2018 Matt Nichols

[Jaxon]

I still have confidence in both Matt and OSH, and I never boo the home team.   That being said, I'm also a firm believer in getting your backup QB some playing time.    It's very rare in the CFL for a team to not have to use their #2 at some point in the season.   Whether winning big, or losing big, there is a time to put in your #2, and that was in the 4th qtr on Friday night.     I'm confused by the decision to put Matt back in, especially mid-series.    Matt took a couple of big hits after that as well, which is a concern.     The 18 game CFL season is very long, and physically demanding.   You don't need to have your starting QB taking extra punishment.   You also need to get some reps for your #2 when the opportunity arises.

Also, players need to staff off of social media, especially after a loss.   No good will come from it.

 

 

[17to85]

I'd have left Streveler in only to save the wear and tear on Nichols, but he's still the guy for this team. I don't even think he was that bad, lots of penalties took plays off the board for them, he dealt with a lot of dropped passes and he dealt with a team that was taking away the Bombers running attack which screwed up the entire game plan. Just one of those games that happens where the other team executes their planned defense and you can't find the answers for it. 

[Mike]

 I think a lot of Matt Nichols and think he’s a great quarterback who is having a pretty bad stretch right now.

But as far as the booing goes, any time a player on this team tells me or any other fan in the stands that they shouldn’t boo or they should be ashamed of booing, they should quite honestly STFU and realize most of those fans have been around far longer than they have and will be around long after they’re gone. Bomber fans as a collective have witnessed some of the shittiest football imaginable and stuck with their team through all of it, so forgive us if our frustration comes out once in a while because the team is playing like trash. 

Any player who tells any fan that they don’t have the right to voice an opinion is wrong. That includes Nichols, Neufeld, even Andrew Harris who is one of the easiest athletes in Manitoba to respect. Yeah, we get it. You give a lot to the fans and the community. The fans and the community have given a lot to them too and we have the right to be disappointed. Period.

[Colin Unger]

Compared with Mike Reilly no qb in the CFL seems to be up to snuff.  I think Nichols is being affected by the lack of a training camp and having less mobility. Last year he took steps forward after working on his speed very hard in the offseason. Now he's having to work with less mobility than he had to begin with. He's still by far our best bet.  This team can beat any team in the league if the team plays declined focused football. Something they hadn't done vs ottawa.

[Bigblue204]

Well said Mike. I to think Nichols is just in a slump. Likely stemming from his knee injury. It happens, and I expect him to turn it around this season.

I also feel he missed an opportunity. He was obviously emotional after the loss, and I totally understand why. But to say what he did, shouldn't have happened. He's at work. He's getting paid, by me (fans). If I'm not happy with what I'm paying for, I will let that be known. Though I wasn't one that boo'd. I hated the decision to let him back in the game. The DE's where playing very well for OTT AND Hardrick was out. I get the next man up philosophy but you're putting your starting QB (who had already taken a beating) behind a now even weaker Oline for 3 minutes of garbage time??? Anyone who thinks that's a good idea, is either too close to the players or they just don't understand the risk involved with every snap of the ball.

I've not given up hope on this team/season. But Nichols needs to step up and be a leader in the media (he's obviously one in the locker room) 100% of the time. Not just when things are going well.

I'll also say that I think the media is stretching this out a fair bit too.

[trueBlue83]

5 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Well said Mike. I to think Nichols is just in a slump. Likely stemming from his knee injury. It happens, and I expect him to turn it around this season.

I think this goes back to the Bombers staff allowing him to rush himself back in to play.   The original diagnosis was Matt would be out 4 - 6 weeks.  All of a sudden, he's ready to go week 4?  I knew, and I'm sure a lot of other people knew, based on the massive ass brace that was on his knee, that we was probably rushing back.   Was this Matt worried about his starting position?  It shouldn't have been... you don't typically lose your spot due to an injury.    I think the staff rushed him back in, potentially wanting to avoid a QB controversy.   But to think that the Bombers needed Nichols back at the helm to play a weak Lions team is kind of laughable.   They could have stuck with Streveler, probably won both of those games, and brought back Matt against the Argos, which would have been a nice soft couple games to ease him back in.  I think our record would actually be 1 win better had they waited till week 7 to put Nichols back in.

