Montreal scored 43 points against Ottawa a few days ago.

Right now Bombers are the best defence in the league. Don't have to look up stats to reasonably say that.

What is there to say the Defence can't continue doing what it's been doing? Got a new guy coming in who appears to be an outstanding player on defence.

Add in that we get a few offensive guys back

= powerhouse team.

really remarkable turnaround. From heartless to relentless

got to credit a few guys that did not quit when the team stunk.... Bass, Wild, Westerman, and a couple of others on defence.

Saw those guys out there killing themselves when others appeared to have lost interest.

 

Edited August 27, 20168 yr by Mark F
edit needed

I've been hard on the offense the last couple games, but it's really hard to judge them properly without all their weapons. Nichols isn't working with a whole lot. If they're still not producing once he has Smith and Dressler back in there, then we'll see....but I, too, think we'll see Willy at some point, 'cause the O has been really sluggish.

26 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I've been hard on the offense the last couple games, but it's really hard to judge them properly without all their weapons. Nichols isn't working with a whole lot. If they're still not producing once he has Smith and Dressler back in there, then we'll see....but I, too, think we'll see Willy at some point, 'cause the O has been really sluggish.

Two of the first three drives we take penalties that put us in first and 20 when we had gotten first downs (and Nichols converts one of those first and 20s via 16 yard pass then 4 yard run). Harris steps out of bounds on a wheel route that's a guaranteed TD. Sack comes in untouched when we're on MTL half of the field. Sheppard runs out of bounds before catching a sideline toss. Another receiver runs a corner route right into the defender (then failed PI challenge). Our star RB fumbles on two promising drives after gaining first downs.

The sluggishness in this game was definitely not on Nichols. He didn't make bad decisions, had no picks, managed the game at the end with a double-digit completion streak, and did what mattered most: got us the win. 

Take Mo's pick six out of the equation and we still generated enough points to win and that's all that matters. Since Nichols has come in, our team has had four games in a row of 30+ points. Under Willy, 30 points hadn't happened since the season opener last year, and over 30 hadn't happened since before that. A stifling D, a QB that isn't making costly mistakes, a RB that doesn't usually fumble, the best special teams in the league, and an O-line that has given up one sack in two games.

I don't care if we don't have top ten receivers or a QB throwing a million yards, so long as we keep winning, that's all that matters!

I absolutely agree that we'll see what we really have when our top receivers come back, but I think Nichols is doing far and away better with what he has at his disposal than Willy would be, and I'm a Willy supporter. Nichols now has a winning record as a Bomber QB, it's been years since anyone could say that. 

Can't really complain after another road win. I do hope that next time if they get those kinds of early opportunities to blow a game open they capitalize instead of settling for FGs. 9-0 quickly became a deficit last night.

I suspect Dressler is back next game and that makes an improvement.

Another thing not mentioned is Leggett's interception basically took Nik Lewis out of the game.  Once Glenn realized the D was onto that route he never went back to it.

9 hours ago, iso_55 said:

Interesting. Wonder what their record was when Calvillo was playing?

5 of 7 going back to Lapo's last season as HC. I suspect that number will keep getting worse the father I go back.

Fun facts (kinda), we won more games in Montreal in the 2013 season than we did in Winnipeg. And Tim Burke won as many games at Percival Molson as he did in IGF.

Justin Medlock
I remember reading, at the beginning of the season, several Rider fans were heavily mocking us  for signing and paying a kicker such a hefty contract.
And now I chuckle. What a friggin great signing. 
Justin Medlock kicked 6 field goals last night...pushing his consecutive streak to 20 on the year. From 39, 47, 13, 20, 40 and 36
Easy-peasy.
What that shows is 18 points on the night. What it doesn't show is the importance attached to making each and every one of those FGs at a time when the Bombers had to get points for their fine efforts.
Justin Medlock was a big reason why the Bombers won the game last night. More importantly, he was a reason why we didn't lose last night.

 

Kickers are undervalued by many fans and media types. A clutch kicker can add 1-3 wins to an otherwise average team.

I think Bomber fans knew the importance of Medlock after the Liram H debacle of 2015. 

3 minutes ago, yogi said:

Kickers are undervalued by many fans and media types. A clutch kicker can add 1-3 wins to an otherwise average team.

It's a total misconception, the only player more valuable to a team than the kicker is the QB and they make over twice as much money.

Didn't the kicker (Adam something or other ) clinch two Patriot superbowls? and a kicker lost one for the Bills. Then there's the manure kick.....

 

I said it when we signed him, if we had Medlock last year, we would've made the playoffs.

28 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

It's a total misconception, the only player more valuable to a team than the kicker is the QB and they make over twice as much money.

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but let's not sell the OL (especially blind side tackle) too short.......QB is nothing without protection, as we all know too well. 

