio limitations. So in that sense there is work that could potentially be done to make an additional improvement. IMO we should have kept Liegghio as the punter and back up kicker.

Hard to determine whether the ST problems were due to K / P distance, placement and hang time problems. I'd say that was part of it but so were the ST players.

The kicking situation from a ratio point of view eliminated 2 players that would have been defensive depth players. I wasn't particularly impressed with our DI's except for Grant and Castillo.

Add to that rostering an Import at FB all year which disadvantages the team even more, I would give O'Shea a D for overall roster management this season.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I call what you're saying the puzzle-piece approach.  I think that's the main motivating factor for KW/MOS in the off-season.  They've been doing it for many years and the team has improved or maintained greatness each season.

Since Castillo went 100% in the GC, I'd say it was the right move, and the correct puzzle piece.  He did whiff badly in the WDF (twice) which is troubling, but he didn't cost us the game nor the GC.  So even with ratio implications I think we stick with an IMP K.

On the whole, Lawler was a letdown, whether by missing half the season or not getting big yards in most games.  However, having him for the GC when so many were injured was critically important and no matter what stats he's getting he is drawing coverage and opening things up.  So even though it cost us a ton, it was the right puzzle piece, and a smart move.

People were getting antsy at the sub-par performance of Biggie.  Except for the GC (maybe), Biggie was better this year than last.  Did Biggie cost us the GC?  Probably not.  Is MLB a puzzle piece for 2024?  I don't think so.

SAM wasn't a problem last season but might be a puzzle piece this off-season.  Many aren't convinced NAT Kramdi is the answer, though I must say he's done better than I would have predicted (much like Holm).  Everyone's been moaning about interior D pressure for a couple of years, and it may still be a problem, though I think we did ok.  So I think the D is mostly ok, though they'll have to look long and hard at why our D gave up 75Y to lose the GC against a very sub-par O.  That may be the puzzle piece in the next few months.

I think the interior D-line did ok this year, they got good push from Walker and Lawson and Jake started good but tailed off toward the end of the season, probably his last. Confident Fox can step up next year and contribute as long as they can tweak the ratio to fit him in beside Walker.

At DE the Jeffs were fabulous once again whenever they played together, but they didn't get near enough out of their rotational DE's who were too limited in their reps.  Haba had a few good games and has a few good moves but I don't think he's a keeper being on the short side. Didn't see enough of Garbutt to tell one way or the other whether he will amount to anything, but should be back for TC next season.  Hansen did not return to beast mode after his injury but should be up to speed by next TC.  As for Bennett, don't see much hope unless he learns to play MLB, good mobility but doesn't have the tools to beat a 300 lb. O-lineman.

[CrazyCanuck89]

I call what you're saying the puzzle-piece approach.  I think that's the main motivating factor for KW/MOS in the off-season.  They've been doing it for many years and the team has improved or maintained greatness each season.

Since Castillo went 100% in the GC, I'd say it was the right move, and the correct puzzle piece.  He did whiff badly in the WDF (twice) which is troubling, but he didn't cost us the game nor the GC.  So even with ratio implications I think we stick with an IMP K.

On the whole, Lawler was a letdown, whether by missing half the season or not getting big yards in most games.  However, having him for the GC when so many were injured was critically important and no matter what stats he's getting he is drawing coverage and opening things up.  So even though it cost us a ton, it was the right puzzle piece, and a smart move.

People were getting antsy at the sub-par performance of Biggie.  Except for the GC (maybe), Biggie was better this year than last.  Did Biggie cost us the GC?  Probably not.  Is MLB a puzzle piece for 2024?  I don't think so.

SAM wasn't a problem last season but might be a puzzle piece this off-season.  Many aren't convinced NAT Kramdi is the answer, though I must say he's done better than I would have predicted (much like Holm).  Everyone's been moaning about interior D pressure for a couple of years, and it may still be a problem, though I think we did ok.  So I think the D is mostly ok, though they'll have to look long and hard at why our D gave up 75Y to lose the GC against a very sub-par O.  That may be the puzzle piece in the next few months.

I pin the GC loss, and thus the answer to the puzzle, on the coaches/coords, especially MOS and Buck.  See my "Fortune favors the bold" thread.  Did anyone see one new wrinkle all game?  Did anyone see us taking any chances when it was pretty clear the game had become a 50/50 game instead of the expected blowout?  Did we adjust?  Did we just stick with Brady on 1st down no matter what?  Did we just play not to lose when it was clear it was at best a crap shoot?

Buck didn't dazzle.  The O didn't dazzle.  All the great circus plays were made by MTL's O.  We didn't fool MTL's D at all.  The like 1-2 times we threw on 1st down Lemon came and ate our lunch.  Just like the GC vs TOR, the opponent was in our playbook, knew everything ahead of time, and shut us down way too often.  Sitting in the stands, I was like, this is the 2022 GC, and we have a shot at blowing it again.

I don't recommend ditching MOS or Buck as a puzzle piece, but I do think they need to reformulate strategies to be more bold and creative in the big games.  If we had come out swinging and playing against our tendencies, we likely thrash MTL.  When we're in the same position next year, I want to see us play fast and loose and do nothing that everyone expects.

Based on what is Kramdi not the answer? He was pretty good in coverage.  Somewhat physical in the run game. 

They could've moved Alexander down to SLB and put Kramdi at safety.  The CFL has somewhat got out of this mentality, that you can't play a Canadian at SLB. 

Even Adeleke and Addae got starts at DHB.  Addae had two picks in one game and looked much more comfortable than at safety.

[Pete]

Areas we didn't address adequately also include
  Defensive line; we knew that Jeffcoat wasn't going to play all the games , but really didn't bring in enough qualtiy talent to rotate/fill in for defensive end..Haba initially looked to be promising but after you got past his duck under spin move there wasn't enough there.A number of us wanted Lemon which didn't happen
  With the departure of Sayles we didn't bring in much in the way of back up tackle,,,Fox wasn't good enough for BC, and I don't think hes good enough for us (bummer that we couldnt resign Richardson who just resigned with BC)
   We needed a back up return specialist on the pr,,, you saw what Mtrl did when Worthy went down,,we kept trying to repurpose Parker, Mcrae to poor results
The inseason adjustments didn't happen this year,, was there anyone we added after the season started that had any impact?

[TecnoGenius]

To me it comes down to the final game.  I don't really care as much (right now) about problems that nag in-season.  I just want to find the puzzle pieces that halted our progress in the post-season, or, in this case, caused the GC loss.

Our group was good enough to finish #1 in the W, and that means the final puzzle pieces should be directed to the GC next year.  Not saying all the other games aren't important, but it's nice to know that a modicum of the status quo will suffice for everything else (minus ageing out / retirements).

[dd]

Add to that rostering an Import at FB all year which disadvantages the team even more, I would give O'Shea a D for overall roster management this season.

Ya I just never understood the whole import FB thing

[BLUEBOMBER]

I think the pieces are here. Last year we could have won the cup. This year we could have won the cup as well.

[Blue In BC]

I think the pieces are here. Last year we could have won the cup. This year we could have won the cup as well.

That really depends on which " pieces " we are able to re-sign as free agency approaches. I think we'll get most of them back but Oliveria, Schoen and Brown are the ones that might be the most difficult to keep.