He's unquestionably the leader of this team... but I don't think it's a bad thing that we've got the Streveler option there, and it does not hurt the team as whole to give this guy more time when the offence sputters with Nichols in there.    It's a team game.  Streveler is a part of this team too.  Putting him in for a few plays, when he should have gone in with as much as 8-9 minutes left in the 4th quarter Friday, and been left in to finish, when Nichols wasn't moving the ball.   How is that a bad thing for development??   That's purely 100% on the coaching staff, and even more so for listening to Nichols and letting him go back in to mop up and pad his passing stats in garbage time!

[Doublezero]

24 minutes ago, Colin Unger said:

Compared with Mike Reilly no qb in the CFL seems to be up to snuff.  I think Nichols is being affected by the lack of a training camp and having less mobility. Last year he took steps forward after working on his speed very hard in the offseason. Now he's having to work with less mobility than he had to begin with. He's still by far our best bet.  This team can beat any team in the league if the team plays declined focused football. Something they hadn't done vs ottawa.

In my humble view it's not a question of more or less mobility with Nichols. He's basically a pocket passer. The trouble is that he usually goes down on first contact when the pocket collapses. Seems unable to shake off the first hit and make a play. These days he seems to be playing in slow mo - and when he's forced to get rid of the ball quickly he's not always accurate with his throws. So that compounds things. 

[Stickem]

My belief is that Matt is suffering from 2 things.... Firstly..I don't think he's a 100 percent and therefore his mobility, which wasn't great to begin with, is suffering...He doesn't make that great an effort to get outside and throw... Also he is definitely gun shy when it comes to running up the middle because of his recent injury, even if there's a hole a semi could roll through...Taking that all into consideration I give Nichols the warrior award for hanging in there BUT ...just hanging in there is to the detriment of the team....He's a sitting duck in the backfield and he knows it...His passing game is not quick or crisp enough lately...He seems to also be hesitant and is definitely off on his long throws....

 Secondly ..I know Matt will never admit it but I think he's suffering a bit of anxiety due to his injury and poor play AND he knows quite well that there's a young gun chomping at the bit waiting his turn IF he can't go...That situation might lead to a bit of 'looking over one's shoulder' and mental lapses and anguish...I know Nichols is a professional through and through BUT the thought of losing one's position or job is very disconcerting to any individual....

Lastly IF Matt doesn't improve his game and IF Streveler has to take over, I hope he AND our head coach are professional enough to accept that situation for the betterment of this club

[Fatty Liver]

Bombers will be in full out damage control this week, Darren Cameron has his work cut out for him.  It will be interesting to hear how they respond to the torrent of criticism that has been thrown at them.

[Floyd]

1 hour ago, Colin Unger said:

Compared with Mike Reilly no qb in the CFL seems to be up to snuff.  I think Nichols is being affected by the lack of a training camp and having less mobility. Last year he took steps forward after working on his speed very hard in the offseason. Now he's having to work with less mobility than he had to begin with. He's still by far our best bet.  This team can beat any team in the league if the team plays declined focused football. Something they hadn't done vs ottawa.

Both Nichols and BLM must be nicked...

[BomberBall]

Fans pay money to go to the games and they have the right to voice their displeasure, I get that, but I didn't like the cascade of boos when Nichols came back into the game.  Do I think he should have been allowed to go back in?  Absolutely not.  But to boo a guy, that is playing his guts out and taking a beating, is low class IMO.  Now, unfortunately, there's no way to no who was booing Nichols and who was booing O'Shea, but you got to believe that was a pretty awful feeling for Matt, running back out onto the field.  Personally, I generally choose not to boo the players... I don't see how it has any benefit to what's happening on the field.

Edited August 20, 2018 by BomberBall

[17to85]

I don't even believe Nichols is the problem. All year this team has lived and died by the run game, well the run game wasn't working on Friday and none of the receivers stepped up. Adam's I guess but he's just one guy. Lapo got out coached and that was the ball game.

[AKAChip]

You could argue that when the gameplan from the defence is to stop the run, it would make passing the ball exponentially easier. 

