Bombers vs Stamps

This will be another close game. Willy won't be as bad as last week but that may not be enough ? The Stamps have all types of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. The Bombers let two games slip away last year vs Calgary, if the Bombers slip to 1-4 ,the season could very well be lost ................again ! We will not be winning in Edmonton next week !

Our loss in Calgary was ugly. Nothing really worked offensively until the game was out of reach, or defensively for that matter. On paper our team is better than what it was last year, and for the most part we played Calgary close in a couple of games last year, but things haven't come together so far this year.

Last time out, our D failed to get any sort of pressure but have started to look better as of late. Willy is starting to look sharper in practice on his deep throws according to reports. Maybe things are starting to finally come together. Thomas Mayo had a good outing in his only start against them in Calgary and he's back. We really really need Harris and the run blocking to do better than the 13 yards on 8 carries to help control the game and not give Messam and BLM as many opportunities.

If we play a tight game and come out with a loss and drop to 1-4, I'm probably not as concerned that the season is lost. It's a hole, granted but as long as there's progress we could be OK to still challenge for a playoff spot. If we finish the first third of the season at 2-4, go 3-3 in the middle third of the schedule, we'd only need to go 3-3 or 4-2 in the final third to stay in that playoff mix. Is it ideal? No, of course not but it's different than if we have a repeat of week 2 in Calgary. And I'm not ready to write off the rematch next week with the Esks as a loss. The Esks had been averaging almost 40 ppg after their first 2 games and we hold them to half that despite all the yardage we gave up? The Blue made a lot of mistakes and still managed to be within a play or two of winning the game. Playing in Edmonton hasn't been kind to us in recent years, more of a horror show actually, but in 2 games for the Esks this year it hasn't been as kind to them as it has been either, so Commonwealth IMO is less of a guaranteed loss this time around.

It's a shame, the same story every year, what is wrong with the Winnipeg organization that this keeps happening. Best stadium in the league, great brand but getting hammered in the field (no pun intended!)

At the half and, missed offside on the Stamps aside:

  1. no pass rush for us, Davis is a wrecking ball all on his own for the Stamps

  2. no running game for us. Messam destroying us on the opposite side.

  3. no Randle and no Macho. Not sure why they go with 2 nationals in Morgan at safety and Jones at corner. With the Stamps running Messam on every other down why not use an extra LB like Burnett and move Leggett back to safety?

  4. Our coaching sucks. Look at the Stamps creative play calling and look at the predictable gameplan Lapo is employing. They're getting receivers open all over and Hall has no answer for it. And O'Shea's decision to go for it on 3rd and over a yard where we turned it over on downs (not the offside one but earlier) was the first thing to derail us and we haven't recovered.

  5. Dressler is the only one who seems to give a **** at this point and that's a huge problem.

  6. Seeing some interactions between Willy and Darvin Adams, there seems to be some discord there. May be just the beginning of this team coming undone.

Despite all the other mistakes, the one I think hurt the most was O"Shea not pulling Willy sooner. I've said this before, O"Shea will not change up even though all the evidence is there and almost every coach in the history of sport would DO SOMETHING when nothing is working. If he was on the Titanic he would still be bailing when it went under.

Agreed, too loyal. Willy finally hit a deep ball but the change should’ve been made at the half. It wasn’t all Willy’s fault, and that’s probably the excuse for not pulling him but there’s more to the game than faults. The players were apathetic for that second quarter, changing the QB would’ve sent a shock through the team much earlier.

When you’re OC is saying that on video Willy is executing how they’re asking, then the problem is with the coach and what he’s asking the QB to do.

As an aside, obviously we lost, but kudos to some of the backups stepping up with all the injuries. Randle, Macho, and Posey on the back end, Hardrick and Neufeld on the OL, really losing so much at 2 key spots on the roster could’ve killed us worse but the backups held up OK. Though it helped Calgary took the foot off the pedal a bit in the second half.

Was at the game as I always am. Painful. Left with 2:30 to go, along with about 15000 other people.

Nice to see Willy finally connect with someone for a TD. Too bad it was a Calgary defensive player for a pick 6.

The offensive line is soft and ineffective, the QB is inconsistent and ineffective, the secondary is porous and ineffective, the play calling is unimaginative and ineffective. Willy needs to sit for a while but he is only one factor; for a group with so much 'talent', this team is broken. 4-14? Beginning to look that way.

