The Good, the bad, and the Ugly

[TecnoGenius]

Even Morgan in Mtl. resembles a QB that has the right toolbox, Strev. just plays like a misfit that lost his super-power.

Morgan is hot garbage.  Maybe given another 2 years of dev he might turn into something.  Maybe.  But as for out-of-the-gate success, may I point out Strev won waaaaaaay more games, arguably with a worse team (2018 WPG).

So if you guys think Strev is still bad... what does that make Morgan?

[theaardvark]

Can't he?  He's a big man, with a big chest & arms.  Not bulk, but lean strength.  He has no history of arm injuries.  There's no reason he can't chuck it 65+ like the best of them.  I've seen him zip 40Yers out there without even trying.

I know his mechanics are wonky, and he's more wrist than body, but we've all seen him flick effortless ones.  Accuracy and correct reads... that's a different issue.

Steveler can throw the ball a long way, and he's hit some deep dimes in his time here.

Problem is, his accuracy, or the lack thereof.

When he hits the target, it is a thing of beauty.  But its not often enough an occurrence to depend on that. 

And his short throws are even less consistent.  The receivers make him look so much better by getting to the balls, but it hurts their YAC and opens them up for hits when they have to spend time and energy getting to the ball, instead of it getting to them.

I really think we have to move on from him next game if Zach is injured.  Wilson, with Chase backing him up and Streveler as the SY and 3rd on the DC, emergency receiver.

[The Zipp]

Can't he?  He's a big man, with a big chest & arms.  Not bulk, but lean strength.  He has no history of arm injuries.  There's no reason he can't chuck it 65+ like the best of them.  I've seen him zip 40Yers out there without even trying.

I know his mechanics are wonky, and he's more wrist than body, but we've all seen him flick effortless ones.  Accuracy and correct reads... that's a different issue.

the proof is in the puddin'....when I say can't throw it is implied it more than just uncle rico'ing across a field...he cannot in a game complete passes with accuracy and timing like a professional QB should be able to, and it isn't getting better - just the opposite and to make things even worse his scrambling has taken a nosedive too.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Good passage from John Hodge's summary of the game, explains how all parties lose when Zach was knocked out of the game

"The penalty was costly for Saskatchewan as it negated a fumble that was recovered by defensive lineman Mike Rose and gave Winnipeg a fresh set of downs near midfield. It was also costly for Winnipeg as Collaros lay on the turf for a minute or two before leaving straight for the locker room. He didn't return to the game."

"Hits like this one make the game worse for everyone, which is why the league has worked hard to eliminate them. They're bad for the players who get hurt, the players who get penalized, the team that loses its quarterback, the team that loses its big play, the fans who want to see the best players play, and the network that pays millions of dollars to broadcast the league's best players in a marquee game."

https://3downnation.com/2025/09/06/winnipeg-blue-bombers-lose-banjo-bowl-zach-collaros-against-roughriders-12-other-thoughts/

[jdrattops]

I'm just going to go with one ugly here as this has been an issue all season...

MOS and the Bomber staff have no clue how to manage a clock going into a half time.  Turning point of the game was the 2nd and 10 interception with less than a minute to go, no doubt about it.  I'll debate anybody one this, even Techno.  Bombers run the ball there, kill 20 seconds and punt, Sask is taking a knee and getting out of the half down 10.  The way their offense was playing at that time, Mace is not putting the ball in the air.  Total momentum swing being down only one score for Sask with the successful last second field goal.

[jdrattops]

Okay I'll add one more concern, Jason Hogan as OC.

[ModAdmin]

We shouldn't have to remind people not to denigrate or insult players, coaches or management with personal, insulting comments.  Criticize their performance but keep the insults out of your comments.  Thanks.

[TecnoGenius]

MOS and the Bomber staff have no clue how to manage a clock going into a half time.  Turning point of the game was the 2nd and 10 interception with less than a minute to go, no doubt about it.  I'll debate anybody one this, even Techno.  Bombers run the ball there, kill 20 seconds and punt, Sask is taking a knee and getting out of the half down 10.

Not much debate here.  Except I will point out that often times the boobirds will come out when teams "chicken out" with time still on the clock, especially in Big Games.

Personally I'm totally all-in with Be Bold.  Because being wimpy has literally cost us 2 cups.  I'm fine with the play, but it has to be there, and the REC has to know he's "it" and not to hold up.  By that point it should have been clear the deep routes were not available in that game because SSK wanted to stop the deep hosing they got in LDC.

Someone else said a couple of mid shots would have been good enough for FG.  I agree.

[Big Daddy]

I'm just going to go with one ugly here as this has been an issue all season...

MOS and the Bomber staff have no clue how to manage a clock going into a half time "this year".  Turning point of the game was the 2nd and 10 interception with less than a minute to go, no doubt about it.  I'll debate anybody one this, even Techno.  Bombers run the ball there, kill 20 seconds and punt, Sask is taking a knee and getting out of the half down 10.  The way their offense was playing at that time, Mace is not putting the ball in the air.  Total momentum swing being down only one score for Sask with the successful last second field goal.

There, I fixed it for you.

I agree for this year.  Osh has been really good at clock management for years, grinding things out with running plays when needed.  He's really been good at this for a long time. 

Except this year.  I don't know what is going on.  Was it LaPo and then Buck that were actually doing all that management on offense?  Does Osh really just stand back and watch his OC and DC run the game, and throw the challenge flag as the HC once in a while when needed?  I've gotta believe he does more than that in games.

But something has changed this year with clock management, and the biggest change was at OC.  So it has me wondering.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

There, I fixed it for you.

