Bombers for Real

After the Alouettes decimated the Eskimos I was hoping the Alouettes would be back in 1st place…where they belong. 2nd or 3rd place simply doesn’t sit well with me.

But it looks pretty clear that we’re going to have to get used to the fact that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers aren’t going away…maybe for a long time. At least until the Ottawa “Whatever’s” are back and Winnipeg can go pester folks in the West for a change.

It’s a pretty young team, with a great defence and an offence that, if Buck Pierce can stay on his feet, will soon rival even the Alouettes.

I can’t decide if I prefer the competition…or to have the Alouettes “snug” in 1st place
I’m sure it’s good for the league
And Winnipeg fans are eating it up…and considering their suffering over the last few seasons…good for them

I guess I’ll see how the Alouettes do as the season progresses
But things do seem to have evolved this year

Personnally, I definitely prefer good competition; yes,it's nice to finish in first but,what matters most, is to win the last game of the season or,at least,be in this game.

After 7 weeks,5 teams have a total record of 25-10,whereas 3 teams have a total record of 3-18; it is not good for the League,particularly since 2 of these 3 teams are Toronto and Vancouver. I surely hope that the records of the 3 worst teams will improve substantially in the last 12 weeks of the season.

Winnipeg has definitely the best defense but I am not sold on their offense; anxiously waiting for their next game against Hamilton and the first of three,against us,on September 18. We will definitely have to win 2 of the 3 games against Winnipeg,in order to finish in first place,at least this it what I think. 2 of these 3 games will be played in Winnipeg,which won't help.

A competitive schedule ahead.

Richard

Agreed. It’s not that I don’t think the offense is good, but rather that they have a pretty easy time each game, because the Bombers D is so fierce. Rarely do you see the Bombers D allowing multiple lengthy drives that eat up the clock and keep their offense cold on the bench. And because their D is so good, their offense can afford to be slow out the gate knowing that they won’t pay for lack of productivity on the scoresheet.

All that said, Winnipeg does have a good offense. Is it championship caliber? No way to know at this point in time.

I like the competition, and I agree with Richard that it’s bad for the league to have three 1-6 teams, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver.

A look at the standings ( TO Star today) illustrates an interesting comparison between the two clubs. Winnipeg leads the teams on defense giving up only 113 points. The Als are the best offensive team in the CFL accumulating 222 offensive points. Wow! Their future game looks potentially as the most interesting CFL game yet!

I disagree with the appraisals of Winnipeg's offence
Certainly...they benefit from the success of that amazing defensive squad
But with Fred Reid looking as good as ever
Buck Pierce rounding himself back into form
And a receiving corp that's strong enough for Greg Carr to be a healthy scratch
I'm thinking people just aren't giving them enough credit
yet.

Of course...the whole thing hinges on Buck Pierce
And while he's obviously getting better every week
As any talented quarterback will as they get more reps
And the game starts to slow down for them
Buck Pierce has proven to himself and everyone else
That his game hinges on his unique style of play
And so does his health

Despite my love of the Alouettes
I can't help hoping that Buck will stay healthy
And we get to see him at his best
Maybe we can beat them....maybe not
Either way, I bet it'll be pretty exciting.

In terms of points given,113 was before last night's game; it is now 130.

In terms of yards gained,Montreal ranks first with 3,008 while Winnipeg is last with 2,421.

In terms of yards given, Winnipeg ranks first with 2,234 while Montreal is third with 2,459.

The numbers/yards for Calgary,our next opponent, are:2,767 offensively and 2,415 defensively. They rank second in both categories.

Richard

Yesm Senior, the Bombers are definitely for real as are the Ticats. It looks like it's going to be a dogfight in the East this year. No guarantee of an East Final at the Big Owe; at least, not yet.

I would say their D is more than just good. Just me anyway. And their offence so far has not been to shabby.

As for Toronto, even when they had a quality team, they still did not draw many fans. The Rogers stadium always has been half empty. They should follow what the Als did by moving out of that stadium and to a smaller outdoor venue. I believe they tried to get a deal done with the U of T which fell apart. And do not recall if they now have some lucrative deal to play out of the Rogers centre. In any event, sure reminds me of the days when the Als/Concordes played at the empty Big O.

I like being snugly in first in the east but as long as we win the last game of the season Im happy. We played very well against a very good esks team and the next 4 weeks should give us a very good idea of where we stand with games against winnipeg, calgary and two against hamilton. If we can win both our home games an one of the road ones I'll be pretty happy. It is very important to get that home win against winnipeg if we want to take the division crown again

I was wondering why Carr was not in the lineup? His active deletion has to mean WPG has some great receivers...interesting.

I'd say Winnipeg has good receivers, I'd hesitate to say "great."

Their top guy is one of our castoffs, after all. . .

I believe Montreal's receiving corps is superior to Winnipeg's.

Defence is another story entirely. . .

I don't know about great, they don't have a receiver in the top 10 in the league and their best guy is Edwards who will only go for the ball if there is no defender heading his way. I would say adequate is a better description.

I hope you are being sarcastic there.

I would prob agree that Montreal has a better group of recievers, but you guys also start more imports. If we had Edwards/Harris/Carr/Denmark all on the field at the same time Buck would have a pretty impressive day stat wise.

At any rate we are about to find out where Hamilton is at with them having to play in WPG and play Montreal twice in their next 3 games.

We’ll have to wait about a month until we can enjoy a match up of the 2 best teams in the East, and maybe league.

While I agree that our receiving corps is better, the fact that Edwards is an ex-Alouette has little to do with the issue, in my opinion. After all, Jamel Richardson is a Rider castoff. :slight_smile:

d&p, Lets go blue, correct, I was being sarcastic. ..or I was being facetious (what's the difference, anyway?); I should have put that little smiley face after my crack about Edwards.

Ah, I see. Sorry my sarcasm detector was broken. :smiley:

Ça demeure le principal point d’interrogation. Si Pierce se fait sortir pour le reste de la saison (et je ne le souhaite pas, car j’aime le voir jouer), les chances d’une dégringolade sont plus grandes que si les Alouettes perdent Calvillo.

Les Blue Bombers ont une très bonne défensive bien entraînée (c’est qui le gars, déjà?), impressionnante, mais c’est l’attaque qui marque les points. Le calendrier des Blue Bombers est plus facile que celui des Alouettes, à condition que Pierce demeure en poste. Amenez Elliott ou Brink, et on se retrouve dans une autre dimension.