M.Silverback

But he was so forthright telling us the injury was "upper body". So he's narrowed it down to anything from strained abdominal to fractured skull.

Where is Neufeld? I've heard nothing of him. Last known photo. O'Shea says he's almost ready to go!

O'Shea later today - "He looks good. We'll see how he is Thursday. He's tough. He's a veteran. He doesn't need to practice"

Can we vote for neither? If we get down to the point that you have to play Willy or Bridge for an extended period, the season is over. Seriously, what's the panic for essentially our fourth string QB? We've lost our number one. Our number two appears capable, we hope. If he's goes down, it's over. No Glenn, Willy, Bridge, Burris ... is going to save the season. If that happens (fingers crossed it doesn't), you ride with Sean (You complete ... passes) McGuire and we start talking CFL draft and debating whether we ride with Nichols again in 2020.

True. I think either way management was going to be at a Nichols crossroads this January when they can walk away from his contract. Unless he would have won a Grey Cup for us. The decision to extend him or not may unfortunately be easier now. And Streveler too. If he doesn’t seize the moment we’re back to a QB search

Exactly. It’s not that Streveler is “better” than Nichols. It’s that a DC planning against Nichols knows what to expect, and the basic ceiling for his play. Planning against Streveler is a challenge because he’s an unknown and has facets in his game Nichols doesn’t. On the flip side, he lacks experience, so some defences are going to baffle him. This is what we wanted people. Let’s enjoy

And on Monday, Nichols could like like below and O'Shea's update will be - "needs a bit more time, but he looks good. We'll see on Thursday".

Great questions. I have no idea, but, I have ranted before about the CFL's veil of secrets around stuff like negotiation lists, injury reporting. Weird because other pro leagues, like the NFL and NBA, are becoming more transparent with information to fans as a way to engage them more. The CFL to me takes a rather ho hum approach to fan engagement. If I were part of the CFL executive I would be losing my mind trying to figure out how to get fans more engaged and actually paying for tickets in the big markets.

Definitely. I was aware of that. I just thought it was curious that the team with arguably the worst QB situation in the CFL (and has been for quite a while) wouldn't take an opportunity to release the names of at least a couple of negotiation list QB's to give the fans some tiny glimmer of hope. Even pie-in-the-sky hope like "hey, maybe Tua Tagovailoa would rather play in Montreal than for whatever NFL team drafts him in the first round. You never know!".

That's fair. Balancing makes sense. Maybe target a few highly touted dudes who like the marijuana a bit too much for the NFL 😄

I know a few names only. The interesting thing to me is teams placing players on there who actually might come to the CFL versus ones who never will. I think some team had Kyler Murray on their list last year. Not sure why. First overall pick in the NFL draft will never set foot in Canada. Smart teams put players on who actually may end up here. Like Jake Browning. Highly sought after UDFA in the NFL, but may not stick on a roster.

Interesting. Calgary has 4 QB's on the list, including Jake Browning who will likely be cut by the Vikings. ABLFQB's - always be looking for quarterbacks! Montreal has no QB's on their list.

Stock photo. Unknown. Looks like he could be Johnny Manziel's great grandpa.

This guy says you're wrong.

Ha! He was a mean SOB on the field! How about I put it this way - the players already know who is injured and what their injury is. They know it the moment the player goes down. They hear about other players injuries in practice from other players, coaches, in the league. The can see a player favoring a body part immediately. So, again, who is O'Shea protecting by telling the fans "lower body" and "needs more time"? Everyone in the league knew Oliveira broke his ankle, or Masoli tore his ACL. Why hide it from fans who just want to be more engaged with their teams? And has this type of disclosure impacted the level of play or player safety at all in the NFL? No.

It's idiotic that the Bombers are so tight lipped about player injuries. The NFL literally mandates teams to release injury lists each week (big gambling and fantasy football business to support). Also keeps the fans engaged. You know, the people who make this professional sport possible by buying tickets, merchandise and paying for cable TV. What purpose does hiding injuries serve the Bombers? Does O'Shea honestly think that other teams have a white board where they would track the bodily location of injuries for players so they could "target" them when they returned? He played the game. He should know better.

Exactly. Hey, we're 6 - 2, so something is working. But, I really don't see the current Bomber offense as a tough one to scheme against as a DC.

A win is a win. But, there are some analytics stats types covering the NFL that have some evidence to support the theory that how you win or lose is a predictor of future success or failure. So, winning close games; winning because of special teams plays versus productive offense; giving up a lot of yards or points on defense - might mean that you're not quite as good as your record. And those deficits may catch up to you late in the season or the playoffs where the level of play in all three areas rises. Not saying the Bombers hit all of those, but some for sure - offense has not really produced lately.

Good point. My post wasn't meant to absolve Lapo and Nichols. I just think it was an interesting comment from a smart former player. Also interesting how much better the receiving core is with Adams in there. I have to admit, I did expect Matthews and Whitehead to be consistently be better deep threats. I know, "Nichols checks down too much; Lapo is not calling deep plays". Agreed. But, even a casual watching of the film doesn't exactly scream that opposing corners are worried much about either as deep threats. Are they excellent route runners? Not sure.

A former Bomber goes to the same gym as I do. I overheard him in a spirited discussion with another gym patron who was expressing his displeasure with the Bombers offense this weekend. The former Bomber was diplomatic but said, among other things, "Bomber receivers can't get open. Except for Wolitarsky". Interesting take. Is it possible we as fans should shift some of the blame to the receivers? Not just Lapo and Nichols?

Wonder if there are any hotshot NFL backup QB’s who might be cut 😀?

Yes I suspect Hervey and Reilly would go pretty hard after Zylstra. Do they have the cap room? Could cut Carter I suppose. I was hopeful the Bombers could put together a better offer. I’d also be ok cutting Matthews for Zylstra if necessary

Zylstra is not having a great camp or first pre season game. I hope for his sake he turns it around and makes the Vikings. But I hope for our sake Walters has been in touch with him and his people. Big upgrade.

It's not all he does. But he does lead the league in pass attempts under 2 yards. And, attempts over 20 yards. A bit of a contradiction for sure. And yet he is still without a 300 yard game this season. So, is his completion percentage over 20 yards low? What about medium range - first down range - 10 -15 yards? Is he lower than average with that? I completely get it - 6 - 2; 300 yard games don't equal wins necessarily. But, he's average to slightly below. And the offense is predictable and lacking any consistent big threats or contributors, other than Harris. That's not exactly filling me with confidence we can go all the way without hoping for a Chicago Bears '85 level defense, and/or a punt/kick return TD every game.

Correct. And agree, truly only winning matters. And we'll likely be 7 - 2 by the end of next week. All good. Just think as the season goes on, as an offense you may want to increase the percentage of pass attempts beyond 2 yards of the line of scrimmage. Pretty easy to scheme against as an DC in the playoffs - stop Harris running and catching check downs. The end.