Doublezero

Agreed there's not much difference & Nichols 6 years of experience shows. But Nichols will sign where he can start - not to back up. Willy hasn't proven to be durable so Nichols might have a chance here. But I guess at $400k next year there's pressure on Bombers to start Willy no matter what. Whether he's worth that kind of coin ... well ... remains to be seen. Hopefully we give Davis and Boyd a look now that we are pretty much in next year country. QB still a question mark on this club going forward.

Unless Drew Willy isn't mobile enough or makes fast enough reads or gets rid of the ball fast enough or fails to bring tempo to the offence. Then the question of what the Bombers biggest problem is, remains open for debate. What if the biggest problem is actually not just one problem but multiple problems - including the problem of assuming the O would function at anything more than a barely acceptable level with Drew Willy?

It was a great individual effort by Marshall to get the 2-pointer before that, on what was essentially a poorly designed play for a 2-point conversion. But he did and that's football. And so it got exciting. Whether the subsequent no end call is to be blamed on players or coaches - it is on the player. Except that Bombers have drawn a flag for that particular infraction more often than usual this season, so the coaches are at fault for not taking steps to correct something they know the officials are repeatedly calling.

I'm with you. Looking forward to this UPSET!

Thanks for assembling some interesting numbers! Wondered about this illegal contact rule change. Kind of makes you think they'll have to review and maybe toss it: • Illegal contact rule change: with the tighter rules regarding contact on a receiver, the frequency of that penalty call has risen from 0.71 per game in 2014 (37 in 52 games) to 1.62 per game – more than double with 84 calls to date in 2015 Especially in light of this: • When taking a defensive penalty, the likelihood of an opponent scoring a TD rises from one in 10.5 (9.6%) to one in every 2.9 possessions. In 304 drives in 2015, defensive penalty-aided drives have gone on to score 106 times (34.8%) Or is that acceptable? This really changes the game IMHO where officiating judgment calls can in effect decide the outcome.

That head shot on JFG should've been a penalty and disqualification for intent to injure. Refs missed it however.

It was efficient at moving the ball, but I wouldn't say it looked really good. We weren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard. For sure the O has not scored enough - that is the real elephant in the room with this club - even with Drew Willy starting. If you take a look at games where Winnipeg scored more than one lousy TD, often it was D or ST who stepped up with a pick or return to help out. Or we have relied on placekicking to score. Certainly that was the case early in 2014 when Bombers put together a few wins and folks thought Drew Willy was the second coming. The fact is, in several of those 5 early wins in 2014 the O got help scoring from other parts of the team. With the odd exception, by itself, the O has hardly put up enough points to win the game. I guess you could call it efficient but that's faint praise. The O doesn't scare anyone, even with Drew Willy in there.

How many more years before we see a team that actually expects to win when it takes the field, instead of one that just hopes not to lose? I don't have confidence MOS and Walters can get us there.

Lulling Als into false confidence. We can still come back from this.

Game is not over. A lot can happen in 30 mins.

Interesting that Castillo is activated, putting heat on LH. And what's with Moore? He was on video yesterday - saying he will play. This will be a good test between teams that look evenly matched. Can Bombers produce Banjo Bowl levels of enthusiasm and effort - especially from ST and D? Nichols has the leadership to instill a bit of confidence in the O, it seems, but I'd gameplan to run run run the football. Looking forward to watching this game on TV.

Ha! lol Indeed. Because for all anyone knows, Drew Willy could be the back-up next year.

I agree. The only problem is that if QB X wins the job, Bombers have a very expensive back-up or #2 in Drew Willy. And I'm not sure they'd want to set themselves up for that. Anyhow, that's for the future. Let's go beat the Als next.

Bombers would be smart to have real competition for the starting QB role in 2016. Not sure if that would be Nichols. But if he plays well for the remainder - why shouldn't he get a shot to knock Drew Willy off his anointed perch?

No more TiCat-Argo games this season unless they happen to meet in the playoffs. If that be the case and I'm Austin, I'd stand some distance from the sidelines should an unintentional event befall him.

Interesting to see Bombers willing to develop a legit dual-threat QB. Much better suited to the CFL than 3 step drop and crumble. If true he's agreed to terms, he'll be among a few Clemson Tigers who've come north to wear Blue & Gold, including Jim Washington and Perry Tuttle.

Bombers are in a good position. If Nichols is so-so for the remainder of the season then no prob, they can let him go when his contract expires at the end of the season. But if Nichols plays well and can make a difference on a bottom rung team like Winnipeg, you can bet he'll demand (and get) starters money from somewhere as a FA next Feb. No way does he want to be a "reliable backup" to Drew Willy or anyone else. If he plays well, then it's likely Bombers will have to choose between him and Willy as the starter for 2016.