[Floyd]

Just now, 17to85 said:

I don't even believe Nichols is the problem. All year this team has lived and died by the run game, well the run game wasn't working on Friday and none of the receivers stepped up. Adam's I guess but he's just one guy. Lapo got out coached and that was the ball game.

Still unclear why we have essentially 4 RBs on the active roster and have completely gone away from the two RB sets...  I thought they were working well

[Super Duper Negatron]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

 I think a lot of Matt Nichols and think he’s a great quarterback who is having a pretty bad stretch right now.

But as far as the booing goes, any time a player on this team tells me or any other fan in the stands that they shouldn’t boo or they should be ashamed of booing, they should quite honestly STFU and realize most of those fans have been around far longer than they have and will be around long after they’re gone. Bomber fans as a collective have witnessed some of the shittiest football imaginable and stuck with their team through all of it, so forgive us if our frustration comes out once in a while because the team is playing like trash. 

Any player who tells any fan that they don’t have the right to voice an opinion is wrong. That includes Nichols, Neufeld, even Andrew Harris who is one of the easiest athletes in Manitoba to respect. Yeah, we get it. You give a lot to the fans and the community. The fans and the community have given a lot to them too and we have the right to be disappointed. Period.

If we see another string of **** teams win the Grey Cup while we toil away in the middle for another few years, I won't be able to take it.

It's not funny anymore.

[Mike]

20 minutes ago, BomberBall said:

Fans pay money to go to the games and they have the right to voice their displeasure, I get that, but I didn't like the cascade of boos when Nichols came back into the game.  Do I think he should have been allowed to go back in?  Absolutely not.  But to boo a guy, that is playing his guts out and taking a beating, is low class IMO.  Now, unfortunately, there's no way to no who was booing Nichols and who was booing O'Shea, but you got to believe that was a pretty awful feeling for Matt, running back out onto the field.  Personally, I generally choose not to boo the players... I don't see how it has any benefit to what's happening on the field.

I don't doubt it was awful and I'm sure it didn't have any benefit to what's happening out on the field, but neither did Nichols going out there when our backup QB was working the ball down the field and Nichols had been playing terrible the whole game. At that point, it was kind of a "if the head coach doesn't care about this game, why should I?" moment for me.

I generally like O'Shea and think a lot more of him than some folks do, and I'm certainly a Matt Nichols fan as well, but I'm not going to blindly worship them if they're making bad decisions on the sidelines or playing like dog ****.

Winnipeg fans are the best in Canada if you ask me, but that doesn't mean we should be expected to put up with that kind of stuff from the team we cheer for. Matt Nichols has been great for us, but he hasn't been anything beyond average this year and he shouldn't be the unquestioned leader of our offence at this point, if you ask me. He's the starter but he needs to pick up his level of play or fans (not his coaches, because it's pretty clear they're going to throw the blinders on and ride or die with him this year) are going to start calling for Streveler. I won't start pushing the narrative that Streveler has statistically been better than Nichols this year, even though there's an argument to be made for it, but the one thing I did notice on Friday was that as soon as Streveler went in, our offence had a level of confidence that they hadn't had for the entire game until that point. If that continues to happen, Nichols is going to start getting a lot more boos than what he heard on Friday and if he doesn't like it? Too bad. Play better.

[Tracker]

On 2018-08-18 at 10:02 AM, blueingreenland said:

I just read Darren Bauming's tweet (retweeted) about Nichols moving past Jack Jacobs in the all time Bomber passing yardage. You'll never guess who leads the passing efficiency rating stat? 

Interesting.

Maybe, stepping back a bit...we need to cut the guy some slack.

The stats are averaged over his Bomber career, but does not address his performance over the past say, 10 games. That would be telling.

[Tracker]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

I don't doubt it was awful and I'm sure it didn't have any benefit to what's happening out on the field, but neither did Nichols going out there when our backup QB was working the ball down the field and Nichols had been playing terrible the whole game. At that point, it was kind of a "if the head coach doesn't care about this game, why should I?" moment for me.

I generally like O'Shea and think a lot more of him than some folks do, and I'm certainly a Matt Nichols fan as well, but I'm not going to blindly worship them if they're making bad decisions on the sidelines or playing like dog ****.

