Ferguson: Esks’ attack goes so far beyond just Bowman, Walker

Playing defence against the Edmonton Eskimos is a game of skill, will, and perhaps most of all fear management.

It is no secret that Derel Walker and Adarius Bowman have taken their games – and subsequently their quarterback Mike Reilly’s game – to new and bold places in 2016. Bowman leads most statistical categories with most silver medals in those categories owned by Walker.

What they have done is special and unique but they do not deserve every accolade and high five for their teams ability to sling the rock to every inch of the big beautiful Canadian field.

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The offensive line has only allowed 31 sacks this season, good for the second lowest total in the Canadian Football League. Part of this is likely due to Edmonton’s hurry up offence which simplifies the game at every position. Gone are elaborate play calls with multiple reads to make during a given play. They are replaced by simple reads and a directive to get the ball out quickly and accurately in order to limit mistakes and move the football efficiently.

This is the Jason Maas manifesto.

Ed Hervey and Maas have also found ways to add perfect complimentary pieces to their receiving group in the form of Cory Watson, Chris Getzlaf and most impressively Brandon Zylstra who came off the practice roster in late September and has quickly become an effective third wheel on the Eskimos fast and furious offence.

Depth at receiver and offensive line play have given the Eskimos the ability to take deep shots to their playmakers and keep Mike Reilly relatively healthy in comparison to previous seasons.

What really separates this season’s Edmonton Eskimos and has allowed their numbers to balloon is the balance of run and pass mixed with tempo and the ways in which they use fear to frustrate opponents.

All week leading up to the Eastern Semi-Final all you will hear about is Walker and Bowman, Bowman and Walker. What many don’t realize is the Eskimos are just as likely to play their two pass catchers as decoys as they are to force feed them the ball. Any touches Walker and Bowman get seem to happen organically as part of the offence, not as a demand leading to a poor play call.

The fear management referenced at the beginning of this breakdown relates directly to the success of John White who finished the season with 453 rushing yards and 114 receiving yards in just four games. White averaging 141.7 combined yards per game over the final quarter of the regular season is directly attributable to Walker and Bowman scaring defences into stretching themselves too thin in the run game.

In the first quarter against Hamilton in Week 19, Walker and Bowman lined up on the same side of the offensive formation only once.

ONCE.

That seems crazy to me but it forces defences to decide who and where to double or at the very least send extra attention. It is impossible to send extra attention to both sides of the field without leaving your defence vulnerable to the run with limited bodies close to the line of scrimmage.

The one play where separating the two seemed to work early in Week 19 was a Derel Walker 21-yard touchdown pass against double coverage.

Here is how it breaks down:

Walker is given man to man with a twist.

Simoni Lawrence is asked to fly out underneath Walker and take away the short throw.

Meanwhile the corner – in this case Cassius Vaughan – is tasked with taking away the deep shot.

The coverage here is good, but the throw is great. Reilly finds a spot where only his man Walker can make a play on the ball, high and outside.

Reilly throws a strike and Walker would turn around to reach the ball out for an early Edmonton touchdown.

That play accounted for 21 of Edmonton’s 71 first quarter yards. All of a sudden in the second quarter Bowman and Walker were reunited. In the second and third quarters the CFL’s top receivers were on the same side of the formation nineteen times.

Simply put the Eskimos’ Week 19 play-calling script seemed to attempt separating the two to gauge the coverages they’d receive with that formation. The results weren’t great, so they went back to what worked to produce 3,363 receiving yards in 2016.

When Bowman and Walker play on the same side of the formation the Eskimos offensive balance truly shows it colours. The overwhelming playmaking ability of these two receivers leads to an unbalanced defensive formation in order to make sure Bowman and Walker are never left alone with two defenders.

When the defence leans so heavily to one side of the offensive formation the Eskimos can play off of that with the run game. Meet the most dangerous man in the Edmonton offence: John White.

Almost every handoff to John White involves a fake screen on the outside to Walker with the physically imposing Bowman blocking. As a corollary most quick screens to the outside involves play action with White.

These concepts are commonly referred to as ‘packaged plays’ because they look the same but result in directly opposite outcomes.

In Week 19 against Hamilton the Eskimos threw several quick screens outside off of run fakes as a means to isolate Bowman and Walker.

The run fake holds defenders close to the line of scrimmage and Adarius Bowman blocks in space as well as any receiver in the CFL allowing the speedy Walker to get the edge.

Once the threat of Walker and Bowman was established in the screen game Edmonton repeatedly ran the ball using a counter play with a slot back and offensive lineman pulling around to block. At the same time Bowman and Walker would run the same quick screen shown above pulling defenders outside as seen below.

This action played a major role in White piling up 135 yards on the ground in that game. Back and forth the Edmonton play calling would go from quick screen to power run and back to quick screen. This variation and execution resulted in yet anther quick screen touchdown off play action for Walker in the fourth quarter. Anytime Walker and Bowman are left with two defenders you know where the ball is going.

Why wouldn’t it go there when you can get a block like this from the CFL’s leading receiver and put the ball in the hands of the CFL’s second leading pass catcher who is exceptional in space.

The Eskimos’ offence is not just deep balls thrown to tall talented receivers like many want you to believe. It’s an intricate system simplified by the speed at which Edmonton plays on offence. The strength of Edmonton’s offence is their balance and killer instinct in play calling. The Tiger-Cats defence has plenty of work to do in the film room this week to mentally prepare themselves for the many split second decisions Jason Maas’ forces upon defenders.

If there is one defensive coordinator up to the task it just might be Orlando Steinauer who knows what Maas is all about and surely believes he has the answer.

Playoff football. FUN.