Here’s the good:
HUGE, ENORMOUS positive changes with the Defence. Pressure on Zach (more on this later), THREE INTs, a 17-3 quarter (for us), excellent pass coverage, and two TDs by Bell, White had a very good game.
Here’s the bad:
Unfortunately, Jones went “prevent” in the last two minutes of the game.
Byrd fumbling a punt, and WPG does a scoop-and-score.
Bo, while he did move the ball, certainly didn’t have a good game. Still, he played well enough to be in a position to win.
Leigghio’s missed FG was the difference in the game.
Tuck taking absolutely STUPID penalties again - this time a late hit.
Here’s the ugly:
Our run Defence. Sayles was invisible, and Oliviera et al ran straight through the middle of the D-Line. We are missing a big nasty individual (or two) in the interior.
Rushing 3 on that final drive. There were two linemen injured for WPG, and we were getting excellent pressure on Zach. Why Jones abandoned this is beyond me.
There’s no such thing as a “moral victory” in Professional sports, but there was certainly a different look to the football team. For the most part, the Chris Jones Defence played extremely well, until the final 1:30 of the game.
Defense did not lose us this game despite giving up the game winning drive.
You can’t fumble punts for TDs.
You can’t miss FGs on the road in close games.
We’ve all complained for years that we let players go and they go on to do well elsewhere, well Chris Jones used the same players Mark Washington had and looked exponentially better - maybe we have some players that can be difference makers in the future.
Sucks to lose but it’s clear Milanovich hasn’t lost the room, Bo isn’t washed and Chris Jones CAN make a difference in only 3 days
The team was down 2 scores and could have folded, instead they came back and took the lead.
We’ve sent much better teams to Winnipeg and lost by much more than that.
Now let’s kick the shit out of Chad Kelly on Labour Day
If I could change one thing, it’s actually our play calling on OFFENCE on the last 2-3 possessions, not the play calling on defence that last drive.
This team isn’t good enough to run the ball for 7 yards on first down when the defence is expecting the run. Find safe little passes that have the same impact but aren’t as predictable, like the little roll out, screen pass on 3&2 earlier in the game.
If our offence gets a couple first downs on their last few possessions I think we manage to get this one over the finish line with a W.
Additional thought… I feel like this same play calling failed on our first 2-3 drives of the game and led to a really poor first half. We didn’t move the ball at all early in the game.
I evaluate coaching staffs based on whether or not they can get the most out of what they have, and that’s why I’ve been patient with M. We don’t have the talent. Tonight shows if we play an almost perfect game, we are good enough to be a middle of the pack team.
Records aside I’d still rather have M over Mace, a guy who doesn’t understand the clock rules.
Chris Jones already made a key roster decision by removing George Jr. and I suspect he will continue to make minor tweaks with his defensive roster over the next few weeks.
