It was unprompted and it was heartfelt. And when Paul LaPolice came to the defence of Winnipeg Blue Bombers starting quarterback Matt Nichols on Tuesday, he came prepared with some telling numbers.
“We’d love him to play better, but he didn’t perform a bad game,” began the Bombers offensive coordinator when asked to evaluate the play of Nichols in last Friday’s win – the club’s fourth in five games since he returned from injury.
“And let’s talk about the Hamilton Tiger-Cats – they’re the best pass secondary in the CFL. I wrote them down, guys, I wrote them down. They’re first in fewest passing first downs, lowest completion percentage… (Calgary QB) Bo Levi Mitchell had 47 percent (against Hamilton), (Ottawa QB) Trevor Harris had no TDs. They’re a good team.
“We’re doing a good job of pushing the ball downfield. We’ve got the highest pass efficiency in downfield throws. So, I was a little… when somebody asked me that already I was somewhat taken aback by that.”
Nichols was 13 of 24 for 180 yards with two TDs and no interceptions against the Ticats. He admitted to being off on a couple of opportunities after the game, but also said Monday “We’re winning football games and I’ve said many times, if you give me the choice between throwing for 350-400 yards in a loss and 180 yards in a win, I think you know which one I’ll choose.”
That hasn’t stopped some fans from calling for more snaps for rookie Chris Streveler and for the usual negativity from the radio post-game shows or on social media.
“I saw that,” said LaPolice. “First of all, Weston himself on that ball in the end zone – beautiful throw by Matt – he graded himself as a drop on that. We missed one to Darvin because he gets hit as he’s throwing it, and there’s one where I didn’t do a very good coaching job because Darvin broke (the route) off and Matt threw it deep.”
Asked why he was so fired up about the criticism that he even took the time to jot down the numbers, LaPolice added:
“I just heard it this week. I just wanted the facts. The facts are Hamilton is the best pass defence, so we’re not going to complete 80 percent. Back in my TSN days,” he added with a grin, “I always wanted the facts.”
Just FYI, Nichols has completed 61.5 percent of his passes this year for seven TDs against four interceptions – that ratio is 6:1 over the last three games – while his QUAR rating is 76.8, third among CFL starters behind Calgary’s Mitchell (88.8) and Edmonton’s Mike Reilly (87.3). Worth noting here – and perhaps fuelling some of the discussion – is this: Streveler’s rating is a healthy 83.7.
BOMBER REPORT | AUGUST 14th
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER SALUTE:
Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill was named a CFL Top Perfomer – along with Ottawa’s Trevor Harris and Chris Rainey of B.C. – for his work in last week’s win over Hamilton with seven tackles – including a tackle for a loss – a sack and a forced fumble.
It was the second time Bighill has been recognized this year and the third time – including Jovan Santos-Knox – a Bomber defender has been honoured. Bighill spoke Tuesday about the continuing growth shown by the defensive dozen.
“We’re building lots of chemistry and every guy is taking his turn making plays when it comes to them,” he said. “Right now, we’re showing we can be a consistent defence out there. That’s what gives offences troubles – when you’re consistent you don’t give them anything. Another thing for us is learning to be penalty free, especially the late hits to the quarterback or offsides. You play disciplined football, you play consistently and good things are going to happen.
“It doesn’t happen with one game. It’s got to be something you’re building on top of. It’s consistency that makes a great defence and that’s what we’re still working on doing. We’re not there yet, we’re on our way and that’s the fun part of this journey throughout the season and our ultimate goal is to make it to the top and finish it with a Grey Cup.”
OUCH UPDATE:
RB Andrew Harris, LB Maurice Leggett, LB Thomas Miles and LB Shayne Gauthier were all back practising on Tuesday. Still playing the spectators were WR Weston Dressler, DB Brandon Alexander and DB Anthony Gaitor. Tyneil Cooper was working in Alexander’s spot in the starting defence.
Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said he still hopes that Alexander will be available for Friday’s home date against Ottawa.
THUMBS UP TO THE HOMEGROWNS:
The Bombers have scored 27 offensive touchdowns this year, with 17 of them coming from Canadians (Andrew Harris – eight; Nic Demski and Drew Wolitarsky, four each and Kienan LaFrance – one).
Both O’Shea and LaPolice were asked about the importance of having quality Canadians in the offence.
“I don’t make a big deal of it on the field or in the meetings,” O’Shea said. “And I don’t spend a lot of time trying to quantify what that means. They’re just good football players. I’m sure they’re proud of where they’re from, but they’re just good football players, bottom line.”
“We just want to find good football players and get them the ball,” added LaPolice. “I don’t really care about the nationality. I’ve been on teams that played four Canadian receivers and went to the Grey Cup starting four.
“It’s just about who knows your system, who does it well, who can make plays.”
PRAISE FOR THE REDBLACKS ‘D’:
Here’s LaPolice on facing Noel Thorpe’s Ottawa defence:
“When you watch them… sometimes he’s going to pressure you, sometimes he’s going to drop back and play coverage. He varies what he does, so we have to be ready for everything. The big thing I always respected about Noel’s teams is they’ve got a second and one, they don’t take a play off. When you go wedge – quarterback sneak – you’d better be ready because they’re going to hit you. On the goal line, they’re physical. His teams play hard.”
AND PRAISE FOR THE REDBLACKS ‘O’:
O’Shea on Ottawa’s offence:
“They’re very good. They’ve got a very good offence. They move the ball, they spread it around… everybody on their offence is getting touches and Trevor is leading the way there. Jamie Elizondo has got a nice system and you saw in the last game… 580 yards offence and all of their guys made plays. But it does run through Trevor (Harris).”
THE LAST WORD:
More praise from O’Shea, when asked to comment on the Bombers defensive front. (Winnipeg leads the CFL with 21 sacks, while the defence has forced 25 turnovers – tied with Calgary for the most in the league).
“They are taking a lot of pride in their work,” he said. “One of the things they’re doing is they’re paying more attention to the other aspects of the game around them, not just their little space or gap. I really like what I see post-play in terms of how they’re really involved with the rest of their defence. All three groups of the defence are working together and it seems like the D-line is having fun and enjoying their success.
“That’s just one of those things that comes with building a team and at the end of the season the guys are playing for someone else.”
