Congrats Alouettes!!!!

[Toppy Vann]

Richie Hall was outcoached especially on the winning toss to BC's Tyson Philpott.
Cover O when you weren't going to gain anything by a sack might have been a bad call. Fajardo was finally able to get the coverages downfield to make key passes.
By the way, I told my friend if Als win, Philpott will have to be top Canadian. However to counter that when he texted me at the half I said it was game over for the Alouettes.

While I like the Bombers' offense and a fan of Buck Pierce, it seemed like Demski and Schoen weren't really the usual effective offensive weapons and of course on DEF there were questions about Bighill's fitness. O'Shea said they deserved to play post-game.

Like Blitz, I thought it was over when the Als foolishly ran from the 1 yd three times failing to end the half and keep the game one score away. As Bo Lo Levi said in response to Jim Barker - let your big back run while mentioning their then-back Jerome Messam. Dicky was making that bad call in the GC one year. Or at least do as the Bombers did - vary the theme.

Those pre- and post-game comments from the Als and some of the stuff coming out today about Fajardo's swear-laced speech suggest that they truly weren't going down to defeat. Shawn Lemon, Darnell Sankey and Stubblefield pick-ups made their DEF. That team seemed to be unified beyond special. Something that is rare even in winning teams.

Jason Maas could only build the culture he did by changing his in-game demeanor. Danny Maciocia their GM must have given him the job on the understanding the old Jason Maas from Edmonton won't work. Some of these coaches never change but it's pretty clear too that Maciocia changed. His university days must have given him a benefit as there you can't just buy what you want and recruiting is crucial. He too doesn't seem to need to be the show.

I was pulling for the Als as it's special to see local kids like both Tyson and Jalen Philpott (Cal injured) do well.
Loved how he was smart enough to keep that football on the TD.

[Disturber]

Shadenfreude

[Toppy Vann]

That was a surprising defence as said by a TSN panel member yesterday on the Tyson Philpott TD given where the ball was and a FG would have sent the game to OT. A sack would give the Bombers no advantage. Especially as this game Fajardo on his passes was on the money this game. That wasn't exactly true when they beat the Argos in the East Final.

Inside the play call that won the Montreal Alouettes the 110th Grey Cup
By Justin Dunk -November 20, 2023

“Watching the red zone tape, I knew they liked to bring a blitz and play cover zero,” Fajardo described. “In the back of my head, I said if they bring it, I got Tyson on a post, I just have to buy a little bit of time.”

“Gold right, Y tough, 775 X deep, Frisco, W Poko, Y nut squat, Z snap,” Fajardo told 3DownNation after the game.

https://3downnation.com/2023/11/20/insi ... -grey-cup/


The profanity laced Fajardo speech gets greater attention as he apparently is not one to swear that much so it'd have greater impact.

Basking in the glow of his first championship win as a starter, Fajardo acknowledged that his impromptu speech made a significant impact on the mood of the team.

While most players declined to give details of what was shared in the private team meeting, veteran defensive tackle Almondo Sewell captured the jist of the message.

“He said, ‘F***ing watch us,'” he grinned. “Coach Maas ain’t never heard Cody cuss before. That was the first time.”

“It’s almost difficult for someone to outswear Jason (Maas),” Maciocia added. “He outswore him yesterday.”

Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot... was unashamed to admit the emotional response that the speech elicited in him.

“I had tears after that meeting and I had goosebumps,” he said at the podium. “All the belief was in that locker room all year. We heard all the naysayers and everybody told us that we weren’t going to get to the Cup and we were ninth-ranked at the start of the season. We didn’t need any other belief except what was in this locker room.”

https://3downnation.com/2023/11/20/fing ... p-victory/

[Toppy Vann]

Given how the Alouettes ran the board after their losing start peaking in the east semi, east final and Grey Cup game what should the coaches of the Bombers be asking themselves?

Ryan Dinwiddie - did load management lead to to an imperceptible let down in intensity and focus both individually and as a team?
No team I can recall ever had it all won about game 12.

