Winco,
I don't in any way criticize the actions of the crew and second the "well done to all" if that is the impression of my post.
I am a little leery of a known gear problem being handled at Nellis and not at one of several other alternatives. Such a known problem would involve many phone patches to Boeing, mother Tinker, etc, etc.
Any number of factors to which I am not privy could have resulted in the Nellis outcome which is why I hedged my post with a "Could be."
Doesn't change my gut feeling on it being a surprise to the crew when the nose came down much further than normal however.
The facts will come from the investigation, and I await those with interest.