Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Calgary, July 3, 2025

[Jesse]

Maybe I don't remember all that well but I believe in the last 2-3 seasons Zach started a trend of ******** the bed badly at least once or twice a year.  I can remember a few games the offence came out totally flat and never mounted a competitive effort the entire game, those contests usually ended in total blowouts. 3 that would qualify, the recent Stamps game, last year's GC and the early season loss to the Lions at home, but I'm sure there's more unexpected disasters. 

Often these games come totally out of the blue and happen at home in front of a stadium full of baffled semi-angry Bomber fans.  Bad trend.

It's happened every year to every QB/team. No one goes 18-0.

[Blue In BC]

Posters are always bias. They give no credit to the opposition defence making a very good play that result in a pic 6. Were the passes Collaros threw perfect? No but every QB has throws that receivers make great plays on that result in big gains.

Thinking any QB is going to be perfect every game is silly. OL protection, play calling, receivers running correct routes and every players individual performance are factors.

Yes, Collaros is getting older and his arm strength has decreased. It's not like we can open the phone book and dial up the next star QB for a lower contract value.

Our record to start the season is better than it was in 2024. It's a little early to be jumping ship IMO.

Rourke threw an int early in his game. It was  almost a 50 / 50 ball but came up a little short and the DB made a great recovery. When Collaros has that happen he gets called out. Your forget the ones where he's dropped a dime in that situation and we've scored.

It's the nature of football.

[markf]

We won't know what other QB's might be available going into 2025 until free agency.

Why is Streveler not considered a starting QB?

It's been decided, I suppose.

Hes the American version of Tre Ford.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

My question is why did we extend collaros without him playing a down in 2025 when its obvious his performance is on the downturn? Its not like he gave us a bargain.

Smarter to lock him up and then go back to him and restructure if his play takes a noticeable dive. To be fair to Zach though, he's off to a much better start this year than last and so a lot of criticism is unwarranted at this point.

[Blue In BC]

Why is Streveler not considered a starting QB?

It's been decided, I suppose.

Hes the American version of Tre Ford.

IMO Streveler is a decent back up and fan favorite. He's a good short yardage QB and knows aour system well enough to execute with minimum errors. At times he'll make some great plays.

Beyond that I don't consider that he will ever be a good # 1 QB. He's also a potential free agent t the end of the season. I'd like to see him get a few more reps but that has more to do with protecting Collaros from having to play 100% of the reps. It helps avoid injury etc etc. It gives the defence something else to prepare and worry about.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

It's happened every year to every QB/team. No one goes 18-0.

I accept losing games, most of the early season losses last year were relatively close games.  What I don't understand is where these blowout losses come from, it's as if the team is totally unprepared and unable to regroup within the 60 minutes allotted to mount a comeback.  If this team gets down by more than 2 TD's they're generally dead in the water, might as well throw in the flag cause they're not coming back.  That's why I asked if anyone can recall Zach mounting a significant comeback in the last few years.

[Blue In BC]

I accept losing games, most of the early season losses last year were relatively close games.  What I don't understand is where these blowout losses come from, it's as if the team is totally unprepared and unable to regroup within the 60 minutes allotted to mount a comeback.  If this team gets down by more than 2 TD's they're generally dead in the water, might as well throw in the flag cause they're not coming back.  That's why I asked if anyone can recall Zach mounting a significant comeback in the last few years.

It's not that hard to figure out. The defence gave up 2 very easy TD's on blown coverage. One was very early in the game. Bombers on offence gave up 2 pic 6 TD's. We can debate how much Collaros was to blame versus how well the Stamps defence read the plays.

Plays like that are never just about one single thing happening going wrong or going right.  In effect it looked worse than it was IMO. We can't really play the what if game.

[ModAdmin]

I accept losing games, most of the early season losses last year were relatively close games.  What I don't understand is where these blowout losses come from, it's as if the team is totally unprepared and unable to regroup within the 60 minutes allotted to mount a comeback.  If this team gets down by more than 2 TD's they're generally dead in the water, might as well throw in the flag cause they're not coming back.  That's why I asked if anyone can recall Zach mounting a significant comeback in the last few years.

They've lost ONE game this year and if you allow for two INT's for TDs in that loss, the liklehood of losing that game is pretty high.  It was a bad game.  They were unprepared but at the same time you could say they were well prepared for the three wins they already have.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

It's not that hard to figure out. The defence gave up 2 very easy TD's on blown coverage. One was very early in the game. Bombers on offence gave up 2 pic 6 TD's. We can debate how much Collaros was to blame versus how well the Stamps defence read the plays.

Plays like that are never just about one single thing happening going wrong or going right.  In effect it looked worse than it was IMO. We can't really play the what if game.