Obviously Willy is afraid of getting hit...hence the reason why he insists on short passes all of the time. He wants to get rid of the ball quickly rather than getting creamed over and over again. This is management's fault for assembling a poor O-Line (even though they have had years to fix it now). None of their young, high draft pick O-Line selections have made a difference, and management has refused to trade for veteran help in that department.

With the Bomber secondary and O-Line now decimated with injuries, and with everyone's jobs in Winnipeg on the line if this losing continues unabated, I wouldn't be surprised to see Walters fleeced in a big trade this week. Stay tuned.

TBH I am tired of hearing how the players are at fault. Other teams put together an O-line and play OK(Ottawa). When I see the same mistakes over and over and a plethora of needless penalties, I blame the coaching. First it's the coaches fault for no discipline. Second it's the coaches fault for not replacing the offending players. Like Wolverine said and I heard it too. Willy is doing what the coaches want him to do. Don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure who is at fault. We don't need any retread coaches like Lapo or Hall. We need someone who is going to kick ass and take names. Somebody who will crack the whip.....O"Shea has been here long enough. New players come and go, but the result is the same as when he first got here.
I'm finding it very hard to watch anymore. Never thought I would be saying that.

Please, somebody DO SOMETHING !!!!!

The expectations were too high going into the season IMO. Lots of turnover on offense, basically 2 returning starting receivers in Adams and Kohlert, 2 new starters on the Oline, new RB. On defense, the plan was to have Adams on one corner opposite Randle, and throw in Bruce Johnson and we'd have 3 out of 5 guys in the secondary from last year. Adams goes out before the season, Johnson goes down in game 2, and we're down to Randle being the only guy left to play with 3 rookies and Macho Harris. Now he's out after the 2nd Q last night. Our LBs were here last year but are playing in different roles. 3/4 spots on the DL are changed. Is it any wonder that we're having our struggles? I though we'd see some issues early this year, but to me the biggest things have been:

  1. Willy, despite good completion% and yardage totals, has had happy feet and looks uncomfortable in the pocket. Mentally he doesn't seem right. It was especially noticeable when he was replaced by Nichols who looked much more in command of the pocket.

  2. DL - how in the world do we sign two veteran tackles coming off good seasons to pair with Westerman and end up going backwards? Our pass rush is barely noticeable most games. They were good vs the Ticats and vs the Esks they were OK. In the other 3 games they were invisible. How were we better last year with Greg Peach at the end spot opposite Westerman? Hubbard's big play to seal the game in Hamilton aside, he hasn't been great. Green was awful. Trent Corney has been one of the more noticeable ends on the field in his limited reps. Hopefully they can get recently re-signed Justin Cole out there because at least he showed us a little something in a couple of games last year. We cannot let our inexperienced secondary get exposed by letting a guy like BLM have eons of time to make decisions with the ball.

As annoyed as I am with the coaching staff and how they've called the games so far this season in all aspects, I would much rather see them do a purge at the end of the season if we can't turn it around. Firing O'Shea right now opens up the HC job to basically Hall or Lapo, and Lapo probably gets the "interim" job. Mid season changes don't produce wins and the "interim" HC usually comes with a promotion to HC after the season, in which case the merry-go-round of futility continues. Give all coaches until the end of the year to work it out. It can get ugly or we'll see if the character and leadership they tried to bring into the club can right the ship. If they can't, the offseason opens up the choices to a larger group of candidates than a mid season firing would and it'll help identify which players on the roster are quitters and make it that much easier to dump them in the off season.

I don’t believe expectations could be too high after the last 3-4 years. Expecting a team and coaching staff that knows the game is pretty commonplace.

Your last paragraph describes what should have happened in many years, but didn’t. I think O"Shea is waaaay too friendly with the players and some guys take advantage of it. Before the last game Ian Wild said that there was no determination/gusto in the previous game and everyone was up for this game. Then the team goes out and plays the way it did. Milt and Matt even commented on the lack of desire.

Yes the guys who came in to cover for hurt guys did play good. Maybe they should be starters. I said before that the vets are cruising and the rookies are trying too hard and making mistakes. I’ll take someone who is making mistakes but trying, any day.

There's always next year!