Mike O'Shea - could they have avoided some of these critical injuries by resting players? If not, should Schoen and Bighill really played in this GC? To be fair, they didn't lose this game.
Demski had catches for yards but his YAC didn't seem up there like before as he was banged up.

[don corleone]

Great win for a storied franchise and their passionate fans. Wonder what Gary Stern is thinking?

Unfortunate for Jason Maas that the Coach of the Year voting had already taken place. I've thought for a few years that it would be better to have a separate Awards banquet after the season was complete. Not to take anything away from Ryan Dinwiddie.

[Toppy Vann]

Great win for a storied franchise and their passionate fans. Wonder what Gary Stern is thinking?

Unfortunate for Jason Maas that the Coach of the Year voting had already taken place. I've thought for a few years that it would be better to have a separate Awards banquet after the season was complete. Not to take anything away from Ryan Dinwiddie.

Yah, I've thought similarly and the Jason Maas example while unique in how they ran the board having beaten no one named the Bombers, Argos or Lions in regular season play as someone on TSN or 3 Down put it.

I guess the contrarian view prevails that Grey Cup week is the best time to hold this as players haven't all gone home and the host city is abuzz with events and fans.

I wasn't a believer even when they knocked off the Argos as I put that down to Argos beating themselves and their awesome DEF as Fajardo hadn't performed that well until this past week. Oh, and neither had MTL's offensive line not performed like they did in the GC.

How the Als came together picking up pieces on the way and how it ended up winning the GC game is a plot for a great story.
How they did it with no owner and their best QB option heading out of town with no owner in place makes for a special story.

For me, seeing Tyson Philpot make the game-winning TD catch and celebrating with his mom, sister, brother and dad Cory Philpot made this really special to see this local guy do great. I've been a fan of his and Jalen (injured) since before they donned CFL uniforms. I watched them catching passes post-university with other CFL and college players and realized these two have potential if given a chance.

Tyson in some ways seems like pro tennis player Ben Shelton who played recently in Vancouver.

Shawn Lemon and others post game had messages that really resonated about belief, hard work and passion.
How the Als wanted to win for each other and their QB was an amazing story line.

From the GM to the HC who is NOT the same Maas we saw with Sask as OC are equally remarkable stories.

[SammyGreene]

Our Lions coaching and management staff, in watching this Montreal upset win hopefully learned something. Hopefully they saw that Montreal rushed for over 100 yds. in the game. Montreal would not have beaten the Bombers being only one dimensional.

Secondly, they also saw a franchise that made necessary changes throughout the season to get better. To begin this CFL season, the Montreal Alouttes were Canadian Football League orphans - without an owner, without a clear direction, without either financial stability or a team that could win on the football field.

Montreal, after struggling defensively in the first half of the season, went out and signed Sean Lemon, the West nominee last year for outstanding defensive player last year but not brought back by Calgary and they also signed Darnell Sankey. Both played key roles in Montreal's turnaround and playoff success.

Our B.C. Lions also had the ability to make changes this season but chose not to. Our running game was an obvious issue. We chose to continue with four import receivers when we easily could have inserted McInnis into the starting lineup and gone with a third import offensive lineman. We could have gone with a different tailback, with NFL cuts available, as our choice of scatback was not only limiting our running game but was also an obvious issue for pass protection, which too often goes under the radar, in terms of importance. We also chose to stick with the same running scheme and the same offensive strategy when it should have been more than obvious that its difficult to win in the playoffs in the cold in December without a solid running game for offensive balance and good pass protection as well.

Yesterday Cody Fajardo had his best game as a pro. He does not have the talent of a Vernon Adams nor did he have the quality of receivers that Adams did to throw the football to. But Montreal put up close to 400 yards of offence against a very good Bomber defense. They did due to having a running game as part of their offence and because they had a quarterback in Fajardo who threw the football into the face of a fierce Bomber rush and let his receivers have the opportunity to make plays, rather than disco dancing in the pocket and giving up sacks that are killers. Hopefully Vernon Adams watched this game too.

