Matt Nichols Discredited Too Much? Passing Yards Are Meaningless

[USABomberfan]

4 hours ago, wbbfan said:

The play call was brilliant in the first half. Streveler went in and it was crap. If we had lost Itd be on plop. 

But that's the point, I and a few others have been pretty consistent on criticizing Lapolice just as we did in the aftermath of last year's West Final.  He pulled out the same play not to lose or wait for defense to cause turnover playbook that he's been infamous for again last night.

 

It just seems that the Nichols detractors ignore this whenever he's struggling, but I'd be willing to bet they agree with it the moment anyone not named Nichols comes in.  In other words, a cherry picked double standard.

And yes as a poster a few posts back said, last night was proof in the pudding of why both Nichols talents and experience give us the best chance to win.  That's what the detractors don't seem to get.

[blueandgoldguy]

Nichols played a great game last night, easily his best of the season.  He was well on his way to another score last night when he had to leave the game with an injury.  More of this Nichols for the rest of the season please.

[NorthernSkunk]

3 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Strev. had a Q and a half to show his stuff, he was unable to sustain a drive, was not able to move them into scoring territory,  locked onto his first read and threw several passes that jeopardized the health of the receiver.   When he replaced Nichols the RB's D tightened the box and started to beat upon him and Harris every time they ran the ball.  Harris ran for 9/50 under Nichols and 9/30 under Strev. which indicates  mighty tough slogging.

You can blame LaPo and his game plan all you want but if they have to rely on Strev. as a replacement, scored points are going to be tough to come by unless he starts from inside the redzone.

 

 

 

 

All that tells me is that Harris owes Big Chris 20 yards.....😜

[trueBlue83]

Nichols played his best game in well over 2 years and was on his way to a big game stats wise.... what I'd like to see is consistency though!   He's shown that he can do this over the years, but never consistently.  If he's under centre on Friday against Toronto, I can see him having similar success.   Hopefully the injury is nothing serious and he can build on this!

Streveler did kinda have happy feet, but we're still talking about a guy with less than 5 starts in his pro career and who hasn't been in a consistent basis.  Can't just look at this game and say 'see, he's not the saviour!'.  He needs more development time for sure!

[NorthernSkunk]

I hope the injuries don't start adding up for Nichols.... is he still wearing a knee brace ?..... and now taking shots to the head... things don't go well for a QB if they can't take the pounding.

 

[USABomberfan]

1 hour ago, NorthernSkunk said:

I hope the injuries don't start adding up for Nichols.... is he still wearing a knee brace ?..... and now taking shots to the head... things don't go well for a QB if they can't take the pounding.

 

Nichols has had the knee issue for years now since suffering it in 2012 or 2013, whenever that was in Edmonton.  Concussion is something you gotta watch out for, but that's what ... Maybe the first he's had or at least in a while?

 

I guess it's just in this league and as a Bomber fan, injured starting QBs are always something we're going to see.  But Nichols compared to his recent predecessors has missed much less time on the field than they have, and I don't think his durability is that big an issue.

Strev should also be more aware of getting down because he took a vicious side rocker there in Ottawa that had me nervous.  You can't take too many of those in this league without them adding up.

[Guest J5V]

8 minutes ago, USABomberfan said:

Nichols has had the knee issue for years now since suffering it in 2012 or 2013, whenever that was in Edmonton.

I thought it was a broken ankle suffered in a game against the Argos.

[USABomberfan]

28 minutes ago, J5V said:

I thought it was a broken ankle suffered in a game against the Argos.

Maybe it was ... Couldn't remember, but I was thinking he had had a knee injury back then as well.  Maybe not.

Still, he has missed significantly less time it seems like than Buck Pierce and Drew Willy.

[Jpan85]

Broke his leg in 2012 playoffs then torn acl in first game of 2013 preseason

[White Out]

Nichols is our guy, and the Ottawa game should put that on full display. I'll go so far as to say that I don't think Streveler will ever be a legitimate #1... he just misses way too many reads. But he's a great #2 for us and a great change of pace guy. I hope he proves me wrong, QB depth and strength is invaluable. I think Streveler needs to be playing every game, taking at least 5 snaps a game minimum to keep him sharp, keep Nichols healthy, and keep the other team off their balance.

[AKAChip]

Once again, one good/great game erases numerous poor performances apparently. 

[White Out]

4 minutes ago, AKAChip said:

Once again, one good/great game erases numerous poor performances apparently. 

I know you've made up your mind, but, what's the other option?

Let me just for a moment cede to you the argument that Nichols is a bad QB. I disagree, but, let's go along with that. Let's say he's mediocre, a game manager who just can't win the big game. A lousy but not terrible QB. Poor.

Who is better that we can plug in? Sure as hell isn't Streveler. Are you suggesting we make a play for Arbuckle? Harker? There just isn't a viable option to replace Nichols... so all this jawing about him is incredibly counter productive and toxic.

[AKAChip]

Just now, White Out said:

I know you've made up your mind, but, what's the other option?

Let me just for a moment cede to you the argument that Nichols is a bad QB. I disagree, but, let's go along with that. Let's say he's mediocre, a game manager who just can't win the big game. A lousy but not terrible QB. Poor.

Who is better that we can plug in? Sure as hell isn't Streveler. Are you suggesting we make a play for Arbuckle? Harker? There just isn't a viable option to replace Nichols... so all this jawing about him is incredibly counter productive and toxic.

The point for me is, we’ve seen this movie a million times with Nichols. He’s bad for a stretch, has a good or even great game and everyone says “he’s back to 2017!” and things largely go back to the way they were before. Bad performance are always an anomaly with him, even when they outweigh the positive ones. 

