Official Game Day Thread - Toronto@Winnipeg, July 10, 2026

[Blueforlife]

Things heard in the hall that are not true or won't happen.
1. Willie is slowing down or not an impact player
2. We don't value or get pressure on the QB
3. Kramdi isn't a key part of our D
4. Younger needs to be replaced or step down
5. Defense is bad
6. Offense is bad
7. We overpaid for Brown
8. Maier has better deep ball than Brown lol

We back baby, time to crush Ottawa and build momemtum

Stuff to work on for sure but a step in the right direction, I didn't expect the DL or Dru to play that good

[Tecno]

Dru brown is the real deal. Ottawa fans must be livid they let him go and chose hapless maier as their starter, what the heck were they thinking.

Everyone knew and knows Dru is 10X better than Maier.  Everyone knows Maier is not a franchise guy.  Everyone.  Even Dinwiddie.

So why did he do it?  It must be neither Maier nor Dru is who Dinwiddie wants.  Maybe he wants to implode things completely in OTT in some bid to obtain the QB he really wants.  Who that is, remains to be seen.  It's not MBT nor Maier.

My money is still on Kelly.  But how does Dinwiddie get him in time for '27??  And why purposely implode '26?  I don't know what it is, but he must have a master plan.

[Tecno]

Like discussed it previous threads

These non dink and dunk QBs don't do too well vs Bombers D

And I always sit there when these teams play us and wonder why they don't just dink & dunk us!  HAM/BLM was patient and did that in our game 1 with them, and they creamed us.  Then in the 2nd game they completely went away from it and they couldn't get any traction, even with BLM.  It's the weirdest thing.

But half the teams are dunkers now... so we also need to prove we can beat the master dunkers like SSK.  Have we figured that out yet?  That will be the key to the season.

[Tecno]

I do not like to question reffing.....but no PI on Demski from CC....the CC jumps in for the RTP, that was contact on the front of the shoulder....then T.O gets 25 and an ejection for a weak tap on the Helmut while we are holding the guys legs down.....I kinda feel all three were wrong and impactful....

Always question the refs.  Some of them are horrid.

The intentional grounding 2Q12:51 on Dru was pretty bogus.  Even if it was flying over the rail 4Y short the refs NEVER flag that.  They only do it when it's really egregious, or the QB is falling down.  I'm not sure I've ever seen it when the QB has all day to throw and can pick his angle carefully.

Because it's against precedent, I call it a bad call.  Someone needs to tell #33 that you don't have to be a stickler librarian; not on penalties that have "whisper rules" by all the other refs.  Just like no one has called tandem block in 4 years even though it happens every couple of weeks and is clearly illegal.

Booth guys had an intelligent thing to contribute (for once) on this one: there were RECs nearby.  Yes, everyone knew it was a throwaway, but the rule doesn't judge intent.  Who's to say he wasn't targeting the REC and just whiffed?  She can't say he wasn't.

[Pigskin]

The Bombers as a team played a pretty solid game tonight. With the exception of a couple of bad turnovers, and couple of breakdowns in our secondary. I would like to see more TDs and less FGs. At the end of the day, I am $800 richer, and the Bombers have there first home win of the season. 

[Tecno]

2Q7:28 Dru takes a sack on 8-man blitz.  Look carefully: first point of contact has the D's hand on the lower part of Dru's knee, or under the knee.  His hand is fully on the blue sock, with none of it on the gold shorts.

The D's hand slides up a bit as he pulls on Dru.  But ends up lower than the knee and he ends up holding the entire leg beneath the knee with both arms.

My point being: since 1 year ago that's an illegal low tackle on the passer, RTP, and 15Y.  It's the "Strev rule".  And we've seen plenty of these called even when the hit is just above the knee.

The rule says: "When a blow is delivered to the knee or below of the passer, when the defender has a clear view to contact, and there are no mitigating circumstances such as contact with other players altering what would otherwise be legal contact."

I say since Dru got his legs pulled out from under him in an instant, that counts as a "blow".  The D had a "clear view".  Brady tries to push him wider, but fails.  The D goes low on his own because he's going to overshoot.  So I say "no mitigating circumstances".

These ones usually don't require a challenge.  The EITS usually calls it down, because it's so hard for refs to see in realtime.  Lots of cases of this.  I'm miffed they didn't catch it this time.  Sets a bad precedent.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

[Blue In BC]

Jake Kelly had his best game.