The Alouettes' impressive performance has certainly taken some of the luster off our season for me especially when management and coaches at the year-end presser were in unison saying the Bombers are simply in a class by themselves.


A dominating Winnipeg win on Sunday would have fit that narrative.

Instead we watched the Alouettes generate nearly 400 yards of offence that included two clutch 4th quarter TD drives while a hail mary saved us from being shutout of majors in 6 crucial quarters against the Bombers — dating back of the 2nd half of the Oct. 6 game at BC Place that cost us 1st place.

This management and coaching staff have done a lot of things right to bring the Lions back up among the league's upper echelon but as Blitz has so astutely pointed out we have had mirrored performances in back-to-back Western Finals regardless who are starting QB and running back were then watched the Bombers get beat the following week.

Hopefully the Alouettes have provided another wake-up call that a change in offensive philosophy towards a more balanced attack is a must moving forward.

[Blitz]

The Alouettes' impressive performance has certainly taken some of the luster off our season for me especially when management and coaches at the year-end presser were in unison saying the Bombers are simply in a class by themselves.

A dominating Winnipeg win on Sunday would have fit that narrative.

Hopefully the Alouettes have provided another wake-up call that a change in offensive philosophy towards a more balanced attack is a must moving forward.

Sammy Greene

The Narrative

Its been interesting to read a number of interesting articles in the Winnipeg press, as well as 3 Down Nation and CFL.ca, following the time of my previous post, reflecting on this year's Grey Cup game.

Firstly, though I agree with you completely Sammy that the narrative after our loss to the Bombers was going to be that the Bombers are one of those special teams that come along every once in a while but not often who are just dominating and all one can do is say "What are ya gonna do" to quote a Tony Soprano line from the series the Sopranos.

But it was a false narrative. The Bombers were very beatable in the West Final. However, we did not go into that contest with a running game as did Montreal. nor a quarterback who could play with poise in that setting, nor did we go into the game with a sound plan for our defense, when our coaches knew ahead of time that the Bombers offence, especially with their best receiver injured and two other receivers being game time decisions due to health reasons, and with the best running attack in the CFL, they would come out with serious intent to run the football up our butts.

However, we went into the game with Mizzell and the same running scheme that had been the worst run attack in the CFL all season. Adams went into the game knowing he would need to get rid of the football quickly (the Bombers had seen what he had done with Calgary's 3 man rush and wanted no part of that strategy) yet he hung onto the football, danced in the pocket like he was Fred Astair, and took sack after sack in a demoralizing effort.

On defense, our Ryan Phillips led defense played a hell of a game once Phillips adjusted to the Bombers run game in the second quarter. Our defense was impressive after that, holding to 9 yards on 8 carries in the second half. But why did it take Phillips almost a quarter and a half to figure out what I and other Lionbackers had figured out days before game time?

To add more misery to the equation, we had a punt blocked for a touchdown in a playoff game. The Bombers saw our weakness, overloaded a side, and we were unprepared. We brought back Benevedes for his experience and knowledge and yet he did not have our punt team well prepared for a simple overload situation.

Officiating and TSN

An article on 3 Down Nation looked at TSN's coverage of the Grey Cup game and overall, it was complimentary, as it should have been. But it did point out and legitimately, all the referees bad calls in the game which seriously tilted the game towards a Bombers victory and was critical of TSN' not emphasizing the potential significance of those referees calls during the game. I agree.

The rough play penalty on Montreal's Mustafa Johnson Montreal for a legitimate tackle on Collarus, when the Montreal defense had stopped the drive, led to a Bombers first quarter touchdown. . On the fumbled Montreal punt return, it was an obvious no yards penalty but even after a Maas challenge the play stood as called and led to a second Bombers touchdown. The Bombers were obviously lined up offside on Montreal's third down and one attempt at the end of the first half and Montreal should have been given another down.

