17to85

OK but the Bombers are winning by good defense and Nichols playing the ultra conservative Lapolice offence where you complete 5 passes and get 10 yards out of the deal... What's the real difference?

Jones with ******** gambles in both games against us both helping immensely to secure the wins for Winnipeg. How can the mob in Saskatchewan not all be against him for crap like that?

Man I want to see them all get into a game of one upsmanship for the INT lead on the year.

This is praise of Nichols that actually has merit. It's something that can be quite valuable too, I just find that a lot of people are glossing over some of the problems that he does have though trying to make him into something he isn't because of the win streak we are on.

The defense was improving before they made a change at quarterback. The changes on the DL (and they replaced 3/4 of the positions this year let us not forget) took time to come together as a group and getting Cole back healthy also helped, but in general the rookies at the 2nd DE spot took a few games to get into the swing of things, took the LBs a bit to get into their grooves playing new positions, some changes in the defensive secondary helped. Those guys were improving even before Willy went out too. They were great in the game Willy won against Hamilton and they were good in the game Willy lost against Edmonton too and have just kept getting better since. That's independent of what was happening at the quarterback position. The OL got better by Neufeld going out and the force to use 3 americans. Suddenly the team can run the ball, can convert when they hand off on 2nd and short and can protect the qb better. Willy had some confidence issues, but can you blame him? He never had a reliable run game to lean on or a reliable offensive line. You say the team lost confidence in Willy, I say Willy lost confidence in his team, both are probably true and justified, but confidence can come back when things change, I don't believe Willy was beyond hope and obviously Toronto doesn't either.

They also found and developed Harris and Collaros, and Ricky Ray is still a veteran quarterback who is going to be in the hall of fame, not exactly the dumbest move, especially when you consider they did try and keep Harris. If Milanovich sees something in Willy none of us should question it. In fact a good many people who know a thing or two about professional qbs see something in Willy.

Moral of the story, can't win consistently in the CFL without defense.

Or how about if he got to play with an OL that didn't have a break down at regular intervals his head wouldn't be an issue. There is a reason that Kyle Walters drafts offensive linemen every first round of the draft even if they aren't the best players on board. Because he knows that the OL is key and ever since they benched Willy and put in 3 americans this is the first time the team has actually had a good group. You see the difference in the run game, you see the difference in the teams confidence. Trenches are key, also why the D is better too, the DL has been improved bigtime and this is easily the best group Walters has put on the field for Winnipeg. You win and lose games in the trenches and it was the change at OL that had a bigger impact on the team than anything else. Willy and Nichols had pretty similar stats, but Willy dealt with a lot more **** and didn't have the benefit of a defense going +25 or something in the turnover battle. The one game his D did do that for him he won. Let's not ignore that. Some people though just like to look at wins and losse and assign it totally to the quarterback.

No, reasons not excuses, big difference.

Was their D really good though? Or was the Bombers O just bad? Cause the Riders D has been putrid all season. It's OK to admit that we stole a couple on LD and BB and we need to be better to beat teams that aren't **** tier.

How about just give a fair and impartial judgement? Some people though want to pin all the ills of a team on the qb when the reality is there are many other pieces that impact a team.

Only because the turnovers have been avoided. Against teams that aren't the Riders it'll take more than just a couple drives a game to win because no other team gives games away like the Riders do. Nichols should be scoring more points with the way the defense was taking balls away. I would rather have poor O and great D than the other way around but when your O is that impotent you are playing with fire and sooner or later the D won't be able to bail them out. Gotta score some points sometimes.

True but sometimes a streak is just a streak. Let's not pretend that ekeing out wins against the Riders is really acceptable. I mean that defense has been making teams look great all year and the Bombers had to fight tooth and nail to put drives together on them. That's a concern. Not like they beat a good team in tight games, it's the 1-10 Riders they barely hung on against.

I just want to know, how many qbs around the CFL would be losing games when the team over that stretch has taken away that many balls from the other team? QB gets too much blame and too much credit around these parts.

you already judged him

Some of those lack of INT numbers for Nichols are luck whether flat out dropped by dbs or taken away on cheap PI calls. He's done well for sure but people trot out 6-0 and the TD:INT ratio entirely too quickly without providing context.

The mistake was not protecting their Willy and getting it broken to the point where they had to trade him. They look to have learned that lesson with Nichols though. Imagine if they'd had this kind of offensive line when Willy first got here? None of those injuries, none of the constant beatings.

Oh yeah a team that got a hall of famer qb in Ray hurt because they couldn't protect him and made him look ordinary is going to prove a lot.

I dunno guys, Glenn has a lot better stuff on his resume than Nichols. They won't make a change quickly but if Glenn gets a chance he might just run with it. For all his problems winning the big game the dude can still perform in the CFL, that's why he's lasted as long as he has.

hardly, they acquired him for cheap and moved him for more than they gave up to get him when another player had replaced him on the roster. It's really good asset management to be honest. Glenn is probably still a better qb than both Willy and Nichols at this point so we upgraded the qb position AND got a first round pick and pretty good player as well. Not too shabby.

not sure a db was the biggest priority but all in all it's a pretty good haul for a guy they didn't want to pay. Best hope that Nichols keeps it up cause at his age I don't really trust Kevin Glenn anymore.

But you keep bringing up the wins like it matters so you are putting it all on the qb whether you believe you are or not. Nichols is essentially doing the same things now Willy was. Difference is the team specifically the defense has picked up it's game a ton. Willy won when they forced a ton of turn overs too. Don't even get into the intake either. Nichols has had several poor throws dropped and even on labour day could have lost on a poor throw that they called a soft PI on. Your hate for Willy really blinds you on this topic.

The team has changed as a whole since that 1-4 start. The D alone is immensely better than it was to start the season. From the DL to the LBs to the DBs they have all improved from what they were at the start of the season. That's not even getting into the ways in which the offense has improved. To try and pin this all on the qbs as I've said all along is just stupidity. Not like Nichols is currently setting the world on fire at qb. If Willy had played that game yesterday and done the exact same things you would be leading the charge to run him out of town.

The trouble is that the Riders defensive line was getting their asses handed to them so I don't know that it's really a fair judgement based on that game. When you win the trenches so convincingly I'd expect any professional rb to have some good runs. I think either option can work but I'd prefer Flanders/JFG personally.

I watched a bit of the first Finland game, Laine impressed me, just seemed to know where to be to get himself in a position in the offensive zone. Kids gonna be a good finisher I think. The instincts seem to be there.