Esks.com
The Eskimos achieved something last Sunday that they haven’t been able to do since August 23. That is win consecutive games. The Eskimos beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 24-19 at Mosaic Stadium giving them an 11-5 record and moving them even closer to hosting the Western Semi-Final on November 16.
This is third winning streak of the season for the Eskimos who won four straight games at the start of the season before suffering their first loss of the year at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders. The Eskimos then reeled off three straight wins before losing two straight. In the last four games the Eskimos have been stuck in a win one, lose one pattern.
The team also broke a three-game road losing streak and with the win in Regina, the Eskimos have guaranteed themselves a winning road record for just the second time in the last eleven years.
Unlike the Eskimos first bye week of the season, the team went in to their second week off with a win and a much needed break according to their head coach Chris Jones.
“I didn’t know if I would like a bye week this late but we’ve got some bumps and bruises on some of our major guys and it’s going to be good for them to have a few days away from the game.”
The Eskimos didn’t win the pretty way; they won the gritty and gutsy way. Down 13-4 at the half where the Eskimos were plagued by turnovers, penalties, and the offense left as much as 13 points on the field. In the second half they were boosted by a 95-yard kick-off return from running back Kendial Lawrence on the opening kick-off and the Eskimos were off to the races. The Eskimos scored 20 unanswered points and outscored the Riders 20-6 in the second half.
It was the fifth time this season the Eskimos came from behind to win the game. Last year’s Eskimos would not have come back; they didn’t have the belief to do so. This season the team has a steely resolve and a belief system which says no matter how down they are on the scoreboard or how the game is going. They always believe the game will be in their control eventually.
Are there still improvements to be made?
Absolutely!
Penalties again continue to be the most frustrating issue for the Eskimos and on Sunday they took 12 penalties for 112 yards. The defense had trouble adjusting to the rhythm of Riders quarterback, Kerry Joseph. The offense at times still looks like a work in progress. The Eskimos found a way to overcome their issues and played efficient in all three phases of the game in the second half.
The league’s leading receiver, Adarius Bowman recorded his first 100-yard receiving game in four games and set a new Eskimos record for receptions in a season with 107. He feels the offense is coming around.
“I can say yes to that,” he said. “We still have a bunch of things we are working on in terms of controlling what we can control with the penalties and guys still being lined up. I hate that we are still talking about this so late in the year, but there’s a lot of positive things we are doing out there and once we get those things handled, sky’s the limit for this offense.”
Perhaps the Eskimos as a team are starting to come around. It’s remarkable to think that they lost their previous two road games where the Eskimos quite likely played their worst football of the season lost both games by a combined three points.
Now the Eskimos have wins in consecutive games and broke the “win one, lose one” pattern. Coming off the bye week they need to find a way to elevate their game.
Just two games remain in the regular season and a home playoff game is within their grasp. This young team’s margin of error is thinning as they enter into playoff mode.
Next week will soon not be guaranteed, but this edition of the Eskimos have shown they will fight right until the very end.