The worst non-call of the day had to be no pass interference call on the incredible Austin Mack one handed catch, with a Montreal defender almost ripping his other arm out of the socket. I Mack had not made that play, the outcome likely would have been very different due to refereeing ineptitude.

The Bombers Were Beatable in the West Final - The True Narrative

Montreal took on the Bombers run game and carved up the Bombers defense when it mattered most, outscoring them 21-7 in the second half. The new narrative, the accurate narrative was that the Bombers were very beatable, not only in the Grey Cup game but also in the West Final. With only an ability to run the football enough to keep the Bombers defense honest, a quarterback who would throw the football in a reasonable time, or drop the football off to his check down, or throw it out of bounds, would have given us a great chance to win.

An offensive coordinator, seeing his quarterback operating in some kind of rabbit hole world would have called some quick pass plays and bubble screens and rollouts with a simple read to try to get his quarterback's head working right. A defensive coordinator would have been run blitzing from the start of the game. A good special teams coordinator, knowing Mike O'Shea's focus on special teams strategy, would have had his punt team better prepared. We had the ability to beat the Bombers in the West Final. They were ripe for the picking.


Bombers Decisions Criticized

Toppy and I wrote, following the game that Bighill and Shoen should not have started for the Bombers. Its been controversial and an article in the Winnipeg Sun has since been written criticizing the decision.

Another controversy has been the defensive call by Richie Hall to go with a blitz on Montreal's winning touchdown, a 19 yard strike to Philpot. An article defends the Richie Hall call, saying that three man rushes and a couple of stunt blitzes had not worked and the Bombers defense needed to change strategy. Some thing Hall should have dropped nine but I don't. But I also don't think he needed to go with a Cover 0, with no safety. He could have blitzed five or six with a safety free or he could have zone blitzed.

Fajardo saw that Philpot had a one on one, with no safety help and he was smart enough to see it and exploit it. But if the Bombers would have made that type of defensive call against our Leos in the West Final, Vernon Adams would not have seen it anyways. All he would have been doing is looking at the rush and doing the jitterbug.


Wrap

Lots to work on for next season. Our Leos are now the team that has gone the longest period of time without a Grey Cup berth. Using Sammy Green's word, I hope that 'narrative' will change and our Leos will 'roar in 2024'

Winnipeg Sun
What was Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea thinking?
Story by Paul Friesen

HAMILTON – Hard losses demand hard questions. There are no harder losses than playoff losses, and the hardest of them is the Grey Cup.
The way Sunday’s shook down – the Winnipeg Blue Bombers blowing a 10-point half-time edge against Montreal, re-grabbing the lead with some five minutes to go only to blow that, too – it doesn’t get more excruciating.

And while the Alouettes get a boatload of credit, the Bombers have to shoulder an equal amount of blame. Players made mistakes, they always do. An interception and a fumble took points off the board. Defensive breakdowns put points on the wrong side of the board.

But the No. 1 question is for head coach Mike O’Shea. What was he thinking when he allowed Adam Bighill and Dalton Schoen to play? It’s a rhetorical question, actually. We know the answer. O’Shea gave it after the 28-24 score was added to this franchise’s history of Grey Cup busts.

“You’ve got to let players be great,” the coach said. “If you’re just always holding them out, then they don’t get a chance to shine for their teammates. I don’t know if our guys will remember the score. They’ll remember that we lost, and they’ll also remember their teammates who put everything they had into at least stepping on the field.”

At least stepping on the field? As if that represented some sort of moral victory? O’Shea has forgotten more about football than I’ll ever pretend to know. He’s proven his approach works, turning a franchise that tripped all over itself into the envy of Canadian football. But that doesn’t make him infallible.
Yes, you have to let players be great. But you also have to tell them when being on the field is not going to help.

Some would play on one leg. Bighill is one of those. A head coach can’t always leave that decision to the player. Common sense won’t rule them. Sitting out would be letting their teammates down.

