I know you said you don’t put much weight into home field advantage for a semi final, but the home team historically has a much better win %.
Plus I selfishly want to see it be here
But if we have to go on the road to get to the final, so be it. We did that 3 times in 2019 - and that worked out OK!
Am I the only one who thinks the Bombers could be holding a bit back so far this year?
A team in their position, with their experience knows that they don’t have to really give it 100% in the first 1/3 of the season.
Blue, I’ve already given my thoughts on the 6 weak sisters in the league so who’s saying it’s likely not a BC/Wpg final. But should it come down to a tie in the end with BC holding the tiebreaker, you can just as easily look back at the Ottawa loss as being the difference. My point is that in a 3 game series over an 18 game schedule, the other 15 games played are a bigger factor. The head to head only matters in the case of a tie over 18 games which doesn’t happen that often, be it for 1st place, 2nd to get home for the semi, 3rd place to get a playoff, last to get the #1 pick, or a crossover.
Yes I think you are
Sure, but you’re just argueing semantics.
IMO it’ll be a tight enough race that the tiebreaker could very well come into effect.
I think its a different strategy this year. They have dominated for a couple years previous, and still came up short lastyear.
I don’t think they are trying less, but maybe not all that desperate yet, and ofcourse injuries have played a part.
If this team can’t get up for the rematch on Thursday, then I don’t know what to say.
Whatever. More semantics, no? Any one loss would determine placings. You can pick what you want. Bombers could win this one & tie in Vancouver. That would eliminate who"won" the season series. So make sure you score at least 25 points more @ home in case of a tie.
Bottom line - 1st place goes to the team that has the most points in a season, regardless of head to heads. Take care of the other 15 matches & likely you don’t have to worry about tiebreakers.
Again I disagree with you.
IMO a game vs an eastern team does not have the same importance to as a divisional opponent you are likely positioning with. Lose that game vs the Eastern team (like we did vs Ott) hurts in that we didn’t get 2 points, sure. But the divisional games vs BC are 4 point games in that the other team takes an automatic loss. That does not happen vs an Eastern team.
You have your opinion, I have mine. I guess we’ll both have to live with the fact that yours is wrong. 
Of course divisional games are more important, Blue. That’s not the point. The discussion point was that head to heads are more important because IN THE CASE OF A TIE that decides who gets in. True but that does not mean it is the only reason. Many head to head winners have no influence on the standings whatsoever. And a head to head is taken out of it completely if you win more games than the other team vs the rest of the league. I will argue that what you do in the remaining 15 or 16 games has a more influence than 2, or 3, games over any one opponent. And that should be obvious.
Yup I like to tell people…
Those of you who feel you know it all always get in in the way of those of us that actually do
I don’t think they are intentionally holding back but they are a veteran team that of course knows that the important games come after the regular season.
Perhaps they aren’t bringing people back from injury as soon as they might to try and ensure 100% health, for example.
They also know that any one regular season game won’t necessarily decide placing but I am sure they are also well aware of the potential tiebreaker implications of losing to BC again this week. Obviously we’ll know a lot more of the relative standing of BC and Winnipeg after Thursday.
Not saying you were wrong, but what do you think now? These third stringers are doing pretty well.
EDM’s Ford should have been the starter all along, though. Maier is starting to pick up. I wouldn’t want him to be my starter, but at least he’s not totally lousy.
SSK, OTT, and HAM have some decisions to make in the off-season. MTL should try to get in on that action.
Hopefully, this will change the attitude of coaches, more willing to give new guys a chance instead of playing musical chairs with perennial backups. I’ll throw out Buono’s philosophy again: the backup has to show improvement every year or he’s gone.
Cow town QB and the team looked like poop today
Let me rephrase it a bit. Edm, Cal, SK, Ott, Ham AND Tor are all playing with QB’s who have a dozen or less starts. The 1st 5 of those teams have losing records. I think that Maier this year has not met expectations & he came in with more starts than any of the other 5. There’s been, & likely will be, some ups hiccups with most of them & no guarantee that a handful of them will be starting next year. In contrast, Mtl, BC & Wpg have veteran pivots which gives those clubs a leg up. Kelly is an anomaly - did anyone think he would be leading a 12-1 club at this point? The Argos have a really good team but he has made them better. The D was going to be excellent this year but the Offence has been every bit as good most games. That’s a surprise to me. 
IMO the Riders & Stamps are the worst teams in the league right now. The Riders have only once won a game by as much as 5 points & have been outscored by a ton on the road. This is a case of where the record is flattering a club who is not very good. It will be interesting to see what happens in Regina next year under a new regime. Even with a strong finish, IMO the HC is gone. I do like Dickensen, personally, but I think there’s no appetite for another year with him @ the helm.
Funny about Maier, since he’s up there in stats. But I agree that despite all that, he’s not doing as well as expected. But then, the previous Calgary backup was supposed to be great (forgot his name and who he plays for now), and he’s nowhere to be seen.
My posts on other threads have said what you said here. In one I said that the riders have done all possible to slow the the Stamps and the Elk ample opertinity to surpass them in the standings and both other teams were unable to do so. If the Rl would have won or two games in their first 9 they would the dangerous team right now… Riders IF. They make the post season are one and done I fear. The two game cushion they have over the Stamps and Elk is not enough
Seems like there are 10 other guys (the writers @ 3Downnation) who agree. Their latest rankings have Riders @ 8th, Stamps @ 9th. I genuinely feel for Rider fans. Not a fan myself, but feel for them. When Jones left on the eve of 2019 free agency, he left an improving team who finished 1st that year. It’s been downhill ever since.
The passing yards number is an illusion. When you drill down and look, (stats through week 15) Calgary is 7th overall in converted 2nd downs, 7th in rushing yards with less rushing yards than Hamilton. The telling one? Calgary has had 181 offensive drives this season, the most in the league, resulting in 24 touchdowns. That’s 13% of their scoring drives that end in a touchdown. Compare that with Kelly and Collaros at about 27%.
So while on the surface at first glance its easy to think Calgary is doing OK but the reality is the offence has a lot of issues to fix.
Agreed, stats can be skewed to look many different ways until like you said…drill a bit deeper