66 Chevelle

made a post in error... sorry all...

Make no mistake, Nichols hasn't gotten any better or any worse skill wise game to game... however, his performance/success is effected by play calling... and it works both ways... so, in essence Nichols and Lapo are each other's 'ride or die'... the difference is, Nichols can only be as good as the game plan Lapo gives him... Lapo tries to manage Nichols thru play calling instead of managing the game in front of him... Lapo gets spooked of Nichols abilities and or his weaknesses, because lets be honest here, everyone knows that Nichols' 'pros'; he generally makes good decisions with the ball and has good short range accuracy, 'cons'; decent arm strength, at least good enough to make all of the throws, inconsistent with the deep throws, and not very mobile. This is no secret and everyone has been saying it all the way back to his 2010 NFL draft profile... this assessment is my own personal opinion but I think it tends to prove itself out... Nichols tends to be a momentum type QB, meaning, if he gets off to a hot start he tends to stay hot, conversely, if he starts out cold/bad it tends to follow him thru the game as well... I think it's pretty obvious that it gets to his head, when hot; quick. decisive, and good throw... when not; gets happy feet, bails on the pocket, makes quick, check down throws... this next one is one that Nichols freely admits, at least this first part... he's so worried about throwing a pic and turning over the ball... it's really gets to him... to me, it's one of the reasons why we either see him not make a throw, check down all of the time, or throw it 20 yards out of bounds... Now Lapo knows all of these issues, abilities, lack there of, etc. and comes up with these game plans that we've labeled the 'dink and dunk' because it hits high marks on a lot of traditional stats, like, completion % and low interception numbers... this type of game plan plays into Nichols' strengths, but what it doesn't do is take into consideration the other play makers strength or yield a lot of production... So sure, Nichols can go 22/28, 200 yds, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs... and everyone is screaming 'look how good he is!' but that offense is full of screens, check downs, all of the receivers trying to run routes 'in the box', and running routes that basically have the receivers finding a spot to sit down in the defense to present a target or the slant or out... yeah, we do have 'success' in this offense, because the defense has no issue allowing these type of plays, ones that are in front of them and under the chains... they'll give you that all night long because it generates a lot of 2 and outs, or 3 and outs, few yards allowed, and a bunch of punts... but in doing so, where basically throwing away receiver attributes that you can't coach; height and speed... in a league where most DBs or 6' or less, we're not exploiting Matthew's 6'5" advantage over a much shorter DB, or, Whitehead's 4.3 speed against DB that are trying to guess which direction he may go and keep up with him... or Darvin's combination of both... or physical build of players like Demski and Woli... every receiver gets dumbed down to Nichols' strengths... Lapo gets so worked up over this 'ball control' thing and his fear of Nichols accuracy or possible INTs he thinks he's doing everyone a favor with this game plan and can't seem to see that the more aggressive and dynamic game plan that has receivers playing to their strengths instead of Nichols' weaknesses is a lot more productive overall. Sure maybe Nichols' completion percentage goes down some and he probably throws a few more INTS, but when having receivers running routes at varied depths, using receivers to move defenders we create more space, especially for YAC, larger throwing windows, favorable match up that maximizes receivers opportunities, more even ball distribution among play makers, and lessens Nichols weaknesses. when you have success in this manner it only opens up the running game that much more and is even more successful than the dink and dunk... in the end you can have results like 300+ yards passing, 80+ yards of rushing. same or more TDs, many a lower percentage rate of completions and a few more INTs... in the end he may not string together 19 in a row, but, we'll have a more balanced attack and include more play makers and don't get bogged down into these 2 and outs with a ton of check downs... Nichols won't be a better passer, but, the better game plan doesn't exploit his weaknesses either, so he appears to be better than he actually is... we become a whole lots less predictable and a lot harder to actually stop... you can still win the TOP battle at least break even on turn overs but be able to move the ball when you need to and win more games...

well then, I was damn near doing cart wheels in your front yard! lol...

I was disappointed to see that they didn't offer a plain Winnipeg flag for those of us out of the area... I know they sell them in the store but I live over 1,000 miles away... was planning on picking one up this year at the Banjo Bowl, but, doesn't look I'm going to be able to make the trip this year... my passport burned up in a wicked truck fire over the 4th of July, lol...

