Watching the Esks lose to us I could not help but notice all the players they have that were other team’s discards. Edm has always been willing to pick a guy up from the heap and make him into something. I feel this is a secret to their annual success. ie We thought Sorensen was a bust and he’s been a mainstay for them for years. Edm seems more willing to let a guy sort through the down times…Having said that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to improve. Matthews could have stepped in right away over Thomkins whom I’m still waiting for to have a breakout game.
Thompkins won’t be having that so-called breakout game. Neither will Isiah Washington or Clankford. All of these guys are so-called washed-out NFL hobos. None can shake tight coverage and that means Nichols has to eat the ball or throw the piggy up for grabs.
Don’t know if Matthews would have made much of a difference, just a taller version of Thompkins immo. If you can’t make an NFL practice roster by now - then when?
Matthews will do a lot better in Cowtown than anywhere else in the CFL - Mitchell is more fearless than anyone in the league (other than Reilly) and puts a ton of balls into play; Michel will also draw coverage away from Matthews. So long as Matthews speed hasn’t deteriorated that much and his hands are better than the frying pans Adarius Bowman relies on he’ll catch 2 to 4 balls a game w/ Mitchell and perhaps break away for decent yac yards.
That wouldn’t happen in Winnipeg where he’d be sent primarily on long slants that don’t give Nichols enough time to get him the ball.
What do you consider a breakout game? Thompkins has had games with 81, 70, and 94 yards receiving which are not too shabby numbers. Concerning is that his best games have all come against east division opponents and against west division teams he’s been near invisible, including his 0 yards in Edmonton. I’d like to see him involved more and see more consistency. I think about Duke Williams last year where he had a few big games but others he was invisible, and then this year he has become a consistent reliable guy. Fingers crossed maybe he follows that path, but who knows. I just don’t see Lapo as being a capable co-ordinator able to spread the offense around on a consistent basis.
Have to disagree. The secret to Edmonton’s success has been Mike Reilly and their receivers IMO. Their Oline is better now but they were still winning a few years ago with a terrible Oline, including when Sorensen first got there, on the strength of Reilly’s ability. They have a few guys from the heap, but so does every team. You look at every roster, including ours, and you can see a few players that have been through a couple of teams. I still think it’s the quality of your top end guys that drive the team through the season.
When I saw the Chris Matthews news too I was wishing we could have signed him like many others. That guy completely disappeared from my radar a couple years ago. I would hope Walters checked in on him, but I can see Calgary being an attractive option for a receiver right now with the openings that have been created over the last couple of weeks.
Matthews, like many other CFL to NFL to heap performers - disappeared off the Walters radar machine.
That said - he’ll be far off in a well-balanced CFL offense with BL Mitchell distributing the ball on a fairly even basis.
He might even make a difference in the western final - which will feature the Stamps playing the Riders (45%), the Esks (30%) or the Bombers (25%)
Hobos (if I may borrow a term).
,Ah yes the forgotten man Matthews…I would wager he’s better than any one of Lankford, Thompkins (who by the way dropped an easy one last game and never had another thrown his way) Washington or any of the other mopes the Bombers are trying to pass off as receivers…Our Canadian kids are better for cripes sake…I wished we could insert Simonize in place of one of those afore mentioned jokers but we can’t because of ratio…It’s sad, when you come to think of it, that we couldn’t come up with an Amerc. to go along with Darvin Adams in our offseason when we knew it was a position of need…Granted we did bring in Bowman with the thought he still had it…a few games in and we found out that wasn’t the case…So we had a shot at a big stretch of a receiver and passed on a guy who will come down with 90 percent of the balls thrown his way…Matthews height alone will dictate that, never mind his receiving skills…In any event we have to hope one of the ‘hobo’s’ comes through in the final stretch in 18’…I don’t know when the final day of trades arrives but if anyone who we consider a lot better than what we currently have is available…maybe we should consider the consideration
And so, we come full circle to Bakari Grant. I liked this guy everywhere he played. It would be nice to grab a guy for the playoff run. I don’t care, call them rental players.
I’ve watched Tompkins drop a few. Sometimes he looks like Bowman did, no interest. Other times he takes a hit to make a catch. A breakout game for me would be over a 100 yds and maybe a TD or two. A dominant performance, but yes I’m willing to wait.
When I talk about Edm’s success, I’m talking year after year for many years. Look at their roster. They always have castoffs from other teams who seem to play at a higher level for them. When O’dell left us they didn’t hesitate.
Name a castoff that we scooped up. Not a FA signing but a player that a team released. We should have grabbed Purifoy when Ott let him go. Sask didn’t waste any time signing him !
Bomber chances to make playoffs have increased considerably since we last spoke.
No chance for 1st - outside chance for 2nd - and they need Sask’n to win only 1 of their remaining games while bombers grab all three of their last 3.
Edmonton & BC still in the hunt - Bombers need to win only one of their remaining 3 games to secure a crossover unless BC runs the table and wins final 4.
If Bombers win 2 of their final 3, they secure either crossover or 3rd in west.
Anything can happen in this mercurial season - bombers could go into mope mode and lose out - BC could win out - only saving grace is Calgary is usually home and scot free by the time we play them - may decide to donate us the 2 points by resting Mitchell.
PANIC will be the operative mode in bombertown if Riders stomp out the big blue tomorrow at IGF.