I don’t dispute that this team can win with Nichols. If any roster in the league can overcome poor QB play, it’s this one. It’s just hard to be overly optimistic when outside of the occasional great game, Nichols seems to be getting worse and not better. Is Streveler the answer? I can’t say that. I like him but I’m far from convinced he’s the long term option. I’d absolutely give him the start against Toronto with Nichols coming off concussion protocol because we could probably start you or I at QB and beat this Argos team. I also think it’s important to see what Streveler provides at this point with an offence that is actually tailored to him because ultimately, a long term and important QB decision has to be made for this team this offseason. 

I realize there is no option beyond Nichols or Streveler this season and if Nichols proves me wrong and plays like he did against Ottawa more than he plays like he did against Edmonton, I’ll  be thrilled. I’d rather be wrong about Nichols and the team is amazing than right about him and the team struggles. 

[White Out]

Just now, AKAChip said:

... Nichols seems to be getting worse and not better. ...

Wow. I can't disagree with this enough.

[AKAChip]

Just now, White Out said:

Wow. I can't disagree with this enough.

Ok. What’s your counter argument? He was abysmal last season and has one great performance, one average performance and one terrible performance this season. 

[White Out]

8 minutes ago, AKAChip said:

Ok. What’s your counter argument? He was abysmal last season and has one great performance, one average performance and one terrible performance this season. 

He struggled last year with a nagging leg injury. He has been great this year and has been a victim of terrible playcalling and tactics in the 2nd half. 

He's also, u know, 3-0? 1 interception and i think 6 TDs?

[AKAChip]

2 minutes ago, White Out said:

He struggled last year with a nagging leg injury. He has been great this year and has been a victim of terrible playcalling and tactics in the 2nd half. 

He's also, u know, 3-0? 1 interception and i think 6 TDs?

You could say the same about Streveler regarding being the victim of terrible playcalling.  Again, he was terrible against Edmonton and I’m not sure how you could argue otherwise. If he plays the way he did against Edmonton the TD:INT will level out. His game against BC was fine and I suppose even if he plays like that more than the way he played against Ottawa this team will still be fine I don’t think he deserves the benefit of the doubt until he shows it for more than two games. 

[Arnold_Palmer]

5 minutes ago, White Out said:

He struggled last year with a nagging leg injury. He has been great this year and has been a victim of terrible playcalling and tactics in the 2nd half. 

He's also, u know, 3-0? 1 interception and i think 6 TDs?

7 TD’s if you want to be exact 😉

[White Out]

2 minutes ago, AKAChip said:

You could say the same about Streveler regarding being the victim of terrible playcalling.  Again, he was terrible against Edmonton and I’m not sure how you could argue otherwise. If he plays the way he did against Edmonton the TD:INT will level out. His game against BC was fine and I suppose even if he plays like that more than the way he played against Ottawa this team will still be fine I don’t think he deserves the benefit of the doubt until he shows it for more than two games. 

 

My concern with Streveler is he seems totally unable to read coverage and do proper check downs. He's athletic AF and has a strong arm, but has the QB decision making of  Drew Willy

[AKAChip]

Just now, White Out said:

 

My concern with Streveler is he seems totally unable to read coverage and do proper check downs. He's athletic AF and has a strong arm, but has the QB decision making of  Drew Willy

I have concerns with Streveler as well, don’t get me wrong but reading a defence is hardly Nichols strength either. If it were up to me, we’d go hard after Arbuckle in the off-season if Streveler looks mediocre in reasonable reps this season. Our record should be good enough that we can afford to give him a few starts. Again, really no downside to giving Nichols the Toronto game off. 

[kelownabomberfan]

1 hour ago, J5V said:

I thought it was a broken ankle suffered in a game against the Argos.

you be the judge...

[SpeedFlex27]

You can't even enjoy a win without complaining.  You & Burgess should start your own private website for just the both of you where you can feed your complaining off each other.

[AKAChip]

Just now, SpeedFlex27 said:

You can't even enjoy a win without complaining.  You & Burgess should start your own private website for just the both of you where you can feed your complaining off each other.

I’m not complaining, friend. I literally credited Nichols largely for the win on Friday. Reading comprehension is a valuable skill to learn. 

[JuranBoldenRules]

6 minutes ago, White Out said:

 

My concern with Streveler is he seems totally unable to read coverage and do proper check downs. He's athletic AF and has a strong arm, but has the QB decision making of  Drew Willy

My concern with Streveler is that he's only checking the ball down and that's Lapolice's lack of trust.  This is a problem for all of our QB's right now, including Nichols.  At times there's a lot of movement in the backfield, misdirection, creative deceptive run plays, play action, rollouts.  This is when our offense hums.  This is when playing QB for the Bombers is very easy.  Then we go to 5-6 possessions of Harris dives, bellies and stretch/search runs (which Harris is awful at, never has been good at, the east-west find a hole runs) and straight dropbacks with very little misdirection or PA.  This is when we can't get a first down.  This is when our QB's struggle.

The way Lapolice preps for each week we won't see a playbook for Streveler unless he is starting.  Lapolice installs the plays for the starter and what he anticipates calling in the game, so Streveler's short-yardage package is in there too.  So if Streveler comes in he's running a ton of dropbacks, very little option stuff aside from the straight run option plays available for the set Lapo has for him with Nichols playing (we saw him run the same pitch option QB power play 3 times after Nichols went out).  Lapolice is a Plan A game prep kind of OC/play caller.  Personally I think this is a huge problem because as we see week after week, there's a high probability that you will need more than 1 QB to finish any game.

[SpeedFlex27]

Just now, AKAChip said:

I’m not complaining, friend. I literally credited Nichols largely for the win on Friday. Reading comprehension is a valuable skill to learn.