Kudos to the O and OL

[TecnoGenius]

I apologize for not believing.  I thought with the 2 OL changes on top of our already-patchwork OL that doing anything on O except short curls would be hopeless.

Wow, was I wrong!

Buck, MOS and the unit coaches (especially the OL unit) pulled some absolute magic out of thin air and produced a wonderfully balanced O plan (in depth-of-pass terms) and execution.  I don't know how they whipped that OL into a cohesive unit in just one week, but they did!

And kudos to Zach and the R corps for making it all happen on the field!  Zach proving he's far from "washed up" as a few said when we were losing every game.

I'm pretty sure that's our best 1st half of O all season by a wide margin.  And against a good SSK D that had them first in the West for a long time.

I wasn't there, but thanks for the great show on TV!  Everyone on both teams was on the edge of their seats for that last 3 minutes.  Those that made the trek got rewarded!

Pre-game I put our chances of winning at around 25%, and I lost a pickem because of it, but at least I knew in the back of my mind you never count WPG out (so I didn't put any money on it!).  I'm glad to lose the pickem.

This game showed we have true grit through terrible adversity against a great team that we'll likely meet again in the post-season.  In fact, it may be season-defining, and I can't wait to see what comes next.  Thanks WFC!

[Jesse]

I wasn't sure either team would score an offensive TD in this game, so obviously it's a barn burner.

Labour Day Classic. You can just never tell what's going to happen.

[J5V]

The best thing for me was listening to the TSN panel and Rod Smith getting all forlorn and depressed after pumping the Rider's tires and throwing the Rider's record on LDC's into the face of the Bombers and Bomber fans all game long. Truly delicious!

The Bomber organization has never been given the respect they have earned from the CFL media who love to jack up whoever is playing us. Screw them!

MOS and his coaching staff deserve a ton of credit for sticking to their plan and developing the right kind of players to help us transition into yet another great team capable of great things. Kudos to each and every one of them for standing strong in the face of all the doubters and detractors.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I'm not sure how much I'd praise the offensive line (maybe I'm just used to the sky high level they played at previously and am spoiled) but you know who looked great? 25-year-old Kendall Randolph at tackle. They put him on an island and he delivered. Pencil him in at starter next year if Stanley Bryant retires.

[The Zipp]

I will throw out some backhanded kudos to Micah Johnson who did great but for whatever reason we decided to not isolate and pick on him and that in turn made him get confidence and be successful.

Our 3 man rush gave Harris all the time he needed to stand behind a line with a replacement and a defensive player. 

I guess it was just the day for the o lines to shine

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I will throw out some backhanded kudos to Micah Johnson who did great but for whatever reason we decided to not isolate and pick on him and that in turn made him get confidence and be successful.

Our 3 man rush gave Harris all the time he needed to stand behind a line with a replacement and a defensive player. 

I guess it was just the day for the o lines to shine

We definitely went into the game with the plan to drop 9 in coverage and by God we were going to stick with it.

[TecnoGenius]

We definitely went into the game with the plan to drop 9 in coverage and by God we were going to stick with it.

      That's about the size of it!

[TecnoGenius]

We also had Vanterpol in for lots of jumbo... and when he was in, sometimes Eli would bump out to TE!  On rewatch I'm trying hard to figure out everything they were doing, but it's getting complicated.  Lots of moving parts, and I don't have all the "new" OL numbers memorized yet   

I think having no FB is limiting our normal options again.  Hopefully one of the 2 FBs gets back in soon, and hopefully both are healthy for the playoffs.

And we'll need to make sure we have 7 OL to dress by that time, too, with hopefully another healthy on the PR.

[TecnoGenius]

I will throw out some backhanded kudos to Micah Johnson who did great but for whatever reason we decided to not isolate and pick on him and that in turn made him get confidence and be successful.

Yes, we seem very reluctant to change our plans or attack the weak point.  It's bizarre.

SSK's OL this season has been almost as beat up as ours.  Total musical chairs.  And then they lose 2 in-game and we still weren't getting some untouched pass-rush through?  I get it, you can't focus on pass rush when Trevor throws after 1.5s every snap... but if we get someone through untouched we can be there in under 1.5s.

Still, can't complain.  The bend but don't break worked as we did get just enough stops on his 10Y-pass-ever-snap drives to win the game.  But it sure was nail-biting level anxiety!

[Blueforlife]

Some wanted to blow up the OL and we're calling for Zach's head.  All worked out in Bomberland.  Takes a lot of courage to admit when wrong but it also bring reflection and discussion.

[TecnoGenius]

Some wanted to blow up the OL and we're calling for Zach's head.  All worked out in Bomberland.  Takes a lot of courage to admit when wrong but it also bring reflection and discussion.

I didn't want to "blow up" the OL, I just wanted to replace pieces one at a time until something actually workd.  And the funny thing is, that's exactly what we did!  Neuf (maybe ailing all season) being replaced by Randolph made an instant impact for 3 games before being thrust out to LT (where he's decent, but clearly not a natural OT).

It's just that injuries forced the changes, not "willing adjustments".

I don't know what we'll do going forward, but it's nice to have some options and sets that are finally working.  With Bryant back and maybe Neufeld soon/later we should be able to field solid OLs for the rest of the season.  Personally I like the idea of sticking with 3 IMP OL, and always dressing 7.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

We also had Vanterpol in for lots of jumbo... and when he was in, sometimes Eli would bump out to TE!  On rewatch I'm trying hard to figure out everything they were doing, but it's getting complicated.  Lots of moving parts, and I don't have all the "new" OL numbers memorized yet   

I think having no FB is limiting our normal options again.  Hopefully one of the 2 FBs gets back in soon, and hopefully both are healthy for the playoffs.

And we'll need to make sure we have 7 OL to dress by that time, too, with hopefully another healthy on the PR.

MCI is back practicing so hopefully he's ready to play shortly.

[TecnoGenius]

MCI is back practicing so hopefully he's ready to play shortly.

This is actually massive news and very welcome.  From early practice injury report one would guess Ike is going to dress.  We do so much better with our FB(s) in.  And it lets the Rs concentrate more on their R duties in practice and games.

I expect we'll go 7OL + 1FB assuming one of Stan or Neuf are good to go.  The big question for me is where does Randolph start...

[TBURGESS]

The OL gelled as soon as Neufeld got hurt. Is bringing him back is a good addition?

Bryant only partially practiced. Not sure he's 100 percent.  

Collaros hasn't played well this year. He's better than he was at the beginning, but he's only thrown 7 TD passes so far this year. That's a third of the TD's that BLM has thrown for in the same time frame. 

We've got 269 points for, that's 2nd last in the league behind Calgary. 

We're first in the west, but we're 6-6 which is 4th in the league. BC's tied with us and Skn is only a half game back. 

We used to dominate, now we're winning on 60 yard FG's and lucky bounces and last minute drives.

[Pete]

We've also lost on fgs and last minute drives, we were 4-0 and two of our losses we should have won ie argo game.
In our last 8 we are 6-2
(Glass half full) If our oline gets healthy, with Zac playing closer to Zac level we could be fine