Winnipeg Blue Bomber Thread

[jerrym]

Defensive Coordinator Richie Hall was far from impressed with the effort put forward by the defensive team against Hamilton last week and expects an improved performance against BC this week.

“I’m concerned with some of the mistakes we make, because they’re fundamental mistakes. I’m not concerned with the group of guys. It’s a matter of being consistent and putting it together week in and week out because from an emotional and execution state, it was different from Week 2 than it was in Week 3. We’ve got to be consistent because that’s the only way you get better.

“When I look at the game the other day it was pure focus, just their concentration. I wouldn’t say it was a lackadaisical attitude… I described it to the players as when you have an engine and it’s purring along and purring along, but then when you throw some sugar or water into it, it sputters. That’s how we were. We started off good, but then all of a sudden there was a sputter. When you look at the film, I give Hamilton all the credit in the world, but it’s what we didn’t do, were we where we were supposed to be? That’s what we want. You practice all week long but you get to the game and, for whatever reason, the focus wasn’t where it needed to be in order to be successful.”

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/07/...r-bc-vs-wpg-3/

[jerrym]

Giving up only 13 points until there was less than 15 seconds to go in garbage time at which point BC scored another TD helped to allay some of the questions about the Bomber defence, as well as some of the jobs of its players and their DC, Richie Hall, for the moment.

Winnipeg’s defence is simply under-performing. The unit is struggling with yardage once again — currently ranked eighth in the league, the defence is allowing 288 passing yards per game — but is failing to produce the high number of takeaways it has in past seasons.

Giving up gobs of yardage was somewhat understandable when the Bombers were generating more turnovers than any other team in the CFL. The takeaways appear to have dried up. The yardage? Not so much.

The Bombers are simply too talented to squander another season due to sloppy defensive play. Richie Hall and his players have become very adept at verbalizing their insistence that the unit’s play will improve. Fans have grown tired of hearing such promises — it’s time to show (not say) that the club’s defence can get the job done.

http://3downnation.com/2018/07/07/de...uld-take-note/

[Will]

You got to figure that Travis Lulay will be starting as soon as he is healthy in BC.

[jerrym]

Despite wearing a leg brace and going only 16/29 (55%) for 162 yards and a single TD, the return of Matt Nichols clearly helped generate a dominating performance that gave the Bombers a 28-3 lead against the Lions before half-time and all but putting the game out of reach. The injury to Nichols also helped the team answer its deepest concern, one that bothered them all last year when they clearly had no one close to being a capable backup, with Chris Streveler showing lots of promise as a future starting QB.

[halifaxguy]

What a difference a week makes, after getting blown out by the Ticats and a lot of people writing them off they rebound and looked dominant.
But they were playing the Lions who are looking to be the worst team in the CFL right now.

[jerrym]

The Bombers have signed former Rider National DB Jeff Hecht. At 32 and after 100 CFL games he brings a veteran presence to both the defence and ST.

[OV Argo]

The Bombers have signed former Rider National DB Jeff Hecht. At 32 and after 100 CFL games he brings a veteran presence to both the defence and ST.

And meanwhile - the likes of Fred Plesius, Cory Greenwood (totally unable to play again cause of injury ? - like to see a doctor report backing that up) or Arnaud Gascon -Nadon - are unemployed - expensive and uppity NIs for the current CFL that is so hard pressed to find Canadian talent. Ottawa trying to roll with those 2 mediocre ex-Rider DEs = they must have come real cheap.

[ArgoRavi]

What a difference a week makes, after getting blown out by the Ticats and a lot of people writing them off they rebound and looked dominant.
But they were playing the Lions who are looking to be the worst team in the CFL right now.

The other team that Winnipeg has beaten is Montreal, so they still have much to prove IMO.

[Foxhound]

All-time great Blue Bomber running back Jim "Jay" Washington passed away on June 24th at the age of 66.

Jay joined the Blue Bombers in 1974. He was a CFL All-Star and won the Eddie James Memorial Trophy in 1976 and again in 1977 when he rushed for 1277 and 1262 yards respectively. He was for a time the fastest runner in the CFL.



When he retired after the 1979 season with 6127 yards on the ground, his total rushing yardage was second on the all-time Blue Bomber list behind only that of the legendary Leo Lewis.

Very sad. Jay was a true Bomber great.

[jerrym]

Darrin Bauming discusses the surprising success of raw rookie QB Chris Streveler in the Bombers three first games, the return of Matt Nichols, and how Bighill has improved the defence on the podcast below.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/hamilton-11...-cap-1.1135784

[jerrym]

Adam Bighill comments on playing against his old team, BC, and O'Shea discusses what Bighill means to the Bomber defence below.