I agree for this year.  Osh has been really good at clock management for years, grinding things out with running plays when needed.  He's really been good at this for a long time. 

Except this year.  I don't know what is going on.  Was it LaPo and then Buck that were actually doing all that management on offense?  Does Osh really just stand back and watch his OC and DC run the game, and throw the challenge flag as the HC once in a while when needed?  I've gotta believe he does more than that in games.

But something has changed this year with clock management, and the biggest change was at OC.  So it has me wondering.

It was LaPo's obsession which is wearing thinner with each passing year, O'Shea has no say in the offensive play calling other than to decide to gamble on 3rd, kick a FG or punt.

[3rdand1.5]

Clock management has been bad all year.....

When I coached...no, not a pro level mind you....and when I designed and schemed my offences, I always looked at it as you are playing two opponents.....one the defence and two the clock....stats back-up just how important the TOP is...and if you go deeper into it the psychological and performance factors of keeping the other team's offence of the field while physically beating down the opposing defence it will show  just how important playing the clock really is.....

Winnipeg had been really good with this for years...we appeared to design our offence to grind it out, play "bully ball" etc......At times it would be frustrating seemingly like we played for a field goal and not a TD, we seemed to almost always play safe....

This year is different, we are IMO getting too fancy, too greedy, we have gone away from playing safe, gone is the conventional wisdom of play calls.....

Many examples of this, this year, before the half the last two weeks are perfect examples....LD conventional clock killing wisdom would have ran twice and ran as much time off the clock as possible and tried for the FG.....what did we do we took a shot...and got sacked...cost us 7 yards and we missed the FG.....Banjo Bowl....clock killing offence would have ran twice, or a high percentage pass such as a screen etc. ran down as much time as possible off the clock and at worst angled a punt to pin them deep with virtually no time left....what did we do, aired it out...int. and they end up scoring 3 points.....both examples swung momentum the wrong way...

Sure one can argue, but, sometimes you have to take a chance...sure but the totality of the situation needs to be played out and I don't feel our OC has the smarts to do that....too many examples of getting "fancy"...another glaring example why go with Strev. on first and goal the other week....Everyone knows Strev. is not 100% and the threat to run he used to be....oh and have him in shotgun which fooled no one on the defence...why get "fancy"... again it arguably cost us points and swung momentum....the totality of the situation taken into account that should never have even been a thought.....

At any rate there are many, many, many examples of our offensive scheme and play calling not seeming to understand the overall situation....and I am afraid unless that changes, we will continue to cause "self inflicted" suffering with this offence and without Zach's ability to buy time and make chicken salad out of chicken poo....I just see the offence spiraling down.....and making Strev. look bad in teh process

[theaardvark]

I'm not 100% sure who gets delegated the clock management duties, but it usually is an underling assistant who just watches the clock and makes sure the coaches are aware of the situation.

Did that personnel change in the offseason?  Did Buck take them with him?

Like every great organization, your organizational chart gets raided every year.  We've lost OC's, Asst GM's, scouts, coaches, and players.

While you hope that you have the depth for next man up, and being able to train up the next guy, its not always going to happen that your replace a spot with someone as good or better.

"Growing pains" is one thing, its easy for struggling organizations to upgrade, especially when they have good teams to raid.

Maintaining excellence is tough, especially when your best people get targeted, and you can only afford to keep so many...

I get how salary caps are important, and I am all for the hard cap on players.  But the front office cap has always bothered me. 

Thanks, Chris Jones, for screwing us all over.

We have a successful organization, that is very deep in the black, but we can't fork out a few extra sheckles to flesh out our front office staff to put a better product on the field.  Its just not a good MO for the league, really.

[blue_gold_84]

We have a successful organization, that is very deep in the black, but we can't fork out a few extra sheckles to flesh out our front office staff to put a better product on the field.  Its just not a good MO for the league, really.

The on-field product was just fine in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023... But now that it isn't, you're bothered by the front office cap...? Absurd.

The organization only has itself to blame here, IMO. The same way it hasn't managed its players' roster sufficiently recently, it's looking like a similar issue for the front office roster.

These are self-inflicted wounds.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I'm not 100% sure who gets delegated the clock management duties, but it usually is an underling assistant who just watches the clock and makes sure the coaches are aware of the situation.

Did that personnel change in the offseason?  Did Buck take them with him?

Like every great organization, your organizational chart gets raided every year.  We've lost OC's, Asst GM's, scouts, coaches, and players.

While you hope that you have the depth for next man up, and being able to train up the next guy, its not always going to happen that your replace a spot with someone as good or better.

"Growing pains" is one thing, its easy for struggling organizations to upgrade, especially when they have good teams to raid.

Maintaining excellence is tough, especially when your best people get targeted, and you can only afford to keep so many...

I get how salary caps are important, and I am all for the hard cap on players.  But the front office cap has always bothered me. 

Thanks, Chris Jones, for screwing us all over.

We have a successful organization, that is very deep in the black, but we can't fork out a few extra sheckles to flesh out our front office staff to put a better product on the field.  Its just not a good MO for the league, really.

The problem Chris Jones created was in the number of coaches he hired, if one team has 15 coaches as Luke Wilson would like to see vs. 10 on another team, there is going to be a pronounced advantage for the team with the bigger coaching staff.

[GOLDMEMBER]

The on-field product was just fine in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023... But now that it isn't, you're bothered by the front office cap...? Absurd.

The organization only has itself to blame here, IMO. The same way it hasn't managed its players' roster sufficiently recently, it's looking like a similar issue for the front office roster.

These are self-inflicted wounds.

Here, here.