trueBlue83

the ones that stand out in my mind are the ones where he's had Adams wide open with space, for sure TDs if he gets the ball there... and then Adams had to stop and wait for it because it was under thrown. Hope he has a good game today, but I'm not going to hold my breath. If it's a shaky start, the fans are going to be on him. The only ones wanting Nichols to stay in are going to be in Green & White.

I should have mentioned, I was down in the states last weekend and didn't get to watch the LDC. Even still, 3 passes, and none in crunch time when it's been needed most (last 3 games) only supports my argument further. I did look up stats from the LDC too.... in the 4th quarter, the offence had the ball less than 5 minutes, went 2 and out, had a first down on a Harris run, and then went 2 and out. And then another 2 and out, and a game sealing INT that made zero sense making the throw he did. If he doesn't routinely move the sticks tomorrow, they need to get Streveler in there in the 2nd half. Tomorrow will not be a forgiving crowd for a underperforming QB.

Other than the deep ball to Darvin Adams in the Ottawa game 3 weeks ago (and go back and look at the highlights, the DB tripped), please, I beg you, tell us what great throws Nichols has made the last while!

He was also their 3rd choice. They tried to get Collaros but he went to Hamilton, which cause the release of Burris. They tried to get Burris, but he chose Ottawa. With Nichols, he really got paid based on half a season of production. He came to Winnipeg with an 8-12 record. It can be argued that Nichols got paid as well because we had no other option. I could be totally wrong here, but did the Bombers not try and get Harris before he signed in Ottawa before the 2017 season? Now we've got a guy who's showing a ton of promise, and he's going to stay buried behind a declining Nichols. Streveler could very easily ask for his release at the end of the season if he wants to bet on himself!

I've been paying very close attention to his play, because I've been critical of him since mid-last season.... 2 "good" throws a game don't make a good quarterback. He's hit some throws on busted coverages... any QB will do that if they're in the game long enough. He's won games, sure... but it's not like he was carrying the team on his back. He was adequate in his first game back, and been poor ever since.

BUT..... we're all here because we cheer for the team that gave Drew Willy starters money..... so..... haha

again, if we're referencing last year.... irrelevant right now.

easy to prop up your completion percentage when 109 of those passes are to Harris and likely under 5 yards.

he doesn't even seem to have enough zip on the ball to get the intermediate routes into tight spots.... that's a big part of the problem with his game right now.

that's a very easy question.... he gets cut. Unless they do want to pull one out of Mike Kelly's old bag of tricks and ask to re-negotiate the contract (of course, he did that mid-season). Nichols would have to play lights out the rest of the season for the brass to want to keep him next season at that value. Of course, nothing seems to be surprising me these days. If you only listened to O'Shea's assessment of his play and didn't actually watch the games, you'd be wondering when his contract extension is coming a la Blake Wheeler! Lock him up till he's 37! He's THAT good!!

Non issue. Handled internally. Next question.

a dime eh!? they're busting out some "explosion" plays tomorrow?

ok... I'm gonna roll with Throw Short Nicholtyne

sounds like someone else lately who says they work really hard, and are at the stadium for 5am every morning! Interesting stat from the Bomber website: 46%: The Bombers second down conversion rate over the last three games has dipped to 46 percent, after being at 53 percent through the first eight games of the year. In their last three games and 70 second-down situations, only eight have been for second-and-three or less. That means a whopping 90 percent of their second-down situations have been second-and-four or more. Further proving that Nichols more often than not, defaults to the 2 yard dump pass.... so when O'Shea says "he's putting the ball where he needs to" what exactly is he watching??

I'm going to call in next week and ask him how Sam Hurl graded last season! He never saw an issue with him either!

but maybe the system would change and be more effective with a different distributor of the ball.... I truly believe it's been dumbed down to suit Nichols' limited capabilities. A stronger arm behind centre would open up the playbook.

Hardrick & Flanders draw in tomorrow.... I like it! This is however a sign that there is going to be more short passes in hopes of YACs piling up! Clearly a move to get Nichols more comfortable. Hopefully it works out and they can sustain some drives... but I can't see how this changes the Riders game plan at all. Take away the short stuff and let them try and beat you deep.

he was actually referencing a caller from the CJOB show on Tuesday night who called him an 'Eternal Optimist'... I wondered if it was the same person on this board with that name calling in! haha

I suspect Dressler will play, only because it's against the Riders, and he's got 2 weeks to recover with the bye week coming... if he missed the game against the Als, it also wouldn't be the end of the world... but we need a big W tomorrow, and he can certainly make us better being out there!

its on the Bomber app, press conference from Wednesday..... where he says Nichols is making the right throws and has been accurate and is grading very well. That's where I have serious problems with his assessment of good QB play. To say he doesn't see a drop off in his play from last year is just unfathomable.

is this in an audio or video clip somewhere!? I need to hear this! I hope he's filling in "employed until 2018" on his resume if he actually said that!

part of the Matt Nichols hurt feelings club?? it's sports. gotta deal with the good and the bad.

kind of like how Nichols wins in the last calendar year have mostly been against bad BC & TOR teams. Football is very much a 'what have you done for me lately' business. O'Shea seems to just sheepishly look at the win column and say 'he's won us a lot of football games'. I looked at the stats this morning dating back to this time last year.... you can very much argue that the W's they've put up have been in spite of Nichols performances, not because of.

Its been like winding up a catapult lately... I think he's tentative not wanting to hurt his knee further.