Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Ottawa - June 13, 2024

[TecnoGenius]

Again, it would be good if we get a commanding lead to get Chris-Ike a few reps. It wouldn't entirely surprise me to see a 2 RB set just to confuse the defence or at least give them something more to think about.

Ya, many of us always wish for a 2 RB set, many times over the years, and we never get it.  MOS/Buck just don't do it.

The closest thing to that, that I can remember, is the Zach+Strevie plus I'll assume Brady(?), all in at the same time in week 1.

We've really become the team that does almost zero trick plays, and very few "new" plays even.  Ironic, because we used to be the #1 team for that.

We do need to be less predictable with our running game. 1st down A gap runs less often maybe. Augustine is a little quicker than Oliveria so maybe we see a couple more sweeps?

Ya, no kidding.  We follow the same script nearly every time.  Now, it works ok when AH33 or BO20 are getting 6-8 yards on that 1st down.  But it sure bites rocks when BO is only getting 1-3 because our new OL is very weak on the run (so far) and/or he's injured.

Johnny isn't a power guy, so it could be even worse in week 2.  If we send him up the A/B he'll probably get clobbered and very little yardage.  We really will need some real creativity to be effective in this game.  And pray that OTT still hasn't figured out which way is up.

[TecnoGenius]

OTT starting 4 NAT OL.  Interesting.

Anyone have any idea how good their OL will be?  Bull doesn't ring any bells for me... is he any good?  Bladek can be hit & miss.  Hogan is ok, Desjar is superb.  Boyd seems to have been serviceable too.

I expect Dru to be bootlegging and scrambling a lot.  He's pretty quick, and I think our DL is slower this year.  If we leave the flat open, especially by SAM, it could be a loooong night of "free" 1st downs via Dru's legs.

I'm hoping Rhymes has "lost it".  Addison scares me though: hopefully he hasn't had time to get any chemistry yet.  And Acklin and Hardy are very good receivers.

In fact, on paper OTT looks pretty good.  The only weak unit is the DB's I think.  Thus I think it would behoove us to air it out a lot.

[TecnoGenius]

Looks like rain and possible t-storm for the game hours in OTT.  Starts at 60% POP then moves up to 90% by 10pm ET.

This could result in a lightning delay, so tell your PVRs to record and extra couple of hours.

This could hurt our air game, and with BO20 out, we don't could be hurting for O yards.  However, OTT is in an even bigger pickle than us, as their RBs are weak and their WR strong.

Maybe it'll come down to who is better in the sweeps! 

[ModAdmin]

Strong feeling this will be a Bombers Win.  Keep the faith!

[Jesse]

Ya, many of us always wish for a 2 RB set, many times over the years, and we never get it.  MOS/Buck just don't do it.

The closest thing to that, that I can remember, is the Zach+Strevie plus I'll assume Brady(?), all in at the same time in week 1.

We've really become the team that does almost zero trick plays, and very few "new" plays even.  Ironic, because we used to be the #1 team for that.

Ya, no kidding.  We follow the same script nearly every time.  Now, it works ok when AH33 or BO20 are getting 6-8 yards on that 1st down.  But it sure bites rocks when BO is only getting 1-3 because our new OL is very weak on the run (so far) and/or he's injured.

Johnny isn't a power guy, so it could be even worse in week 2.  If we send him up the A/B he'll probably get clobbered and very little yardage.  We really will need some real creativity to be effective in this game.  And pray that OTT still hasn't figured out which way is up.

So my gut instinct is to roll my eyes at this comment (a. Because I think 2 rb sets aren't effective and b. because our offence has been so successful). But in the coaches show this week, they were talking about Montreal's flea flicker and MOS scoffed and said he "never expect those to work".

And I found myself again lamenting the loss of the coach that MOS used to be. When he was in Toronto, and in the early days here, there would be so many plays - mostly on special teams - that made everyone get up out of their seat. You'd have to watch a replay 5 times just to figure out what happened. It's been a long time since that happened.