Winnipeg fans are the best in Canada if you ask me, but that doesn't mean we should be expected to put up with that kind of stuff from the team we cheer for. Matt Nichols has been great for us, but he hasn't been anything beyond average this year and he shouldn't be the unquestioned leader of our offence at this point, if you ask me. He's the starter but he needs to pick up his level of play or fans (not his coaches, because it's pretty clear they're going to throw the blinders on and ride or die with him this year) are going to start calling for Streveler. I won't start pushing the narrative that Streveler has statistically been better than Nichols this year, even though there's an argument to be made for it, but the one thing I did notice on Friday was that as soon as Streveler went in, our offence had a level of confidence that they hadn't had for the entire game until that point. If that continues to happen, Nichols is going to start getting a lot more boos than what he heard on Friday and if he doesn't like it? Too bad. Play better.

Nichols is being paid big bucks to do his best and take what comes with as much grace as possible. Blaming the fans for hurting his feelings when he was not playing well is not going to endear him to the fans.

[Brandon]

He was booed mildly two times.....  the 2nd time was because Streveler was being pulled and no matter who went in the fans would of booed.   I heard way more cheers in the game at Nichols then them booing...  I don't think this is a big deal at all.

[Mr Dee]

Firstly, put any notion of replacing Matt Nichols out of your mic’d up minds. Wrong or right, that’s just not O’Shea. 

Secondly, all this talk about booing Nichols has taken a course that was not the intent of the booing. They were booing the decision to re-insert Nichols and taking out Streveler, effectively destroying what little enjoyment that was left. Just because Matt and the boys misconstrued the booing is a reflection of the course of the game. They played poorly and deserved to called out for it. Perhaps there was little bit of guilt behind the rallying of the troops.

Thirdly, all this hullabaloo over booing might just ignite the fans to really express their feelings over the exasperation they feel for the poor play of the team, and really, who could argue?

[pigseye]

I wouldn't say that the Bombers played poorly. This was just a case of Ottawa handing them their lunch. They lost just about every battle from the line of scrimmage on down. They just got beat by a more talented football club who was out to prove something, and they did it quite handily. 

The Bombers are not a good football team despite what you think. The offence relies on an aging, but still effective, running back and a money kicker, that's really all there is. The defence is as bad as it appears to be, the secondary players can't cover big, physical receivers (although Ottawa was allowed to push off all night uncalled). Until they find guys in the secondary who can match up against receivers like Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary etc. nothing is going to change. 

[Booch]

Relying on the best running back in the game.. regardless of age is a silly argument....we do rely on going to the well once too often...mote like constantly and now teams scheme to limit the success....and that's where Lapo has to pull his head out of his arse and adjust and actually use that scheme of his to set up different wrinkles.

We also have to like I said in another post layer our routes better and bring everything away from inside the hash marks...within 10-12 yards of the LOS....It's to congested and relying on missed tackles..breaking tackles or wasting receiving options soley for blocking is killing any mediulm to medium deep gains we should be getting.

Lokk at Calgary..Edm..even Ottawa..they layer it out and pull defenders apart so receivers get the ball with one guy on them...and if they hit the play right the receiver has major room to scamper and gain big yards...when is the last time you saw that with our offence?...yeah thats right...pretty much never....and thats why inserting Flanders at this point doesn't help the issue...it would compound it.

We need a big stud like we have on the PR (washington) to come in and be that guy for us...and if he bombs...cut bait and get someone who can....and saying earlier this month that we had no interest in bringing back Mathews (not sure if he looking at that yet) a proven guy who could really help us deserves a kick to the nads of management as well....they need to lose the mindset that once season starts and whoever makes the cut and PR is who we run with all year....scrap that idea...a roster should always be evolving and that has hindered us the last few years...impact guys come available and we declare we are happy with our roster and see no need to bring in most likely better players....just plain dumb and wherever that mindset is originating...well Miller better find it and knock it out of them

[trueBlue83]

I chose to leave my seat 

35 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Nichols is being paid big bucks to do his best and take what comes with as much grace as possible. Blaming the fans for hurting his feelings when he was not playing well is not going to endear him to the fans.

