Dave Campbell
CFL.ca
One night after seeing their season come to a close thanks to a 40-23 loss to the B.C. Lions in the Western Final, the Edmonton Eskimos cleaned out their lockers.
Following the loss, the tears were flowing in the dressing room as the harsh reality of a season that ended one game short began to set in.
These Eskimos were not just satisfied with making the playoffs or earning a home playoff game for the first time in seven years. Nor were they satisfied with their Western Semi-Final victory over the Calgary Stampeders, earning a berth in the Western Final in the process.
They badly wanted to play in the Grey Cup game this Sunday.
So when the players loaded their stuff into their garbage bags, shook hands and embraced each other, they took the pain of Sunday’s loss with them, too.
Quarterback Ricky Ray says it’s always hard to end the season when you were so close to the ultimate prize.
“You know, I kind of relate this to the 2002 season, we made the Grey Cup that year and ended up losing”, Ray said.
“It was a tough loss for us and I remember using that as some fuel in the off-season – you know to get back and get ready and try to get better for next season. That’s what I think we have to do, we have to say ‘yeah that was a good season but we have to come back a little bit hungrier next year.’”
The Eskimos ended up losing four of five meetings with the Lions. Those four losses came all in a row.
It was a big lesson for the Eskimos about preparation and execution. The Lions were far and away the better football team. Their defence is big and aggressive and their offence is well balanced and seems to execute so flawlessly and score at will.
Slotback Adarius Bowman said the loss showed him that the Eskimos are simply not quite ready for prime time yet and he already has some goals for the 2012 season.
“Work harder, get better, get better every day,” Bowman explained.
“Another one of my mottos is at the end of the day the man who works harder will be rewarded. If I put my emotions to the side, those guys over there must have worked a little bit harder because they got us. I felt like that (the Lions) were our competition this year. Not to knock the East or any other team, but B.C. was our challenge this year. It was a battle everytime we played them and they matched us everytime.”
Last off-season, general manager Eric Tillman and head coach Kavis Reed tried to build a team that would compete with the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Their plan worked, as the Eskimos won three of four against Calgary and won all three games against the Riders.
Now, the plan in the off-season for Reed is to build a club that will better compete with the B.C. Lions in 2012. That means Reed will want a team that is bigger and faster. That doesn’t mean that he, along with Tillman, will completely dismantle the team, but tweaks will be made.
The Eskimos have close to 12 free-agents and at the top of the list is linebacker Rod Davis. Reed has already targeted Davis as a top priority to re-sign.
Other free-agents are receiver Andrew Nowacki, defensive lineman Greg Peach and Etienne Legare. Running backs Calvin McCarty and Hugh Charles, fullback Mathieu Bertrand, offensive lineman Kyle Koch, defensive back Delroy Clarke, and kicker Derek Schiavone are also all set to enter free agency.
Two players still have the NFL option window, running back Jerome Messam and slotback Adarius Bowman. Messam has the better chance of cracking the NFL and has workouts scheduled once he fully recovers from a torn meniscus.
The Eskimos also need to address their offensive line. Though they played well during certain stretches of the season, the entire line needs to be assessed. Although, a healthy Greg Wojt will help and Gord Hinse stepped forward and played well at centre.
Edmonton’s secondary led the CFL in interceptions which is good but they also led the league in most passing touchdowns allowed.
Finally, as well as the cover teams played, the return game didn’t do much this season. Does Jason Armstead stick around? He warrants at least another look in training camp.
At the end of the day the 2011 season was a big success. Many pundits expected the Eskimos to finish out of the post-season. Despite enjoying a good season, Peach says expectations are higher for next season.
“This organization is about winning and that’s why we’re not satisfied with just getting there to the finals.”
“This needs to be a building block; we need to start doing this every year. Not just expecting playoffs but expecting Grey Cups.”
The Eskimos are on the right track.