With the obvious caveat that we've been so much more successful in recent years than in the "old days" when MOS was using more trickery.

[Jesse]

Injuries to Lawler and Oliveira are almost comedic. Our two highest paid players (QB notwithstanding) out in week one?

I continue not to understand our desire to underman our DL and overload our LBs. We're watching DLs on other teams just take over games in the 2nd half. Every other team is going into games with 8+ DL and we're forcing our starters to practically play every snap. Guess who's gassed in the second half? Especially if our injury riddled (with multiple new starters to begin with) offence struggles to stay on the field again.

[Road Griller]

Injuries to Lawler and Oliveira are almost comedic. Our two highest paid players (QB notwithstanding) out in week one?

Injuries to Lawler and Oliveira are almost comedic. Our two highest paid players (QB notwithstanding) out in week one?

I continue not to understand our desire to underman our DL and overload our LBs. We're watching DLs on other teams just take over games in the 2nd half. Every other team is going into games with 8+ DL and we're forcing our starters to practically play every snap. Guess who's gassed in the second half? Especially if our injury riddled (with multiple new starters to begin with) offence struggles to stay on the field again.

I continue not to understand our desire to underman our DL and overload our LBs. We're watching DLs on other teams just take over games in the 2nd half. Every other team is going into games with 8+ DL and we're forcing our starters to practically play every snap. Guess who's gassed in the second half? Especially if our injury riddled (with multiple new starters to begin with) offence struggles to stay on the field again.

Our D-line and rotation were the key to our dominance in '19 and '21.  Other teams followed suit and we abandoned it.

Look for Zach to be under constant pressure and Dru to get free for some big plays.  Especially late in the game.

Ottawa comes back to win  in a squeaker.

[Blueforlife]

Injuries to Lawler and Oliveira are almost comedic. Our two highest paid players (QB notwithstanding) out in week one?

I continue not to understand our desire to underman our DL and overload our LBs. We're watching DLs on other teams just take over games in the 2nd half. Every other team is going into games with 8+ DL and we're forcing our starters to practically play every snap. Guess who's gassed in the second half? Especially if our injury riddled (with multiple new starters to begin with) offence struggles to stay on the field again.

We have found success last year with lots of LBs.  We will rotate them well.  Yes rotation on the DL would also be good but with the bodies dress we will have a reasonable rotation as well.  An interesting debate on which group should have more bodies.  I trust the coaches on this one.

[BomberFan73]

So my gut instinct is to roll my eyes at this comment (a. Because I think 2 rb sets aren't effective and b. because our offence has been so successful). But in the coaches show this week, they were talking about Montreal's flea flicker and MOS scoffed and said he "never expect those to work".

And I found myself again lamenting the loss of the coach that MOS used to be. When he was in Toronto, and in the early days here, there would be so many plays - mostly on special teams - that made everyone get up out of their seat. You'd have to watch a replay 5 times just to figure out what happened. It's been a long time since that happened.

With the obvious caveat that we've been so much more successful in recent years than in the "old days" when MOS was using more trickery.

I've also been thinking about this. We haven't seen a good trick play in sometime now.  I loved that one by Leggett where he was returning, but the other returner signaled like he was getting the ball, everyone went to that side & Moe had a clear 50 yards.  Fooled everyone in the stands too, lol.
I do think we'll be doing something right away (today?) with that 2 QB thing.  Also I wonder if anyone else is going to try that catch & kick on 2nd & long like Montreal did a couple times?

[CrazyCanuck89]

OTT starting 4 NAT OL.  Interesting.

Anyone have any idea how good their OL will be?  Bull doesn't ring any bells for me... is he any good?  Bladek can be hit & miss.  Hogan is ok, Desjar is superb.  Boyd seems to have been serviceable too.

