trueBlue83

I still think a big part of this was the fact that he was so reliant last year on the safety valve of Harris... what other RB in the league had anywhere near 109 receptions. Teams have taken away the short options. When you take away half of his repertoire, you force him into making tougher throws. It's not necessarily that we're not getting the same Nichols as last year, I believe it's that his numbers last year were pretty misleading. Completion percentage was tops in the league. But when you're only throwing the ball 5 yards, you should be completing those balls. Sure would be nice to see a radically different game plan tonight, rather than the same old crap! And yes, the receivers don't look as engaged... is that from lack of belief in the QB? who knows... but they certainly need to be playing harder too!

my problem is with the coach that keeps leaning on the fact that Nichols has "won a lot of football games for this club". I'm sorry, football is a "what have you done for me lately" business, and for him to keep rolling out a QB that isn't getting it done is extremely frustrating. Seeing Nichols hit the 300 yard mark would be encouraging... something we haven't seen from him all year. Obviously a W is the most important thing... but a W, if it's the cause of some big defensive plays, special teams and sub-par offensive performance, doesn't give encouraging thoughts as we close out the season. If we want any shot at turning this thing around, all 3 phases need to firing, and I have zero reason to believe that it's just going to correct itself overnight. A win against Montreal will calm the masses for this weekend.... but try and do the same thing next weekend in Edmonton. I'd love to see it, just have no reason to believe it will happen!

you're the one that seems to be okay with mediocrity at the QB position. I don't know what it is you're watching, but for a year now, Matt Nichols has been nothing more than a mediocre Quarterback, bordering on bottom tier in this league. Just getting by beating the bottom 3 teams in the league and saying 'hey, at least we're winning' isn't acceptable anymore. Because we're not winning the games that count! in the last calendar year, the Bombers are 9 - 11. With good QB play, that record would probably be more like 14-6 or better. The next month is truly going to tell the tale of if Nichols will be around next year, so we really don't need to debate this any further. Results will speak for themselves.

twist it whatever you want... I'm pretty sure if he put up numbers like that tonight, he'd be over 300 yards. I trust you'll be there tonight in your Nichols jersey??

I love that Bob Cameron still rocked this helmet 30 years later!

Bud Light should do a beer cooler promo here for a Grey Cup win! It would expire several times, but would still be kinda funny!

that defences have Nichols figured out and have game planned to push him into making plays he's not comfortable with. all the weapons are back tonight, so if Matt doesn't have a 300 yd passing game and Harris 100+ total yards, it's a failure to me. This is a team they SHOULD be able to beat down! Montreal's defence has improved since we last played them... but that's no excuse. It's time for the offence to have a big game, and if they can't against arguably the worst team in the league, well... time to look ahead to next season.

"Keep the meter running... our QB is on his way out the back door!"

The difference is, you're talking about QBs who are winning games. But Trestman? He made the change away from Franklin rather quickly. Acting like he stands by his guy when hes had Calvillo & Ray... awful examples!

Not saying anyone is less of a fan... but for those of us that are invested in the team and at every game, I'd say we have even more reason to be frustrated and fed up when things are going bad. Quite frankly, I'm getting fed up paying $75 a ticket to watch Nichols throw dump passes and then have O'Shea stand there with a smirk on his face and tell everyone he's playing very good football.

to put this into perspective... I wonder how Stefan LeFors fared against opposing teams for the first time?

if Nichols is having even a half decent game, O'Shea will let him ride it out to the full extent and try and build up any shred of confidence he can. It's clear Streveler is going to be nothing but an absolute last resort.

Toronto won't win 3 more games this season. I don't think SK is going to have a stellar close either. If BC gets on a little run, Bombers, who were a legit Grey Cup contender according to all of the so called experts, could be in tough to make it to the dance.

You haven't been watching him play, have you? He looks so checked out running his routes. That said, if there's a team he'll be motivated to have a big game against, it would be us.

It's a pickem:. Nichols passing yds VS Manziel rushing yards

you don't think a QB with a good arm can lead and throw a receiver open while scrambling? not sure where the confusion is here?

when you have the arm to do so, you can chuck it up and let the receiver go make a play. Our guy typically under throws, which makes making that play a lot harder.

with a chance to rid himself of that contract next year with no blowback at all.... he's probably sitting back not minding. Now, if the team can't turn their fortunes around at start to play better ball, that's going to be a different story. I don't think Walters is in danger this year. He's sticking around.

Kaepernick won't come to the CFL with his lawsuit against the NFL still up in the air... that would be admitting that he doesn't have the game left to play in the NFL (even though a few years removed, I'm sure his lawyers have told him not to entertain it). He's going to win that lawsuit, so I don't think he needs to play football again, and he'll be just fine financially.

turns out, that was a Sept 2016 game, so one of Nichols first as a Bomber. And early in the 4th with the Bombers down 30-20, the D actually scored a forced fumble TD to make it 30-27. With 15 seconds left on the clock, the Stamps got the ball back down 34-33, connected on a long pass, and then kicked a 52 yard time expired FG to win the game. If you think that game is on the D holding them to 9 points in the second half, well, sure I guess!?

ok... thats fair. but more often than not, it came off the leg of Medlock, kicking 6 or 7 field goals in these wins. the point I'm trying to make, is when it's crunch time, and plays need to be made, Nichols doesn't seem to have what it takes to put together a clutch drive. he couldn't get it done against Calgary or Saskatchewan recently with a few drives to do so. No D is scared of Nichols being able to move the ball on them quickly and efficiently. If we're down 6 with a minute and a half to go (lots of time for a solid QB) and we're at our own 20, I'm pretty sure most fans would have very little faith that we're going to move the ball downfield and put together that winning score!

Thanks for the examples! A bunch eh? I just looked and found none. Aug 4th last season, a last minute FG to win was set up by great field position on a Langford kick return. Beyond that, I went back to 16, and the close games won were based on FGs and field position set up by turnovers and special teams. If you can find a highlight pack where Nichols marches the ball all the way downfield down by 5-6 points on the last drive of the game and throws the winning TD, I'd love to see it! Not asking for a bunch, just 1 is fine!

Other than the fluke against Montreal, I can't think of many clutch comeback performances. You must have a good memory!

many people have been for a year now... my turning point on Nichols was the home game against BC last year in October. at the same time, when you watch how the D closed out this game, it also said a lot about Ritchie Hall's side too. https://www.cfl.ca/games/2438/bc-lions-vs-winnipeg-blue-bombers/?_ga=2.11537908.1796167098.1536902416-642897755.1531064175#videos Not a single highlight of Nichols after the first quarter. 23/30 for 172. 0 TDs, 0 INTs. Classic Nichols game. When O'Shea talks about how he's won lots of games, I think of this one, and many others where Medlock kicked 7 field goals. Game manager Matt would have been okay over the last 4 weeks, but it's still the same stuff he's been doing for a year, and not enough to win us football games against good teams.

and have someone sign Kapernick?? now there would be some massive league exposure down South!