I’m guessing most would want that critical call taken out of their hands at a moment like Sunday’s, when 30 minutes before game time Bighill and Schoen were told they’re going in. “I gave myself zero percent chance of playing,” Bighill said, referring to the days after he tore his calf muscle in the West Final. “It was a pretty miraculous week.”

Medicine isn’t based on miracles. We’ve seen injured players defy the odds before. Quarterback Chris Streveler playing on a broken ankle in the 2019 playoffs comes to mind. But Streveler had a few weeks to make that happen.

Bighill could barely walk when he got to Hamilton. And he certainly couldn’t cover receiver Cole Spieker on the third-quarter touchdown that gave the Alouettes life. The defensive leader, in and out of the game, was nowhere near his usual dominant self, making just one tackle and watching from the sideline on Montreal’s game-winning drive.

No. 4’s lack of presence is only half of this equation. In fact, Shayne Gauthier did a more than adequate job taking most of the snaps in Bighill’s place, including a third-and-goal stop to end the first half.

Bighill’s spot on the roster is the other half, a spot that could have been taken by an extra defensive back, which the Bombers could have used. As for Schoen, he seemed as surprised as anyone he was running onto the field for the first offensive series. “Lining up in the huddle for that first play of the game, it’s like, wow, this is here. I haven’t been in the huddle in six weeks,” he said. “That’s obviously weird. Didn’t know for sure until right before the game.”
Some suspected Schoen had been practising behind closed doors.

I asked him just that. “We did stuff to test it physically, in terms of running,” he said. “But I did not get to practise. It’s hard. It’s obviously a unique situation.”

It’s unique because it shouldn’t happen. Six weeks off with an injury, and he makes his comeback in the Grey Cup game? That’s not just ill-advised, it’s reckless.
Schoen wasn’t his usual self, not even close, and the Bombers were not a threat downfield. Greg McCrae, scratched in favour of Schoen, wouldn’t have provided that deep threat. But he would have been a fully-healthy, runner/receiver hybrid for some of the gadget plays the Bombers use so well. An under-the-radar player who just might provide an element of surprise.

A championship game is not the time to dress a decoy. Nor is it the time to play someone who’s nowhere near 100%. “It’s uncommon in a lot of other businesses,” O’Shea said. “But in this sport, you get a lot of guys that are doing whatever they can to get on the field.” O’Shea feeds that approach by never ruling them out.

It’s admirable on one hand. Loyalty to a fault on the other.

But that’s what you get with O’Shea. The man will go down as one of the best head coaches in Blue Bombers history.

He’ll probably get a second bust in the Hall of Fame for his coaching some day, adding to the one from his playing days, if they do that sort of thing. But his decision in the biggest game of this year?

A bust, too.
pfriesen@postmedia.com

[Toppy Vann]

RUN GAME FOR BC:

I think the GM/HC and OC simply don't believe in running the football or Wally inscribed on their office walls "Teaching Running is Too Hard"

I love Jim Barker on the TSN panel both for his enthusiasm as much as his insights.
Barker says he learned or was told that to win in football "you have to be able to run when you want to, and you have to able to stop the run when you need to."


Blitz:

Another controversy has been the defensive call by Richie Hall to go with a blitz on Montreal's winning touchdown, a 19 yard strike to Philpot. An article defends the Richie Hall call, saying that three man rushes and a couple of stunt blitzes had not worked and the Bombers defense needed to change strategy. Some thing Hall should have dropped nine but I don't. But I also don't think he needed to go with a Cover 0, with no safety. He could have blitzed five or six with a safety free or he could have zone blitzed.

Fajardo saw that Philpot had a one on one, with no safety help and he was smart enough to see it and exploit it.

I read that Ben Grant article as it really detailed the entire last drive and the defences called by Richie Hall. It was really comprehensive and analytical.
My only issue with his take was concluding that given how hot Fajardo was that it was the right call and ignore other ways to pressure Fajardo such as what what Blitz said :

He could have blitzed five or six with a safety free or he could have zone blitzed.