I expect Dru to be bootlegging and scrambling a lot.  He's pretty quick, and I think our DL is slower this year.  If we leave the flat open, especially by SAM, it could be a loooong night of "free" 1st downs via Dru's legs.

I'm hoping Rhymes has "lost it".  Addison scares me though: hopefully he hasn't had time to get any chemistry yet.  And Acklin and Hardy are very good receivers.

In fact, on paper OTT looks pretty good.  The only weak unit is the DB's I think.  Thus I think it would behoove us to air it out a lot.

He was the first overall pick in 2023, out of Fresno State.  His backup was the second overall pick in 2022.

[theaardvark]

2 RB sets may not be a Bomber trade mark, yet, but I think we may be the only team to have used 2 QB sets multiple times this year.

We have a veteran speed RB, a rookie pounding RB, a veteran SB/RB threat in Demski, and a Streveler who evades definition.

I think Buck has a lot of run game tools at his disposal, and I truly hope he keeps the "Jet Sweep" in his pocket tonight.  "Jet Sweep" is not a term we should be using in Winnipeg, or even "Out in 5"...

[Sir Blue and Gold]

So my gut instinct is to roll my eyes at this comment (a. Because I think 2 rb sets aren't effective and b. because our offence has been so successful). But in the coaches show this week, they were talking about Montreal's flea flicker and MOS scoffed and said he "never expect those to work".

And I found myself again lamenting the loss of the coach that MOS used to be. When he was in Toronto, and in the early days here, there would be so many plays - mostly on special teams - that made everyone get up out of their seat. You'd have to watch a replay 5 times just to figure out what happened. It's been a long time since that happened.

With the obvious caveat that we've been so much more successful in recent years than in the "old days" when MOS was using more trickery.

Didn't listen to the show but he's not wrong. It's gimmicky and low percentage play even when executed well. Montreal called it with the lead thinking if they had to punt there their defense was looking good. There's a reason you don't see it very often and there's no correlation between teams than run the flea flicker hail mary well and championship winning football.

[Road Griller]

So my gut instinct is to roll my eyes at this comment (a. Because I think 2 rb sets aren't effective and b. because our offence has been so successful). But in the coaches show this week, they were talking about Montreal's flea flicker and MOS scoffed and said he "never expect those to work".

And I found myself again lamenting the loss of the coach that MOS used to be. When he was in Toronto, and in the early days here, there would be so many plays - mostly on special teams - that made everyone get up out of their seat. You'd have to watch a replay 5 times just to figure out what happened. It's been a long time since that happened.

With the obvious caveat that we've been so much more successful in recent years than in the "old days" when MOS was using more trickery.

In TO the other team had to spend time preparing for what MOS would do as a special teams coach.

Now they struggle to cover a simple punt, of course having a normal punter with a strong leg could solve a lot of  the issues but that is somehow out of reach.

Rostering a pile of LB's to cover kicks is not working.  But, let's keep trying to pound that round peg....

[Doublezero]

Collaros needs to up his game if Bombers expect to win.
Hoping to see Strev throw some completions.
Looking forward to seeing what Johnny A can do.
I hope I am wrong but Bombers have lost 3 in a row if you count the exhibition games ...
So would not surprise me to see Ottawa beat the odds and steal this one.

[theaardvark]

In TO the other team had to spend time preparing for what MOS would do as a special teams coach.

Now they struggle to cover a simple punt, of course having a normal punter with a strong leg could solve a lot of  the issues but that is somehow out of reach.

Rostering a pile of LB's to cover kicks is not working.  But, let's keep trying to pound that round peg....

New ST coach needs to find his lane.  Miller was thee GOAT on the field, coaching is different by a long shot.  His development in that is going to be something we need patience with. 

Sheahan has improved his conventional spiral kicking, and will mix that in with his 25 Aussie kicks.  Its going to take a bit of live fire reps to get everything ironed out.

MOS is also available should Miller need some assistance, but I don't think MOS would wade in all that quick, he seems to give his coaches a lot of leash.