AKAChip

The other aspect of this is, we’re collectively so quick to turn on QBs in this city and we finally have an extremely young QB that has shown he can bare minimum move the ball as well as the incumbent playing a far more difficult schedule so he probably deserves some rope. He absolutely needs to be graded on a different scale than Nichols anyway, who has been in the league forever and isn’t getting any better.

The exact same thing could be said about Nichols. And now he has a major injury to his throwing arm.

Not really. Two starts in extremely unfavourable conditions and he moved the ball better in the second half of last game than Nichols has all year, believe it or not. He will never look like a prototypical passer but he doesn’t need to.

Writers have been using literally when they mean figuratively since figuratively forever. Only recently have people decided that it's so frowned upon as a device,

Given the circumstances surrounding that game, it's hard to believe that so many people are tying themselves up in knots over losing on a last second field goal. The team is 8-3 and literally never wins the LDC even when everything is going right for the team. The Banjo Bowl is also far from a must win. Once again, this team will coast into the playoffs and this is the point of the season where surviving injuries and working out kinks are most important. That is not to say, however, that there aren't concerns coming out of that game. It's just concerns that we already knew existed. For one, even if it's beating a dead horse, there should be genuine concern at this point that Bighill is either done or pretty close to it. I recognize that injury recovery could be playing a role in his diminished play but he was playing poorly early in the season prior to his injury, is 31 and always relied on his superior athleticism to get by, rather than great angles. The talent on the rest of this defense is elite. He's the weak link. We also already knew that Lapolice was a disaster and it's frustrating to know that it would be perceived as the true major problem that it is earlier in the season had the defense and special teams not scored an extremely unsustainable number of points during the first 10 weeks of the season. We can probably still count on good field position from both of those units for the rest of the season but to expect and need a score from at least one of those units to win isn't a fair expectation. The gameplan from Lapolice was again an embarrassment. Admittedly, he actually changed things up and we actually moved the ball reasonably well in the second half which was something that was demonstrably not happening with Nichols. Even if most of us want to see Streveler get more chances to throw the ball downfield, it seemed like the gameplan going in was keep him in the pocket at all costs and that just wasn't going to be a success. It seemed like Streveler succeeded far more when the play broke down and he had to improvise. The utilization of talent on this offence continues to confound and this, along with the puzzling gameplans won't stop being an issue while Lapo is the co-ordinator. The lowkey worst thing to happen to this team this season was not allowing Lapo to interview for the HC position in Saskatchewan. Again, Streveler is far from perfect but we can clearly move the ball and win with him. There was a lot to like about his game today. His first two starts of the season could not have been in more unfavorable situations and there's clearly something to work with there. Whether he ends up being the long-term answer for this team at quarterback remains to be seen but to me the absolute worst case scenario for the long term health of this franchise is having him struggle to the point where coaching and management assumes we can't let Nichols go in the offseason and we're then stuck in QB purgatory for the indefinite future.

Lapo is so much more of a burden than Hall is it’s not even funny.

The defence or special teams didn’t score today and that’s been the difference in a number of our wins this season. It’s amazing the high standards people hold the D to when they are essentially the only reason this team has 8 wins.

I think everyone needs to relax.

His blocking is an embarrassment and his one or two good plays ever six weeks is becoming hardly worth it. Our receivers on the whole are fairy underwhelming but he’s the worst of the bunch.

I actually thought Streveler was pretty good, all things considered. They moved the ball fairly well when Lapo started calling intermediate crossers and calling designed QB runs. It was the vile runs up the gut for 2 yards on every first down that killed the team’s momentum.

Been saying a long time that Wolitarsky is better suited for the slot rather than wasted getting two targets a game way out wide. The use of the talent in this offence has always been weird.

Not a big Michel guy. He’s fine but he’s pretty clearly not much more than a deep threat. He doesn’t improve this offence much. Zylstra is the guy that really transforms this offence. Put him in Whitehead’s spot and bring Lucky in for the odd gadget play.

He wasn’t that great in Calgary either. I mean, he was fine but hardly set the league on fire. And that was with a far superior QB and passing attack.

We also can’t deny that Winnipeg is where receivers go to die. Bowman was his own fault but Gurley and Matthews were major busts and only Adams has ever put up good numbers in this offence.

Doug isn’t wrong but Matthews was just a guy getting paid to be more than that.

He was also very clearly not a fit with what we were trying to do.

Not remotely a surprise. He’s been bad.

Santiago is the better back than Augustine so play him.

That’s a real bad look.

We will probably see Mike Reilly die on the field at some point this season.

Gotta feel for Garry Peters, being born the ugliest person on earth and all.

There is no easy fix for this Lions team. Hard to imagine Reilly lasting one year there, let alone four.

Hamilton sure can find receivers. Acklin would likely be our best receiver outside of Adams.

It wasn’t a masterpiece from either Streveler or Lapo but without three pretty inexcusable drops, the passing numbers would look much better. Plus it was a game against likely the best defence in the league and he held his own. He’s still extremely young and will never be a completely conventional QB but there is a ton to work with here. It really never felt like the game was in doubt and Streveler actually moved the ball in the fourth quarter when we needed first downs which was a refreshing change. I think ultimately what it comes down to for me is that there will be times where Streveler struggles to make plays with his arm this season but even in those situations, he can still move the ball very effectively with his legs. Nichols also frequently struggles with both his throws and his confidence and when he’s in those ruts, we know nothing good is going to come of it. I’d still like to see a few more games of it with some more conventional passing mixed in but it’s hard to imagine we’re in a worse position with Streveler, even with his faults, than we are with Nichols.

After Hunter took that extremely selfish and ridiculous penalty for shoving the ref, Don Unamba was both livid and deflated at the same time.