For me, at the end of that incisive article, I thought Ben was really stretching to not put the knock on DC Richie Hall.

On X, Biggie defended himself rightly on a prior play stating he had no vertical responsibilities on that play - and to that I do agree.

INJURED BOMBERS:

O'Shea won't say it publicly but deep down must realize, it wasn't helpful.

PENALTIES & BALL SPOTTING

The refs made errors.

Suitor did protest but the others like the no yards non-call were so close it was hard to keep arguing that stuff.
I did think the Als got jobbed.

TYSON PHILPOT

Pre-game I told my friend who I go to games with that if Als were to win in a close game, my pick to score on a pass was Tyson Philpot.
My sense was Austin Mack would get double coverage.

However, I negated that by texting in my disgust that they didn't score from the 1 yd line that down two scores it was over! LOL
I took the TSN panel view that the second half might be poor from the Als perspective.
As much as I am a fan of Buck Pierce, I hoped for the Als for the story line of where they came from and how it'd run the board but more to see a local young guy do good in Tyson Philpot. Was walking the track two years ago before Jalen and Tyson played in the CFL and they were among others including Michael O'Connor QB there.

What you see with Tyson on his Instagram is how much every member of his family means to him. It's always there in his interviews and when Claire Hanna I think it was mentioned he scored that TD win with his dad, he mentioned each family member.

I see he was eating poutine out of his Outstanding Canadian cup. Also great was that at their parade I caught the part of players introduced as they took the stage. The last two were Tyson and Cody Fajardo. Great looking crowd out. Then the stream cut off and by the time I got back on, it was over. It's going to posted on Als site..

[Blitz]

I enjoyed reading your post Toppy!! I was pleased to see you included Jim Barker's quote, when he said " he learned or was told that to win in football "you have to be able to run when you want to, and you have to able to stop the run when you need to." Very wise words indeed!

COVER 0

I read that Ben Grant article as it really detailed the entire last drive and the defences called by Richie Hall. It was really comprehensive and analytical.
My only issue with his take was concluding that given how hot Fajardo was that it was the right call and ignore other ways to pressure Fajardo such as what what Blitz said : He could have blitzed five or six with a safety free or he could have zone blitzed. For me, at the end of that incisive article, I thought Ben was really stretching to not put the knock on DC Richie Hall.

Toppy Vann

Ben Grant must have been writing his article to convince the average Bomber fan that Hall's Cover 0 was a good defensive call at that moment in time. The reality is that Hall made a choice of being a hero or a goat. Fajardo read it, Philpot ran a great pattern against a highly talented defensive back, and Fajardo made a purrfect throw. Hall would have been held up in very high esteem for his defensive call had Fajardo been sacked or pressured into a poorly thrown football. Therefore, he needs to take the blame when a risky call does not work in his favor.

It was not the only play of the game that cost the Bombers but the defensive call came at such a critical juncture of the game, with few seconds remaining on the clock. It would have been much better for Hall to make a defensive call that attempted to force a shorter throw underneath, with time ticking. After all, Montreal was on the Bombers 19 yard line and not inside the 10 yard mark. But going with a Cover 0 call at that moment in time was not the percentage call at all.

INJURED BOMBERS

On X, Biggie defended himself rightly on a prior play stating he had no vertical responsibilities on that play - and to that I do agree. O'Shea won't say it publicly but deep down must realize, it wasn't helpful. Toppy Van

Biggie has often been used to cover a slotback on long vertical patterns, both here in B.C. and in Winnipeg. It was not unusual. However on that play, why the defensive back covered the flat and Biggie covered the deep pattern is surprising. However, Bighill also had no help over the top. Once again where was the Bombers safety. I don't have the tape but either there was no safety on the play or the safety read the play wrong.