As for Medlock, he's worth every penny and more. Imagine we miss some of those kicks, and what it does to the overall confidence of the team? Morale stays high, team keeps rolling....

Bombers have the best ST in the league and Medlock is a huge component of that.

Highlights for me:
Justin Cole's bobble-catch interception. 
Justin Cole's tremendous duck under Perrett's block when he dove and stripped Glenn of the ball. What a great athletic play!
How about Montreal's first 3 possessions -  a two-and-out, an interception and a punt block on their first three possessions. Derek Jones!
Another attention grabber? The between the legs hike to Kohlert, his pass, and a first down.
Entertaining and successful. Fun stuff.
Montreal grabs the momentum back big time during the game, taking a lead of 15-9 at the start of the 2nd Q.
Problem? Nope.
Another FG and a smart, attentive play by Maurice Leggett, and a 59 yard interception return for a TD and a 19-15 lead. 
Glenn never saw it coming.
The 3rd Q was all defence by both teams. 
What was really impressive was the Bombers moving the ball 94 yards at the end of the game, eating up the clock, and scoring that TD. 
Andrew Harris showing his value...totally.
Bass 10 tackles.

Matt Nichols - nothing splashy, but solid and quick on his reads and decisions. Just what we need.
Bombers 3 sacks, Montreal 1
Johnny Adams had a successful return...
3rd and short by Montreal - stopped. 
Bomber D reputation is picking up momentum...
High like it.

Watching Medlock is a real treat....The guy is a perfectionist...Just watch how he sets himself...walks off exactly the same steps and I'm sure he has talks with the holder regularly to make sure they never change anything on the hold...Puts his foot to the ball and 'bingo' right where he wants it... Accurate as hell/Mr. Automatic and you can bet every other team in the league wished they had him. I wanted us to go after him a couple of years ago and thought ...naw..he'll stay in Ham...Was really floored when we signed him and I hope this is his last stop.

Edited August 27, 20168 yr by Stickem

20 fgs in a row. Bomber Record 

2 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

Justin Medlock
I remember reading, at the beginning of the season, several Rider fans were heavily mocking us  for signing and paying a kicker such a hefty contract.
And now I chuckle. What a friggin great signing. 
Justin Medlock kicked 6 field goals last night...pushing his consecutive streak to 20 on the year. From 39, 47, 13, 20, 40 and 36
Easy-peasy.
What that shows is 18 points on the night. What it doesn't show is the importance attached to making each and every one of those FGs at a time when the Bombers had to get points for their fine efforts.
Justin Medlock was a big reason why the Bombers won the game last night. More importantly, he was a reason why we didn't lose last night.

 

Rider Fans.........lol.....They must be so happy with their outstanding UFA pickups....I've never understood how some fans try to minimalize the importance of kickers......

two receivers blocking downfield got andrew Harris last five yards into the endzone.... something new this year... receivers blocking.

Edited August 27, 20168 yr by Mark F

6 hours ago, Mike said:

Eventually we're going to need to get better output from our offense whether it's the tough thing to say around here right now or not. Nichols got it done when it mattered, but if he had of gotten it done earlier in the game, this one might not have been even close. You shouldn't go +6 in the turnover game and win by 14. You should be stomping teams by 20, 30 points when you get that many short fields.

I like what Nichols is doing right now, but I truly don't believe it's sustainable. I'm not saying Willy is the answer, but he's going to need to get a look at some point. Then again, maybe once Dressler/Smith are back, Nichols can show us some more offense as well.

Yup that's what was I was going to post but I was too busy shaking my head.

With the way our D and special teams are playing right now... Willy Nichols Davis Bennett... irrelevant in my opinion.

The QB and O are not winning games. The D and Special Teams are 

3 hours ago, Goalie said:

With the way our D and special teams are playing right now... Willy Nichols Davis Bennett... irrelevant in my opinion.

The QB and O are not winning games. The D and Special Teams are 

Disagree, Nichols is doing an excellent job of not turning over the ball right now, I believe one pic. thrown in 4-1/2  games.

Edited August 27, 20168 yr by Throw Long Bannatyne

15 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Disagree, Nichols is doing an excellent job of not turning over the ball right now, I believe one pic. thrown in five games.

You missed the point.  Point being.... Nichols has been very average the last couple 3 games now. Very very average. That's enough right now. He's also had games where the other team should have more interceptions but has dropped them. Bottom line.. the D and special teams had 6 takeaways... just like the week b4 the bye and we won by what? 14 points both games.... the O is not doing enough.  What the D and Special teams are doing is not sustainable. Eventually you need the O to put up more than 1 touchdown a game 

31 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Disagree, Nichols is doing an excellent job of not turning over the ball right now, I believe one pic. thrown in five games.

Let's just put a lineman at qb & let him take the snaps & see how we do. Maybe Hardrick? Neufeld?