Reason - actually 2 - #1. An assertive Rider win will indicate a severe talent gap between the bombers and the top 2 western teams (Calgary, Sask’n) and #2. Bomber Math will no doubt come down to the final game of the season (Calgary, Stamps in driver’s seat to determine who finishes where; if they allow the Bombers to creep into 3rd in west they obviously want a slobbernokker between a desperate bomber team and the hometown semi-final faves, the riders. Perhaps the bombers will take out more from the riders than either Edmonton or BC,
If Bombers lose to Sask’n they’re 8-8 w/ 2 to go. They’d probably have to win both to secure 3rd in west, and 1 for sure to be in the mix for the crossover.
There are so many IFS this time of year that I try not to think too far ahead. When I was younger I used to figure out different scenarios but now I just watch and cheer for a win.
IF the Bomber D plays well, we win ! We probably still have to meet Sask in the playoffs unless we go crossover or magically get 2nd place and Sask drops down. See, too many scenarios !
GO BOMBERS !!!
……I still believe in magic Dan…I like this scenario,AND I know just another foolish dreamer
Does it matter if our O is faltering if our D doesn’t let the other team score ? Just the kind of question that goes through my head when our D plays a game like that. WOW and that’s without Leggat and Jeffcoat !
The key question Dan - is whether this model is sustainable - and I’ll put it to you it prolly isn’t . . .
Less two 'n outs will help - with Reilly getting his arse out of his throat - the Esks are coming out of their slump - - - - and if the bombers aren’t careful they could still be on the outside locking in - obviously they’d have to take a full dump in their final two games!
Reilly is on the rebound from last week’s embarrassment, so it’s no wonder he is playing OK. Two weeks at home in a row, they can’t lose again as much as I would like to see. I don’t really care what Edm does anyway. I’m watching what we do and we are playing lights out football. Our D can carry us for a good long ride. Who wouldn’t want to have Bighill after watching him the past 4 weeks ? BUT for him to be successful, it means other guys have to perform too. Kudos to the whole Bomber D and Richie Hall.
I meant to mention it before and forgot that even though I was calling for O’Shea’s head at the end of the year, one stat is a compliment and that is the fact that we are the least penalized team. We’ve seen other teams lose lately due to no discipline. Play clean and put in the effort and we win. I like it !
For the first time this season I can’t say anything negative about the bombers. O’Shea seems to be back on the learning curve express - he’s been a non-factor as far as coaching stupidity the last 3 weeks…
If I had to reach deep down for slight negatives:
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O’Shea’s challenge. He’s not doing very well at all, is he? 1-8 so far this season!
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Chris Streveler - great game in 1st half - but he tossed a bad pick in garbage time! Shame on your Chris!!!
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Wally Tarsky - slipped on a couple banana peels; turned a certain 20 yd gain into a 10 yarder, another 12 yarder into a 8 yarder.
……All in all we notched another one…unfortunately the playoff picture hasn’t cleared much…We just have to keep winning…winning out is not an impossibility with the way our defence has come around…Biggie and Santos are picking em up and layin em down…It starts with those two and man are they a handful…Riders found that out in spades on Sat. and they walked out of here in tatters…Don’t wish the injury bug on anyone but they got hit hard…Bladek…Brooks…two important cogs done for the year and Evans…don’t know if the latter is in next year country but that loss is going to hurt…Collaros looked like crap…Streveler looked better…Blanking those bozos is a little payback for the two losses we suffered at their hands and the disrespect they showed us with the Jefferson bull$hit…Takeaway’s were very much evident in our game and credit the D…they showed up BIGGIE time…Now if we can just keep this goin
Just In - Geoff Gray - Signed.
What a win on Saturday. Riders need to win on their defense and their D runs through their ends - Hughes and Jefferson. If they can’t get things going the Riders are going to have a tough game and it was on full display on Saturday. Biggest shock I think was the 0, not even a rouge allowed.
Bighill and Santos are starting to look like a Blue and Gold version of Bighill and Elimimian. Biggest change I think was moving Bighill back closer to the line of scrimmage. Going back to the losing streak they were having him drop 10-15 yards deep into a zone a lot. He belongs in the thick of the play.
The offense doesn’t need to put up 300 yards and be lights out. Even if the D falters a bit, as long as Nichols does what he’s doing now - minimize the risk with stupid desperation throws that lead to picks, and keep the number of two and outs down then we should be able to play with anyone in the league.
Is there anyone that’s drafted poorer than Chris Jones since he’s been in charge in Riderville? Seeing Bladek go down, him, Judge, and St. John are just the few picks he’s made that have stuck, and St. John has been a disappointment thus far. His poor drafting has left them really thin at National OL. To him I say keep up the good work.
Interesting that in the past three games the Blue Bombers’ defence has racked up two of the top three defensive efforts in the CFL so far this season, allowing the Eskimos to score but three points and shutting out the Roughriders.
……NO EXCUSES will do IF the Bombers come up empty on Friday…Calgary is hurting badly and on a short week…We are, on the other hand, coming off a bye week and except for Leggett (who is most likely done for the year after practice today) are healthy…Time to knock off another western rival and lock up third place… After that Leos could only tie us and we would have third based on the reg. season play…
….Failing to win this very winnable game will be a blow…If this team would have improved like it should have in 18’, we would be in the playoffs NOW…not scrambling for a spot …I’ll settle for nothing else other than winning out…IF that doesn’t happen and on top of that, we are eliminated from post season, I think that a few people on this club will be packing their bags…Nitty gritty is here and now
Exactly Papa. No more excuses. We have seen what this team CAN do so I expect nothing less. If we play as good as we have the last 4 games and lose, I can allow that. If we fall apart and collapse, time for change.