Tracker

Herdman did pretty good considering how bad the rest of the team was and his inexperience.

In unguarded moments, people blurt what they are really thinking. There is a saying,"In vino veritas"- that is, in the wine there is truth and this is a good metaphor for Nichols' statement. He may have been devastated but this does not mean that he accepted responsibility for his poor performance.

He might but proof is lacking.

No way does Streveler get a free pass to being the starter next year. He has to earn it, but O'Shea being who he is, it is doubtful that Nichols will not be handed the starter's role.

I don't know if the Ti-Cat defence was that bad, but Harris looked like an all-star. If he is that good next Sunday, its gonna be a helluva game.

The Bomber secondary covered the Calgary receivers well most of the time, but they still got open enough to win the game. Mitchell missed some throws as well, but got the job done.

This is not about Nichols saying something that will impact his performance. If reported accurately, it gives an insight into his attitude: "I did good, its someone elses's fault" . I should think that a a quarterback who played poorly would be aware of his performance needing improvement and take the heat on himself.

And so did Pavelec, and we know how that turned out. Neither he nor Nichols are rookies or sophomores and what you see is what you are going to get.

Without absolving the rest of the offence, I suggest that the offence begins and ends with the performance of the quarterback. If it becomes obvious to the rest of the offence if not the whole team that their quarterback is just not playing well, then that has to demoralize them. The Riders were very fortunate to do as well as they did with their pathetic quarterbacking which let them down when it counted, and that is true for the 2018 Bombers as well.

IF he is still the anointed one.

To me, the mindset of the quarterback is probably the biggest tool in his box, and if he thinks he played well, why would he try to do better? If his performance was not the problem, then by inference, it was the receivers, and/or O-line and/or the game plan. With that statement, he threw his teammates under the bus.

I do not quite understand your last two sentences, but are you not concerned that Nichols thought he played a "solid game" yesterday? To me, that says he is living in a different reality.

I would argue that the receivers have not.

I disagree to a large extent. We had pretty much the same conversations here 12 months ago, and here we are again. Beating the Riders was emotionally satisfying but, truth be told, they were a bad team and relied on smoke, mirrors and a stout defence to get into the playoffs. And the Bombers barely got past them. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Nichols will be back and will probably be handed the starting job if O'Shea's track record means anything. Fans have to decide if this mediocre season is good enough to be the template for the next few years.

Agreed. I allowed myself to believe that Nichols had exorcised his demons after his horrible outings in the Labour Day Classic and Banjo Bowl, but yesterday he reverted back to his timid, low-risk, low-reward self. To be fair to him, we don't have the benefit of being able to break down the game film and see if he was not going through his reads properly, or not following direction or if he was doing all that but the receivers were letting him down or LaPolice was the problem. Still, it sure as spit looked like it was all on him with some responsibility falling on the receivers. His abysmal self-awareness that he thought he'd played a good game does not inspire confidence. The defence played well enough to win, and the special teams were mediocre but the offence was flaccid for the most part. I still cannot see why O'Shea left Nichols in for so long when it was obvious that Nichols was failing. I don't know if Streveler would have produced a different outcome but Nichols wasn't going to do it.

I was saddened by the loss today but not entirely surprised. The problems that Nichols ans his receivers has today were the same ones that were evident during the losing skid. I don't know whether to blame the players, the coaches or both, but the Bombers were beaten by a better team today. They scraped past a mediocre Rider team last weekend and the red flags were there in that game. Regardless of all this, I do not see Walters or O'Shea voluntarily making changes. Not putting Streveler in shortly after it was obvious following halftime that the offence was toothless was a major judgemental failure for O'Shea and/or LaPolice and they must answer for that. And then there was inserting Lankford- for what purpose? Walters has questions to answer as well- other teams can sign Chris Matthews, Posey, Rogers, etc etc and we sign a bunch of steers. Its gonna be a long winter and may be a long time before we have this opportunity again.

Okay. It is now officially a rout.

Too Late! Its starting to look suspiciously like a rout already. The only thing stopping the landslide was that last-second TD by the Ti Cats.

Things looking grim for the TiCats. Harris is picking their secondary apart.