I'm more interested in the trend, not the gory details.  I believe these blowouts did not happen before 2023, and I attribute it to an increase in Zach's inconsistent play the last few years.  The obvious solution is to have and use a competent backup on days Zach can't find his groove.  They did that a little bit with Dru Brown in his last year with the Bombers, but it was almost always the case he replaced Zach only when injured.

[Blue In BC]

I'm more interested in the trend, not the gory details.  I believe these blowouts did not happen before 2023, and I attribute it to an increase in Zach's inconsistent play the last few years.  The obvious solution is to have and use a competent backup on days Zach can't find his groove.  They did that a little bit with Dru Brown in his last year with the Bombers, but it was almost always the case he replaced Zach only when injured.

The score may have indicated a blow out but I disagree that can be said without the context of the game. I also disagree we haven't seen games like this in the past. Narrow focus IMO.

It is Collaros fault the defence gave up two TD's on blown coverages? When the Bombers make an int or pic 6 it's a brilliant play. Some times it is and sometimes less so.

On the 1st pic 6 IMO it was a very good defensive play. On the 2nd pic 6 I see more blame for Collaros because he was late and possibly telegraphed the play. Regardless, ply calling and receivers not getting open lead to a 3rd or 4th read and that happens.

Very few coaches pull their starter after slower periods of proficiency during a game. Most teams don't have great 2nd string QB's.

I don't specifically remember the down and distance on each of the pic 6's at the moment. What I find often is that a stuffed running play or OL penalty often leads to 2nd and long. That's when things hit the fan trying to make a 10 yard plus play.

If your idea to any or all of this is to put in Streveler when or if Collaros is not driving for TD's every series, then I strongly disagree.

[blue_gold_84]

It's pretty confounding how one bad loss - and the only loss so far in 2025 - can elicit such immoderate responses here.

It's one game.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

It's pretty confounding how one bad loss - and the only loss so far in 2025 - can elicit such immoderate responses here.

It's one game.

Just wait until we're 3-15 again. It will happen again one day!

[TrueBlue4]

Here are my 2 cents - the game was embarrassing- complete team collapse. Can't say if the Bombers thought they only needed to show up but that's how they played.

I also would have played Strev for about half of the 4th quarter when we all knew the game was lost (personally I thought it was over but the crying in the 3rd quarter). We all know that O'Shea isn't wired like that but I look at what happened in the Grey Cup last year when Collaros went down had to throw in Wilson who I believe hadn't thrown a pass all season. I was hoping O'Shea would have learned from that.

Looking forward to seeing a big rebound next week and that we lay a lickin' on those Stamps.

[blueandgoldguy]

**looks at Collaros' stats from 2023**
12-4 record, 4200+ passing yards, 33 TDs (led the league), 112.8 QBR, division all-star

That's some decline!

This post is a really solid example of cherry picking.

And then to claim this team will be lucky to be .500 because of that self-inflicted logical fallacy is just priceless.

Collaros decline did happen in 2023 though...but at the halfway point of the season.  All you have to do is look at his stats on a game by game basis from the midway point of the 2023 season to the present and you will see a marked increase in his TD-INT ratio. It's shocking actually...probably the worst TD-INT ration of any starting QB in the league since nearly 2 years ago.

The win-loss record is heavily attributed to having some excellent receivers catching some suspect throws by Zach (we will miss lawler in this regard); an excellent running back; and a defense, that while it hasn't been as dominant since 2021, is still pretty decent and has had mostly good play-calling during that span.  This has covered up a lot of Zach's warts.

[blueandgoldguy]

You do. I do think it's fair to wonder if there has been a decline, but it's still too early to declare it. He still shows a lot of the Collaros we've come to know and appreciate here.  Bottom line is we're still in a pretty good position as far as starting qb goes in this league. Who's hands down better right now? Anderson and Rourke definitely have more upside. Otherwise, nobody.

Let me ask you this though: What should the Bomber Brass do about it? Play Streveler? Wilson? And don't go backwards to Brown please. That ship has sailed.

Wait, you actually wonder if there is a decline in Zach's play?!  I think it's pretty obvious.  His arm strength is nowhere near where it was 4 years ago.  Check out some of those awful underthrows that we seem to have become accustomed to the past 2 years.  An obvious example was Zach's INT in his first game back 3 weeks ago.  The ball was so badly underthrown that even when the receiver came to a dead stop the ball was still several yards behind him and easily intercepted.  If the receiver had just run his normal route  without looking back the ball would have likely been 15 yards behind him.

Zach is really overestimating his capabilities at this point.  He needs to look at someone like Bo-Levi Mitchell who has finally adjusted his game since his shoulder injury several years ago that took away some of his strength on the throws.  He has noticeably outplayed Zach at this point.