PENALTIES & BALL SPOTTING

The refs made errors. Suitor did protest but the others like the no yards non-call were so close it was hard to keep arguing that stuff. I did think the Als got jobbed. Toppy Vann

Suitor mentioned it but considering how important the penalty calls were, in the most important game of the season, the TSN coverage did not give them the weight that they deserved. I think the reason is that TSN wants to promote the CFL and being critical of refs might turn off viewers from watching so they tend to minimize bad referee's calls. Montreal won the Grey Cup so its much easier to let those penalty calls flow like water off a ducks back because Montreal overcame them but they were still not acceptable and a higher standard for such an important event is needed going forward.

As for the Bombers players playing while dealing with injury I am not sure we completely agree. There were only a few things that Wally did that garner my praise but one of them was if a player was not able to go full for a practice prior to a game he did not play.

That was a general guideline that Buono had but it was also one that he broke when he had Printers starting with his rotator cuff injury in 2005 ,when Printers could only throw the football underhanded at practice and also in 2010, when he played Printers with a knee injury that required knee reconstruction at the end of that season. He also played Dickenson without practice, while dealing with a concussion.

However, most of the time Buono stuck to his own rule regarding injured players and I think it was a wise standard.

TYSON PHILPOT

Pre-game I told my friend who I go to games with that if Als were to win in a close game, my pick to score on a pass was Tyson Philpot.
Toppy Vann

You nailed it Toppy. As to your reaction, after Montreal was stopped twice on the Bombers 1 yard line just before the half, I think there would have been very few fans who believed Montreal could come back from a 10 point deficit at half time, and especially after a special teams fumble and the failure of two cracks from the one yard line.

But when Montreal came out to begin the second half and marched the length of the field to score a touchdown to make the score 17-14, I knew then we would have a close game and Montreal was going to fight and fight hard. There were allso couple of bone jarring tackles from the Montreal defense that told the Bombers they had more than come to play. In the second half, Montreal was the aggressor.

BELIEVING

A team has to believe in itself and each other in order to win a championship. However, I thought a few Montreal players got a little carried away with the notion that the Montreal organization had 'believed' in them whereas others had not. The reality is that Fajardo and Maas had not taken advantage of previous opportunities in a manner to be kept and Montreal hired them because there were not a lot of good choices to begin the season and with franchise needing some stability, getting some Head Coaching and quarterback experience was important to solidify the franchise going into the season.

But all that so called 'believing' in Maas and Fajardo was not making any difference in Montreal until Maccioca signed Shawn Lemon and Darnell Sankey at mid-season. The Als won their last 7 games and without those signings they would likely have continued their ineptitude as a team.

Montreal peeled off victory after victory due to its defense, after the Lemon and Sankey signings, until the second half of the Grey Cup game, when the offence also came alive at a key time.

Our defense, in the second half of the West Final, gave our offence the same opportunity to win as did Montreal's defense in the Grey Cup. The difference is that Montreal seized the opportunity and our offence did not. There are reasons for that and those reasons need to be addressed this off-season.

A big change in the off-season that is needed goes back to the start of your most recent post Toppy and Jim Barker's comment: "You have to be able to run when you want to, and you have to able to stop the run when you need to."

[Toppy Vann]

Blitz, great post and I don't why or how I missed your response until this morning.

The Ben Grant was like a judge sitting without a jury and reading his decision on guilt for 10 minutes noting every detail that overwhelmingly points to the accused as the perpetrator only to finish that it was not possible to convict beyond a reasonable doubt - not guilty. Or his wife is married to Richie Hall's wife's sister and he had no choice.

Jim Barker knows football and I like how he talks and I never miss the panel even when I'm at games when he's there. He also knows some of these players and people really well as he has worked for both Hamilton and Toronto in recent years. He doesn't miss a chance to promote the excitement of the CFL and our rules.

Montreal did overplay that 'everyone thinks we're losers' mantra a bit but like you say their play during the season wasn't always at or above where it should or could have been.

I think they have made Montreal look like an attractive team culture there and both Lemon and Sankey re-signing there won't hurt either as long as Noel Thorpe says DC there.