Post-game comments on club's website by K Bass and JFG suggest Nichols play and leadership got the whole team fired up. Haven't seen that before with any Blue Bomber QB in recent history. Time will tell of course but what if it comes down to a choice between keeping just one of Nichols or Drew Willy?

Here's a vid. Folks can make up their own mind. Here's #Ticats coach Kent Austin bumping #Argos WR @StalaDave during Friday's win. #CFL pic.twitter.com/HHMNJY63a3 — Drew Edwards (@scratchingpost) September 12, 2015 Austin apologizes - but only after getting caught on camera. If a high school coach had done that "unintentionally" to an opposing player, he'd be suspended.

Johnny Adams better play like an adult this week or his rook of the year nomination is in jeopardy. And if Nichols can actually get the ball away quickly and bring some tempo and urgency to the O, that would be good. Also, it would be nice to see if Winnipeg can run the ball at all.

One of the most damning things about our offence this year and last was how long it takes for a play to develop. The opposition has time to run tot he sidelines for a drink and still return to the field to stop the play. It was most noticable during the Calgary game. ongoing problem last 2 years - and this is going to sting but - both pre- and post-snap tempo seems to be a little better with Drew Willy out

And exactly which others of the 17 losses Bombers have recorded since starting 5-1 in 2014 would be Brian Brohm's fault?

There are 3 phases to the game and none have been very good. The D has begun to come along but ST and O not so much. Has lack of discipline become the hallmark for this club? When you look at the leadership - someone made a critical error by not having an Offensive mind among them. You've got Miller, Walters, MOS all Canadian guys with experience on Special Teams. It would an overstatement to say they don't know squat about the offence - but they don't know enough. Its all been delegated and gone off the rails. Maybe Danny Mac needs to be involved in the O. Or someone like Dunigan. Definitely not Lapo or Buck Pierce.

Brohm is a good QB, some aspects of his game are superior to Drew Willy. He should not be blamed for any of the 17 losses Bombers have suffered since their deceptively hot start in 2014. But Brohm has been snakebitten since getting here and has become a convenient whipping boy for frustrated fans. Just like all the Bombers troubles in the years prior to the present regime were wrongly laid at the feet of Joe Mack.

I honestly have such a hard time responding to your posts. They're filled with such misinformation that it makes me really wonder if you are capable of seeing things with an unbiased eye. I mean really, you made two statements in that entire post and neither one of them is anywhere even NEAR true. Willy has completed 23 quarters of football this season, so for the sake of giving your argument a bit of merit, let's say 6 full games even though it's one quarter and change short of that. He's thrown for 8 touchdowns and we've rushed for 3 more on drives that he's finished off. So on average, it's basically double what you suggested. When Brohm came in against Hamilton, it was 17-7 Hamilton. In the first quarter. That is not a game that is out of hand, never mind "well out of hand". When Brohm came in against Edmonton, it was 4-3 Edmonton. Neither one of these is a ridiculous situation for a backup quarterback to enter into. They should actually be the exact kind of situations a backup QB is mentally prepared to enter, seen as how the body of their work isn't really expected to come in mop up time after their team is already well out in front. Feel free to share your opinion but don't try and lace it with pure bull**** and expect to have it slide. While I agree with most of this post Mike. average of 2 tds a game is still complete bullshit, especially this year. But as for the other comments, yes the games he's stepped into have given him plenty of time to show something...even a glimmer of hope that he's improving...but we only see 3 passes in a row bounce off the turf. Brohm is brutal, but I'll say MB is worse. Oh, for sure not good enough. But that doesn't make the facts in his post any more accurate. I said I'm ok with Brohm starting this weekend. Given who is available, who would you prefer? Could Brohm have been better coming off the bench? Maybe but I'm not going to vilify the guy because given the limited reps he does appear to do some things well. Better than Marve. And he does some things tempo-wise better than Willy. Unfortunately it's been a perfect storm for him. As for Drew Willy - he has NOT been able to produce 2 TDs per game. Far from it. Since he arrived in Winnipeg Willy has generated less than one strike per game, on average. In 24 starts for him its 22 TDs. And 19 INTs. That level of O production is not going to win games in Pop Warner, let alone the CFL. Winnipeg's can't run, can't pass O doesn't scare anyone, even with Drew Willy at the helm. so we just ignore the rushing touchdowns now. Gotcha. OK I missed the 2 rushing TDs Drew Willy scored since he arrived in Winnipeg. That is a grand total of 24 TDs in 24 starts as quarterback - on average one TD per start since he got here. And 19 INTs. Tell me you think that is even close to adequate and then we can just disagree. It's just so obvious Bombers need a QB to step up and create some momentum and confidence. We don't appear to have anyone on the roster who can do that.