David Reese is finding his CFL footing and looking good.

ST's have been exceptional: returns, coverage and kicking.

Dru Brown had a very good game with so little practice time. Made a few early mistakes with 3 near pics and an int in the end zone. He moved the ball on offence and won TOP in the 1st half by 11 minutes. The defence did their job and kept giving the ball back to our offence.

So good job on both sides of the ball.

There were some warts but we controlled the game from start to finish.

[TBURGESS]

This is the first game this year that gave me hope. A full 60 minutes. Offence, Defence and Special teams all looking good. Pressure with only the front 4 was key. Vaval was amazing. Brown took a hit and popped right back up. 

Even with all the good things, it took us making 2 long FG's, them missing 2 FG's & having one of those run back for a TD to get the win 13 point shift on the 2 misses. Add a 14th point on the bobbled ball on our missed FG. 

[VictorRomano]

I'm not sure the exact timing, but there was an Argos run (or maybe a screen?) to the camera-side sideline in Q4 that went about 9 yards before he was pushed out. In the background you can see the Argo RT has Willie J in a complete bear hug, arms wrapped around both of Willie J's arms, preventing Willie from getting his arms up or shifting into the flat ...no call on the play

[tlf]

He says no other professional team plays away 5 games away from home and it's unprecendented? Lions? Many hockey teams?

Maybe not 5 weeks, but I don't think they are on the road for all 5 weeks.

[Stats Junkie]

2Q7:28 Dru takes a sack on 8-man blitz.  Look carefully: first point of contact has the D's hand on the lower part of Dru's knee, or under the knee.  His hand is fully on the blue sock, with none of it on the gold shorts.

The D's hand slides up a bit as he pulls on Dru.  But ends up lower than the knee and he ends up holding the entire leg beneath the knee with both arms.

My point being: since 1 year ago that's an illegal low tackle on the passer, RTP, and 15Y.  It's the "Strev rule".  And we've seen plenty of these called even when the hit is just above the knee.

The rule says: "When a blow is delivered to the knee or below of the passer, when the defender has a clear view to contact, and there are no mitigating circumstances such as contact with other players altering what would otherwise be legal contact."

I say since Dru got his legs pulled out from under him in an instant, that counts as a "blow".  The D had a "clear view".  Brady tries to push him wider, but fails.  The D goes low on his own because he's going to overshoot.  So I say "no mitigating circumstances".

These ones usually don't require a challenge.  The EITS usually calls it down, because it's so hard for refs to see in realtime.  Lots of cases of this.  I'm miffed they didn't catch it this time.  Sets a bad precedent.

The rule protecting QBs from low hits while in the pocket has been around for nearly 20 years. The clause about mitigating circumstances was a recent addition.

There is a difference between rules as written and rules as intended. That difference was exposed just 2 or 3 weeks into the season after this rule came into effect. A defender was penalized for tackling a QB from behind and the CFL realized a clarification was needed.

The intent of the rule is to protect the QB from low hits that drive his legs &/or knees in a backward motion while his feet are planted in the ground. That is where the worst injuries to QBs can happen.

A defender who makes a tackle from the backside by wrapping up the legs is not to be penalized. I believe that is what happened on this play.

The CFL did not rewrite the rule back then; instead it issued a statement with the amended interpretation.

I miss the days of greater transparency via Ask the Ref or an alternate media site which published rules interpretations. The current media site is very basic.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

He says no other professional team plays away 5 games away from home and it's unprecendented? Lions? Many hockey teams?

Maybe not 5 weeks, but I don't think they are on the road for all 5 weeks.

Not quite true the Argos homebase has been shifted to Guelph, so they have to travel to practice as Kelly explained.

[markf]

Something caused a change in the player's attitude.

Something from coaches, something from within the players, or both.

They played hard, for the first time this season, and maybe longer than that.

Jones had a very good game. Close to deranged, Maybe it came from him. Going tinfoil, maybe Bighill spoke to someone.

Gatkuoth met their running back at the line of scrimmage and stopped him cold. Great to see.

Willie had a great game.

Dontaria was fired up, making tough yards.


Correct me if I'm wrong, but a lot of d line rotation happened. Also great to see, and it showed.

[dd]

This was the first game where I had hope that this team could go places this season, even with the pick and turnover on punt, our offense moved the ball, would be nice to score more majors but heck that will come