Area 51 (Foley's brother) will be enjoying this one. Illustrating fully why Matt Nichols has earned the A51 nickname - Scrub Nichols.
With 2 consecutive gasses on field goals - one from 55, one from 37, Justin Medlock now has the worst field goal percentage in the CFL (other than part-time hobos like Hugh O'Neil)
O'Shea never should use Medlock from 55 but with Nichols in full scrub mode - the bombers need those semi-automatic 3-pointers!
Should bombers lose tonite (and they fully deserve to) the talk radio stations will be replete with the chorus of “Hey, we’re still 9-4 . . . . who woulda thunk it?”
You get the same refrain at 9-5 - after that - - - SHEER PANIC.
Yikes another loss. That B.C-Edmonton game in a couple weeks could be for the crossover. Who would have thought two months ago we would be fighting for our playoff lives?
Bluto Walby & Troy Westwood thought the bomber d-line did a great job pressuring Mad Hatter Reilly. I didn't. They were gassed by the end of the 2nd quarter. Even put in their dud #1 pick Fat Kat Ekakitie for a few terrified reps.
I think Reilly actually relishes near sacks - cuz he's got the innate ability to bounce out of the sack position and toss big gain passes - last nite he had almost all the time in the world. His accuracy is almost uncanny - and most of his WR's made great catches - unlike the Bombers who should have had at least another 100 yds - but guys like Dutch Denmark & even Darwin Adams suddenly developed frying pan hands.
That said - the bombers were full value for their victory. They had a running game - Esks only got running yards when bombers inserted mopes like FatKakitie, Hurl, etc. Heck, even Wadzilla Miller could have run for 5 yards with those mopes in the middle.
Biggest advantage for Bombers - while Matt Nichols doesn't have the legendary long-range accuracy of his buddy Reilly, he's a better game-manager. He knows when he's draped out - uses dump offs to avoid sacks, get small gains, set up another down. No longer embarrassed and rankled (like Reilly) to go 2 and out - punt and then let his defense go to work.
Bombers have Harris & Poppy Flanders. Esks had Genie Louchard - after Trayvon Van went out.
Other advantage for Bombers - Mike O'Shea is the main coach of the year candidate and really coming into his own as a pro coach. Jason Maas probably still loved by his aunt and uncle Robertson from Duck Dynasty.
Bombers won a game with Lefty McLock (Medlock) barfing up the worst game of his pro career - 3 gassed FGs and one convert clank. Med should have delivered another 7 points to the bombers but failed badly. Agree with many the 55 yarder was a bit of a tough choice by O'Shea.
Nichols is turning out to be a gem, well it also helps when you have guys like Adams doing Houdini catches for tds. But the Bombers, yup, with the run, kept the Eskies off guard. Full value for the victory for the Bombers especially considering Medlock had a bad night.
Eskies need to regroup and quick.
......Bombers were full value for the win....Stopped Esks. in their tracks 80 percent of the time and if it wasn't for Zylstra and Medlock going a.w.o.l., that would have been one good pasting...Riley looks like all of the hits he's been taking over the years are catching up....Nichols looks to be one upping him and will eventually be considered superior....No hobo title on Matt but Reilly better start winning or that label might start shading his name ...Great game for the BluenGold...Keep it going and this team is looking like a solid contender for the CUP..
Esks don't have weaks like Samuel Hurl on their squad but they've got some obvious weaknesses:
Main ones being:
Stubborn young coach with distemper
Big questions surrounding kicking game (hobos until Sneezy Waters arrived)
Reilly - a great QB w/ all the tools starting to get cocky - taking too many risks!
Management - that may find pedalling Reilly and keeping Franklin distasteful to too many Eskimo faithful.
That's the main quandary for Edmonton. Only made slightly easier if Reilly goes slop and can't get Esks into playoffs.
Franklin at $350,000 + bonuses might be better than Ringless Mike @ $500,000; especially if Randy can grow some and find a packet of picks & players for The Mad Hatter.