J5V

I've seen plenty of players that "had it" but maybe didn't have the best mechanics. Natural ability and competitiveness are more valuable in my opinion.

I used to believe this too but the funny thing about mechanics is that a player can be too ... mechanical. As long as he gets the ball there I'm happy, that's really all that matters to me.

With the better QBs in the league your point is likely valid. However, Nichols is an even better 2-and-out machine than Streveler is. At least Streveler can run for a first down despite Lapo's crappy play calling.

Who else have we beaten? Calgary. Bad team? Sask. Bad team? Montreal. Bad team? Outside of Hamilton I'd say those are 3 of the very best teams and we've beaten them too. What would our record be if we had been gifted a win against the Als after 3 quarters like the Riders were? I'm not sure what you're insinuating but our record is what it is and we earned it honestly.

So with crappy play calling and without receivers that can catch the ball what do you want from him? He hits guys right in the hands and they can't make the catch. No, he's not Ricky Ray, not yet, but he gets the ball to his receivers. It's up to them to catch it. Even sure-handed Woli has dropped a few this year. Give him a good game plan and solid receivers and watch what he can do. Quit studying his mechanics and saying he's no good.

Really? Hobart looked like this?

Agree, but Calgary also didn't look particularly dominant. The biggest difference as I see it are BLM and his receivers. Those guys can go get the ball. Big, physical receivers and a QB that isn't afraid to throw the ball. As someone was saying, and I don't know what's up with the guy, but Matthews used to be one of those kinds of guys and I wish we still had him or at least someone like him for Streveler to throw to. We need someone to step up into that role. Maybe Bailey and/or Lawler. Get Petermann in there for Demski. Woli needs to eliminate the drops. Adams, well, I don't know what's up with him lately. Maybe he's nicked. BTW, for all the heat Streveler takes for throwing the odd INT, have you seen some of the INTs Bo throws? For a guy that's been in the league as long as he has he chucks up some real boneheaded throws at times. Our D can feast on that kind of stuff if Bo is too cocky, and he's always cocky. :-) I think our best chance of beating the Stumps might be to win at least two out of three phases of the game. On D I'd like to see us disguise blitz and sometimes show blitz but drop back into coverage more often than not, try to confuse Bo and force mistakes. Stay with the 3-man rush and try to do a blanket-job on their receivers and punish those boys when they do try to catch the ball. We're not going to stop them but maybe we can limit their success. Alexander is going to have to continue to play aggressively, as are Sayles and Taylor. Smash-mouth cold weather football is what we're looking for. Hits hurt more in the cold. On STs we can't be giving up long TDs and big returns off of punts, kickoffs, or FG attempts. Let's be sure of our tackles, stay disciplined, and wrap guys up. Medlock needs to be money. On offense, pound Andrew Harris down their throats and utilize Strevs legs too. Keep Calgary guessing and for gawd sake Lapo, let Strevs throw the damn ball and stretch the field. It opens things up. Keep the penalties down and we can do this. We need to want it more than they do.

You have to look at the negatives so you can try to eliminate them from your game. For example, the Bombers are the least penalized team in the league.

Plus we beat the Als by playing all four quarters instead of being gifted the game after 3 quarters.

How do you know this? How do you know he doesn't come in and throw for 2 touchdowns and run for another and we win in a rout?

It's very possible. In that scenario I believe we would host the WSF and the Riders would host the WF.

It's one of those plays where it appears he is staying in to block and then he releases wide open for the easy TD. Andrew Harris can easily out-run most linebackers.

Hmm ... in that case I think I'd rather go to Mosaic for the WF than McMahon and I'd like to host the WSF against the Stumps.

Nichols throwing mechanics are not great either. Lots of very successful QBs in this league have had lousy mechanics. Just win, baby.

I saw the Riders run a play where the receivers cleared the safety and the DB out of the middle of the end zone and it was completely vacant for William Powell to run in to for an easy TD catch. I immediately thought, Lapo, you have to add that to your playbook for Andrew Harris.

I wish I could give multiple likes for this post. Very well said.

He did exactly this against the Riders in the LDC. Drove us the length of the field for the go-ahead TD late in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately our D collapsed and gave up the winning points with no time left. Streveler did exactly what you have described.

A throw-behind like that almost always favours the receiver. Adams played that very soft. I fully expected him to drop in front of that ball for the catch. No fight in him at all.

I took some flac for making a similar comment but I believe you're right. No fight for the ball on that first INT at all.

If we make him the starter I think we can sign him for cheap too so there is that. :-)

We have been willing to be patient with a head coach for 6 years. Why in the world would we not be willing to be patient with a young QB that shows so much promise?

If I'm not mistaken his contract expires after this season. I hope Walters keeps him around.

That's a strange thing to say. What can he give this team that he hasn't already? He always brings it. Yes he makes mistakes but you can't question his heart.

If the Riders are waiting for us in the WSF that doesn't bother me. I don't think they can beat us three times in a row at Mosaic. The only game we have to win against Calgary is the last one.

We played a much improved brand of football today against the Larks. Offense, Defense, and STs all stepped up to give us a much needed win. We eliminated a lot of the negatives from our game today. I think we wanted it more than our opponent and it showed. I think Lapo had a much improved game plan. I think our roster management was better. I think the QB play was better. The play of our secondary was better. We kept the penalties down and we are the least penalized team in the league. For us to have a chance of winning a championship we need to keep this going and we need to keep improving because there is definitely room for improvement. We still are not playing up to our potential. One area I believe we need to improve if we are going to challenge the best teams in our league is the play between our QB and the receivers. It seems to me that if a QB throws a pass to a receiver that has one-on-one coverage, in other words, it's just a receiver and an isolated defensive back, then of those 2 players the receiver has a huge advantage and should come down with the ball the majority of the time. The receiver knows the route he is running and he knows where the ball is being thrown and it is much easier for him to see the ball being thrown and it's trajectory. The DB is at a disadvantage because he does not know the route and his vision of the football isn't as good as he often has to look back over his shoulder. My point is, the odds must be better than 50-50 that if anyone is going to catch that ball it should be the receiver. During the 20 point comeback by the Argos, MBT threw numerous 50-50 balls and the Argo receivers came down with the majority of them. During the Montreal comeback from 24 points down the Montreal receivers came down with the majority of the 50-50 balls too. Here is what I don't understand. What is it about the way our offense works that if we throw a 50-50 ball it seems to yield an inordinate number of INTs? Why is it that with our receivers we rarely come down with a 50-50 ball? I've seen this with both Nichols and Streveler and I find it perplexing. A QB like Mike Reiley has had a very successful career throwing the 50-50 ball to his receivers. Why does this stategy seldom seem to work in our favour? It seems like every 50-50 ball we throw either gets knocked down or intercepted. Is there something about the way these passes are being thrown? Do the DBs somehow know exactly where these balls are being thrown? Or is there something that our receivers are doing or not doing that yields INTs? I think if we can solve this riddle it'll enhance our chances of winning going down the stretch. Of course, I could be completely out to lunch about this 50-50 ball thing but I don't think so. These aren't all 50-50 balls but a lot are. Check it out ...