i think Fords start needs to be considered in context of how much he got good field position. We're getting booming punts and the Bombers offense didn't show until second half. We were starting at midfield or Bombers zone on some drives and doing nothing or turning ball over and the picks and fumble by Ford were generally awful. Drive stoppers all of them.
The Elks D and punting were so good that it should have been possible to generate something, and some scoring plays. I'm concerned that Ford is being scouted and shut down. Not just this game. Ford hasn't been able to run the ball all season. Its just one facet of him, but its his prime aspect that he brings. Ford is not a better passer than anybody else. But his calling card is being a better runner than near any QB. Ford seems too to need the runs to get his mojo going. Its his fallback position when struggling, and now he doesn't have that. Its a concern. When you factor in that our Oline is great at run blocking it makes it an even bigger concern Ford is getting nothing in rushing. This is a far better Oline this season imo.
I hear what you're saying on Ford, and for sure Saturday was a terrible performance especially in light of the fact our special teams were flipping the field 10-20 yards on each exchange in a defensive battle. Even his completed passes were such that the receiver needed to bail him out to make it a completion.
But prior to Saturday he was passing the ball quite well so far this year going 35 for 46 (76%) and 473 yards and a 5 to 1 TD to INT ratio in about 7 quarters of football. Granted it was a small sample size and Hamilton, BC and Saskatchewan weren't exactly pass defense juggernauts, but those are pretty good numbers.
I guess my point really is that if you are thinking of a future beyond the next 6 weeks, I can see it being worthwhile to let Ford struggle a bit and learn some hard lessons particularly against a tough pass defense like Winnipeg in hopes it hardens him into a more rounded QB or alternatively if he really shits the bed, maybe you decide not to hitch next year's wagon to him.
All in all, to this point in his career I view him as quite over rated, but it's hard to deny the excitement he can bring to the game.
All this said, I have no issue with MBT starting Friday. Just throwing some counterpoint is all.