"I give my all and play my heart out"  or whatever he said... that's fine.  Our publicly owned football team pays you over $400K a year, and what I see out there doesn't warrant half that pay at this point.

 

18 minutes ago, pigseye said:

The offence relies on an aging, but still effective, running back and a money kicker, that's really all there is. 

but when the offence can't even move the ball into FG range, we don't even give Medlock the chance.  last year, he had 5, 6, 7 FG performances because at least Nichols got the offence that far.   Way too many 2 and outs this season, and that's what I see.   Also, last year (at least for the first half) he was very efficient, went through his reads and found an open guy, or dumped off to Harris and let him make a play.   I paid a lot of attention to Nichols head when he was in the pocket, and it really seemed as though he just locked in to one side of the field Friday.  Didn't really see him go through the reads to all receivers, and the Oline was giving him time to do so.

[pigseye]

25 minutes ago, Booch said:

Relying on the best running back in the game.. regardless of age is a silly argument....we do rely on going to the well once too often...mote like constantly and now teams scheme to limit the success....and that's where Lapo has to pull his head out of his arse and adjust and actually use that scheme of his to set up different wrinkles.

We also have to like I said in another post layer our routes better and bring everything away from inside the hash marks...within 10-12 yards of the LOS....It's to congested and relying on missed tackles..breaking tackles or wasting receiving options soley for blocking is killing any mediulm to medium deep gains we should be getting.

Lokk at Calgary..Edm..even Ottawa..they layer it out and pull defenders apart so receivers get the ball with one guy on them...and if they hit the play right the receiver has major room to scamper and gain big yards...when is the last time you saw that with our offence?...yeah thats right...pretty much never....and thats why inserting Flanders at this point doesn't help the issue...it would compound it.

We need a big stud like we have on the PR (washington) to come in and be that guy for us...and if he bombs...cut bait and get someone who can....and saying earlier this month that we had no interest in bringing back Mathews (not sure if he looking at that yet) a proven guy who could really help us deserves a kick to the nads of management as well....they need to lose the mindset that once season starts and whoever makes the cut and PR is who we run with all year....scrap that idea...a roster should always be evolving and that has hindered us the last few years...impact guys come available and we declare we are happy with our roster and see no need to bring in most likely better players....just plain dumb and wherever that mindset is originating...well Miller better find it and knock it out of them

The evidence is right there for everyone to see, first in the run next to last in the pass, even TO has more passing yards than the Bombers. It's no illusion, you can blame Lapo but he's been around long enough to know what is and isn't going to work. You can't have a great passing attack if you don't have the horses to run it. 

[BomberBall]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

I don't doubt it was awful and I'm sure it didn't have any benefit to what's happening out on the field, but neither did Nichols going out there when our backup QB was working the ball down the field and Nichols had been playing terrible the whole game. At that point, it was kind of a "if the head coach doesn't care about this game, why should I?" moment for me.

I generally like O'Shea and think a lot more of him than some folks do, and I'm certainly a Matt Nichols fan as well, but I'm not going to blindly worship them if they're making bad decisions on the sidelines or playing like dog ****.

Winnipeg fans are the best in Canada if you ask me, but that doesn't mean we should be expected to put up with that kind of stuff from the team we cheer for. Matt Nichols has been great for us, but he hasn't been anything beyond average this year and he shouldn't be the unquestioned leader of our offence at this point, if you ask me. He's the starter but he needs to pick up his level of play or fans (not his coaches, because it's pretty clear they're going to throw the blinders on and ride or die with him this year) are going to start calling for Streveler. I won't start pushing the narrative that Streveler has statistically been better than Nichols this year, even though there's an argument to be made for it, but the one thing I did notice on Friday was that as soon as Streveler went in, our offence had a level of confidence that they hadn't had for the entire game until that point. If that continues to happen, Nichols is going to start getting a lot more boos than what he heard on Friday and if he doesn't like it? Too bad. Play better.

I don't disagree with anything you've said here.  I just think the timing of the boos was kind of weak.  I wanted Steveler in the game much earlier, it was pretty clear the offense needed a spark, but that's not what happened.  I understand the frustration and why people cheered when Streveler came in, and booed when Nichols came back, but I don't think he deserved it at that particular time.