Is anyone really surprised?

Walters has just been rearranging the deck chairs with his player acquisitions, he hasn't really improved any area of the team (not even quarterback despite the monster salary to Willy).

Lapo and Hall were never more than average co-ordinators at best throughout their careers and neither has even attempted to update their outdated philosophies on play calling.

And Oshea, basically a rookie ST coach going directly to HC.........only the Bombers would pull such a stunt again after Reinbold.

Time to do things right for a change and hire the best people and not the most convienent.

Who the hell cares anymore. This team will never ever win. To me the cfl is dead. May as well shut down this Winnipeg team and have only 8 teams.

Hufnagel for HC, Hufnagel for HC....

We need a long threat and Montreal needs a QB. Willy for Duron Carter. If Nichols falters, insert Davis and let him have the team.. Somebody do something!

That’s it, in a nutshell.

If you watched the Rider/Ottawa game last night, you no doubt saw the difference in energy/effort/performance from Saskatchewan this year versus last year. Why the difference? The Riders hired a great head coach in 2016, who, in turn, hired a great coaching staff. If Chris Jones was hired by Winnipeg this year, there's no way the Bombers would look as bad as they do. Is O'Shea on the same level as Jones, or Austin, or Buono, etcetera? Not even close.

Thanks Fred.

Badges. What badges ? I don’t need no sticking badges ! :wink:

Nothing changes with O"Shea. Same crap at presser.

“We’ll have to watch game film.”
“I’ll make that decision later.”
“The players want to win.”
“We have the talent.”
And my fav…
“The guys are trying hard.”

O"Shea has had enough time. Let him watch game film somewhere else. Try and get Hufnagel and I don’t care if we have to break contract and league rules. WE NEED HELP, NOW !!!..Huffer likes to and is able to build a team. A no-nonsense coach that doesn’t put up with half-assed effort. Tom Clements is my first choice but I don’t think we should mess around with the NFL.

.....Said I'd take a break.....and did....also said I wouldn't be back till this head coach was gone...and for all intents and purposes you might as well say he is...This team has managed to turn off so many fans, who had such high hopes for the season, that it's going to take some BIG change to get them back.... :roll:

...I'll start off by saying this quarterback, being paid a starters salary is not a starter,,,Going back to the time when we had a shot at Collaros, Burris or Willy and basically had to settle for Willy (although some sources said Burris was close, even had the Bomber t-shirt on under his announcement he'd be going to the Redblacks, what changed, probably money)...So we were gifted with Willy , who at the time was a back-up in Sask. and I thought that's all he'd be...I wasn't wrong...Why the hell we anointed him with starter money when he hadn't proved a bloody thing is beyond me and Walters will have to wear that one...I watched two qb.s last night in Sask. who look better and you might as well say they're greener than the Riders unis...In any event he has to go....He was , as far as I'm concerned a 'never was' and if he can return to some semblance of a starter then I'll eat my words and a lot of crow...Just don't see it...but what I did see, from camp on, was the guy we have today....struggling to be a starter when we needed one from the get go..

...Secondly the head coach, who I must admit had my support from the start of his hiring...does not have it anymore...As much as Willy is a back-up charading as a starter, Mike O is a special teams coordinator charading as a head coach...Both are lacking BUT the head coach more so....O'Shea hasn't picked up the nuances of being a head coach and continues to be one of the guys...A trait that players luv but will not result in success on the field...As tough as Mike O was at being a special teams guy, he is not as a coach...Failure written all over it and he should have been gone at the end of last year with the dismal record he is sporting...Without a miracle of miracles he'll be gone at the end of the season, as changing horses mid season very rarely works out...In the end he will probably take Walters with him and although Kyle has made some serious errors (see Willy's current salary) he might survive...

....All in all we are living another failed year so far and the pitchforks are out...A handful of wins at the end of the year and showing well in 'garbage time' is not going to convince the Bomber faithful that this train wreck is going to turn around....So we wait for change (again for the umpteenth time)....I'm sure a lot of the fans on this message board would like to all get together and say what Dan a few other have said.....'DO SOMETHING'...I know there's a lot of talent on this club that is not being used properly and until we correct that, there'll be more of the same until IGF starts to resemble a huge white elephant of great failing proportions, as far as loyal Bomber fans go.