Before last Friday’s game against the Montreal Alouettes, I sat down with Eskimos head coach Chris Jones for our pre-game interview. I asked Jones what the feeling was like having lost twice in one week to their provincial rivals.
“It made me sick like wanting to throw up,” said Jones.
Who can really blame him?
When the dust settled last week and the Eskimos started to prepare for Montreal you could sense a renewed optimism and new oppourtunities. No more games with Calgary until what the team hopes will be a matchup in the playoffs come November. The team was given a boost offensively as Mike Reilly took all of the first team reps. Reilly’s injured hand finally responded and he made his first start since August 22 vs. Toronto.
A successful return for Reilly and the Eskimos as they scored a convincing 33-16 win over the Alouettes.
Okay, convincing didn’t happen until the fourth quarter. The offence struggled to the move the football in the first half. Drives stalled in the red zone meaning field goals and not touchdowns. The Eskimos were down 16-12 early in the fourth quarter. A thank you card should be sent to Alouettes receiver Duron Carter because his touchdown woke the Eskimos up who scored three touchdowns in the final quarter to secure the win.
Reilly added the dimension of dual threat the Eskimos were missing in his absence. The CFL’s leading receiver Adarius Bowman recorded his third straight 100-yard receiving game and fifth of the season. The rushing attack recorded 187 yards. Slotback Fred Stamps played his second game since returning from injury and recorded another 70 yard plus performance. 
It took three quarters for the offence to finally produce some results. It’s also the first game in a long time where the offence is starting to look like they are back at full strength. Running back John White and left tackle Tony Washington are close to returning. Chris Jones says having a veteran group helps to make up for time missed because of injuries.
“I think the fact that they know what they’re doing now is probably the biggest thing,” Jones said. “They have a great understanding of different formations, the different motions, and where the ball goes through, who it’s starting with and where the reads are. I think our coaches do a wonderful job of again with all the mixing and the matching that we have done and considering where we are I’m really pleased.”
This offence needs to gain not just momentum, but confidence. Confidence in the red zone has been an issue but the Eskimos were able to score three times in the red zone in the fourth quarter against Montreal. Mike Reilly feels it was only a matter of time.
“It was good that we finished it and we could’ve had more,” Reilly said. “We had oppourtunities earlier in the game, we had that big completion down to Freddie and we had a couple of chances and ended up with field goals. Again we weren’t perfect and we want to get better but we did finish out the last three drives and that’s what’s been good about our team so far, for the most part we’ve been able to finish the game solid and I think we are good shape and well-conditioned.”
Trying to find consistency for 60 minutes is something the offence is looking for. Except for the first game in BC and the game in Ottawa (minus the points) the offence has either been a great first half or a second half team. Case in point, the Eskimos have scored 30 points or more in first halves twice. In the last two fourth quarters the Eskimos have scored 45 points which included a fine showing from backup Matt Nichols against Calgary even though the score was lopsided against the Eskimos.
Mike Reilly says the team has shown a penchant for playing on both sides of the coin.
“The other games that we’ve played where maybe our fourth quarters weren’t so big, we had a really good first half to gain the lead,” Reilly said. “So we know we can get a lead and maintain it and we know we can come from behind and if we’re down in the fourth quarter we can still put points up on the board and win. You are going to have to win games in different types of ways throughout the season especially late in the year.”
The second half against Montreal is a template of how this offence is supposed to run. Attacking every part of the field, using the run and short passing game, to set-up plays down field and using the deep ball to set-up the quick game.
The Eskimos have weathered the injury bug and now they need start peaking.