NICE! good job and especially like the double flag thing...

don't blame him, life on the PR sucks for a player, especially if the writing is on the wall that you are more than likely going to be staying there...

naw... I failed on the cart wheel attempt but landed just clear of your landing... it was all good...

we barely beat BC the first time around... it was a close game and real tight still midway thru the 3rd quarter...

that's me in the front, trying to do a cart wheel...

oh but it is... I talked about it in one of the other threads, but... we've reverted back to the dink and dunk, playing under the chains, Harris becoming the primary targeted receivers, and a crap load of check down passes... gone are the intermediate and deeper routes and passes, or, even involving more play makers in the game plan... and the out put shows... these are the total yards of offense by game/amt: 3/441 yds, 4/406 yds, 5/446 yds, followed by 6/324 yds, 7/344 yds, 8/297 yds...

that's because if Harris had it his way he would carry the ball on every down... not a knock on him, just an acknowledgement of the type of gamer he is...

in large part I agree with you... if you go back to the Hamilton game where Nichols had the 3 INTs you will see the offensive scheme start to shift back to the dink and dunk... lots of check downs... screens... playing under the chains on 2nd down once again... Harris being the most targeted... and the team sputtering along... if you go to the Game Tracker and look at the play by play you can actually see the shift... Lapo doesn't trust Nichols... or he's afraid to open things up because of the fear of turn overs due to Nichols accuracy issues on throw beyond 10 yards... sounds harsh but it's true... however, Nichols did prove that with the larger throwing windows that were created by the varied and layered depth routes, he could make throws good enough to be successful...

because prior to the last 3 games, 2 of which we lost, Harris wasn't the primary targeted receiver... the ball was distributed more equally among the receivers... Harris still got some touches but not like the last 3 games... during the 3 games that Lapo was actually opening things up, games 3, 4, and 5, the offense was averaging 430 total yards of offense... the last three games where we were heavy run and Harris the most targeted receiver in the legendary 'dink and dunk' the offense averaged 305 total yards of offense... sure, Harris was putting up killer combined numbers for himself, but, as a team we were less productive and losing games...

25 total TDs was prior to last weeks game... You can now make it 27 total TDs, 23 O, 1D, 3 kick...

ahhhh, I get it... see I do just the opposite though, I don't count those stupidly bad balls he throw against him, like that one in game 1 where he underthrew Adams so bad in or at the goal line that it should have been an interception if not for Adams making a great over the back play to knock it out of the defender's hands... see, exactly the same but different...

I use to be a huge baseball fan, that is until the strike year, what was that??? 1994 I believe??? that really turned me off to the game then... never been a basketball fan, unless you include NCAA, then I'll admit to multiple sporting loves... volleyball, softball, basketball (men and women), football... I create a lot of my own stats such as; successful plays, plays that gain 7 or more yards on 1st down or result in a 1st down on a 2nd or 3rd down play... things like that... as well as converting all season long type of stats into actual per game stats in order to evaluate players fairly, or at least on the same plane...

ahhhhh, I see... I had to google 'sabermetrics' as well... obviously not a baseball fan, lol...

you know they are, why else would it be brought up? lol...

you know of these nuances of which he speaks? then please, do tell, my friend... and I have no clue what 'WAR' stands for, lol... almost out of popcorn...

from our friends at Wikipedia: Bomber QBs

never read a Ed Tait article... it's all propaganda by the team and used to get the message they want out without having to be questioned or explain things they would rather avoid...

oh I want to hear you elaborate on this nuance of which you speak... I'm going to run and grab me a bucket of popcorn for this one... can. not. wait. BRB...

I was taught that the truth would never hurt you... might make some uncomfortable, but it's the truth... lol...

only 1 completion for balls that actually traveled further than 20 yards thru the air from the line of scrimmage... it went 21 yards to Lawler in the 3 quarter... he proceeded to get 8 additional yards after the catch making for the longest completion of the evening at 29 yards...

how about this one, in the last game against Calgary, 12 of 18 completions, 66.6% of our completions, traveled on average 1 foot, that's 12" for those keeping score at home, through the air... the average air travel for all passes completed was 4.6 yards...