FROM 3DOWNNATION: West Division Final Winnipeg at Calgary, 4:30 p.m. Forgive the Winnipeg Blue Bombers if they’d rather forget about the last time they faced Bo Levi Mitchell at McMahon Stadium. On Aug. 25, Mitchell threw for 452 yards three touchdowns in a 39-26 home win. The two teams return to McMahon Stadium on Sunday in the West Division final. To be fair, much has happened since then. Most notably, Winnipeg clinched a playoff berth Oct. 26 with a 29-21 home victory over Calgary, its first victory over the Stampeders in nine tries. The Bombers also handed Mitchell a career-first third straight loss, but the Stamps ended that dubious streak with a season-ending 26-9 road victory over B.C. to finish atop the West Division. Kamar Jorden played a big role in Calgary’s home victory over Winnipeg. He had 10 catches for a club-record 249 yards and a TD before suffering a season-ending knee injury later in the year. Then again, former Bomber Chris Matthews had five catches for 113 yards in last month’s loss to Winnipeg. Over the two games, Mitchell has completed 47-of-77 passes for 726 yards with four TDs and no interceptions as Calgary chases a third straight Grey Cup appearance and its first championship since 2014. But Winnipeg starter Matt Nichols has won his last six straight starts with eight TDs and just one interception over that span. Nichols had a season-high 358 yards and two TDs in the home win over Calgary. Winnipeg comes in off its 23-18 road win over Saskatchewan in the West Division semifinal, its first playoff victory since beating Hamilton in 2011 East Division final. The Bombers, who haven’t won a CFL title since 1990, went on to lose 34-23 in the Grey Cup to the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium. A big key to the Bombers ending their title drought could be running back Andrew Harris. For the second straight year the Winnipeg native was the CFL’s rushing leader (1,390 yards) and was named a finalist for the league’s top Canadian award (he won it in 2017). Harris ran for 123 second-half yards against Saskatchewan and is more than capable of carrying the Bombers’ offence by himself. However, Harris does get a lot of help from Winnipeg’s solid offensive line. That unit helped Winnipeg lead the CFL in rushing (134.9 yards per game) and rushing TDs (23) and finish tied in average rushing gain (5.7 yards). Although Winnipeg’s passing attack ranked sixth overall (244.9 yards per game), the Bombers led the CFL in offensive points per game (28.2) and offensive TDs (53) and were tied for third in fewest sacks allowed (36). Winnipeg’s defence finished tied with Calgary for most forced turnovers (49) and second to the Stampeders in fewest offensive points allowed (20.8), offensive touchdowns (35) and passing touchdowns (15). Linebacker Adam Bighill anchors the unit and will play Sunday despite suffering an undisclosed injury against Saskatchewan. However, questions exist about the status of linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox, who had a team-high eight tackles and a forced fumble in the win over Calgary. Calgary boasts a 34-20 (.630) home playoff record and was 7-2 this season at McMahon. The Stampeders’ last home playoff loss was in 2013 to Saskatchewan. Since 1972, the home team in the West Division final is 27-19 (.587). Winnipeg counters with a 22-32 (407) road playoff record and was 4-5 this season away from Investors Group Field. Edwards: I still think Calgary is the best team in the CFL. Time to prove it. STAMPS Dunk: Party in the Peg. BOMBERS Hodge: The bye week is everything. STAMPS Gasson: I said the Bombers before the began. Can’t back out now. BOMBERS Filoso: Hard to pick against the Stamps at home but Winnipeg is deeper and more consistent BOMBERS Smith: This should be a doozy. The Bombers put up one heckuva fight, but Calgary finds a way to get back for third straight year. STAMPS Totals: BOMBERS 3 STAMPS 3

I do not expect Lankford to be much more than a decoy, but it would be nice to be mistaken. Once the Calgary DBs realize that Lankford is not much of a threat unless the ball is gently delivered into his arms, his usefulness will be greatly diminished.

Apparently the Stamps' pre-game meal will consist largely of artichokes and choke-cherry pie.

How about: Too bad Suckatchewan Nation

I thought that I heard on the radio yesterday that the Bombers were favoured by 4 1/2 - 5 points.

LOVE IT!!!!!