“Since we played here and we got the first match out of the way that ‘first’ factor is taken out of the way,” Bighill said. “Going back to B.C. Place and being in front of a lot of fans I once was in front of… a lot of them have wished me well, just not when we play the Lions. That’s great, because I’ve had great support out there and I love them for it.
“It is going to be different after playing so many games at B.C. Place. But playing here first makes it a little bit easier transition.”

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea was asked what kind of impact having a player like Bighill in the defence allows the club to do on that side of the ball.
“He’s a very active player,” said O’Shea. “I don’t think we’ve even got through the full gamut of what we can do with Biggie yet. But you certainly love what you see so far… he had a whale of a game and if he keeps on doing that on a regular basis it will be fun for everybody to watch, that’s for sure. He’s different in the meetings, too. He’s definitely leading and that’s important; that’s an important piece we wanted to add, too.”

https://www.bluebombers.com/2018/07/...-know-july-11/

[jerrym]

While QB wins are not everything as success definitely depends on the quality of the team, Matt Nichols record of 22-9 in his last 31 games compared to an 8-12 record in first 20 games does reflect his growth in a QB-dominated league.

[ArgoRavi]

While QB wins are not everything as success definitely depends on the quality of the team, Matt Nichols record of 22-9 in his last 31 games compared to an 8-12 record in first 20 games does reflect his growth in a QB-dominated league.

Nichols' career stalled for a bit with injuries and then his not getting along, it seemed, with Chris Jones. He has certainly found the right fit in Winnipeg.

[halifaxguy]

Just when you think that the Bombers are going to be contenders after getting Nicols back and looking good last week, they looked sloppy and let the game against BC slip away.

[jerrym]

HC Mike O'Shea says the Bombers won't change their approach on third and short - they will go for it even though they were stopped twice against BC taking this gamble.

Mike O’Shea doesn’t sound like a man who is having any regrets or is planning to change his approach.

Nor is the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers second-guessing either of the calls offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice made on third-and-short situations that were stuffed in the second half of Saturday’s 20-17 loss to the B.C. Lions.
“(LaPolice) knows that when it’s third and short, I want to go,” O’Shea said as the Blue Bombers returned to the field for the first time since failing to hold a 17-0 halftime lead and falling to 2-3 on the CFL season. “We told the O-line that the last bunch of years that we want to go for it and we want to be in control of the ball and in control of the game as much as possible. We’ve got a lot of confidence in our short-yardage package and I don’t want (LaPolice) to second-guess any calls that he’s making.”

LaPolice handled his weekly scrum with reporters with plenty of poise and humility, knowing full well there would be some second guessing coming his way.

He was quick to concede he probably should have given the ball to running back Andrew Harris on one of the short-yardage situations.
“I do kick myself that one of those two calls at the goal-line should’ve been giving Andrew the opportunity. I could have done a better job there,” said LaPolice. “We’ve got to get better and I certainly will get better at that. We weren’t good enough offensively to win the football game. We did a lot of good things but we can’t turn the ball over like we did and make mistakes like we did.”

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/footb...-change-quickl

[jerrym]

The Bombers have added National DB Abu Conteh and International International DB Chris Humes to their PR. Conteh was a Bomber third round 2017 draft choice from Grambling State who played two games for Winnipeg in 2017. Humes played for Arkansas State and was at Oakland Raiders' 2017 TC as an undrafted free agent.

[Foxhound]

Legendary Winnipeg Blue Bomber RB and CFL Hall of Famer Leo Lewis passed away at the age of eighty on 30 August 2013. Here are scans of a few of the Leo Lewis cards from my collection:







Nicknamed the Lincoln Locomotive, Lewis was a six time Western Conference all-star during his eleven years with the Blue Bombers from 1955 to 1966. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry and the 8861 yards rushing he amassed over his career stood as a Blue Bomber record for 41 years until finally being surpassed by Charles Roberts.

The Bombers appeared in six Grey Cup games winning four of them during Lewis' years with the club. (The Bombers' opponent in all six of those Grey Cup games were the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who appeared in every Grey Cup game but the one in 1960 in the 1957-1965 period.)

[jerrym]

OV will be happy to know that the Bombers have signed National LB Frederic Plesius who was released by the Als in January in order to avoid paying him a bonus.

[jerrym]

Not only did Andrew Harris have his third straight 100 yard game against the Argos, he set a new career best record with his 161 yards. With all due respect to Harris, the record says more about the Argo defence.

[jerrym]

Bowman's trade to the Alouettes was a combination of three factors: he had caught only nine passes in six games, including three in which he did not catch any; the trade allows Winnipeg to avoid a large part of his reported $140,000 salary and open some salary cap space; and the availability of cheaper and younger receiver options in the form of Internationals veteran Ryan Lankford, as well as Corey Washington and Kenbrell Tompkins who have NFL experience, in addition to rookie Canadians Rashaun Simonise and Daniel Petermann.