The Canadian Press
It was just over six weeks ago that the Edmonton Eskimos were coming off a 48-42 win over their arch-rival Calgary Stampeders.
The Eskimos were 7-5 and considered by some the second best team in the CFL. Looking forward to November, hopes were high the Eskimos would play for the Grey Cup in their own stadium.
That dream has turned into a nightmare scenario. In the five games since Edmonton has managed just one win, has been outscored 145-96 and sits last in the CFL West Division with an 8-9 record.
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It’s been a long second half of the season for the Eskimos as they’ve trailed off from their once Grey Cup-favourite projections. (Steve Hiscock, CFL.ca)
“We screwed up, plain and simple,” said defensive tackle Almondo Sewell, refusing any sugar coating following Edmonton’s 42-32 loss to the BC Lions Friday night.
“It’s not a good feeling right now. It’s a very tough thing to accept. We started the season right on top, king of the hill. Now we are hoping another team loses. We screwed up.”
The Eskimos still have a chance to make the playoffs as the cross-over team. First, they need the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to lose against Calgary Friday night. Then the Eskimos must beat the Bombers at Commonwealth Stadium in their final regular-season game Nov. 3.
“Our record is what it is, and we’ve earned it,” said quarterback Mike Reilly, who talked like someone who had just received a poor prognosis from his doctor. “That’s just the reality of the situation we are in.
“We have to have help now. If we get that help, then we get another chance in the last game of the season.”
A lot of things have gone wrong for the Eskimos over the last two months.
In his last five games, Reilly has thrown six interceptions and two touchdown passes. He’s passed for over 300 yards just once.
The offensive line has allowed 15 sacks. Reilly has faced plenty of pressure, resulting in him throwing some bad balls. The Eskimos have also fumbled the ball 12 times.
“I just don’t think we were executing the details and coming up with the plays at the key moments of the game like we are used to doing,” Reilly said. “That’s what hinders you from winning football games.”
Consistency has eluded the Eskimos much of the season. They’ve won just two games away from home, one against Montreal. Early in the season, Edmonton was guilty of taking too many penalties. The 1,437 penalty yards the Eskimos have been flagged for is third most in the league.
The Edmonton offence has been a mixed bag. The Eskimos are second in the league in net offence (6,716 yards), touchdowns thrown (29) and fourth in total points (449). Edmonton has allowed the third most sacks (39) and turnovers (35) plus has given up a league-leading 17 fumbles.
The Eskimos were flying high until all three phases fell out of sync with one another. (Johany Jutras, CFL.ca)
“We started losing games,” said defensive back Aaron Grymes, who returned an interception for a touchdown against the Lions. “We weren’t clicking in all three phases.
“Maybe one game the offence would show up but the defence wouldn’t. The next game the opposite. We weren’t putting complete games together.”
There were times when Reilly felt like the captain of a leaking ship.
“It’s hard when it’s jumping around, changing every single week,” said last year’s league Most Outstanding Player. “You stop one leak and another one pops up.
“That’s when it becomes really challenging. You have to figure it out.”
The Eskimo fortunes began to sour soon after receiver Derel Walker was lost for the season with a knee injury sustained in the Labor Day game.
Along with Duke Williams, Walker gave the Eskimos a potent combination punch at receiver. He had 51 catches for 875 yards at the time of his injury and led the league with eight touchdowns.
Williams still leads the CFL with 1,534 yards from 85 catches but has been playing with a shoulder injury. The absence of Walker also allows defences to focus more on Williams.
Reilly refused to use injuries as an excuse.
“Derel is always going to be a loss, he makes any team in this league better instantly,” he said. “Injuries are part of the game of football and every team deals with it.”
The Eskimos have a bye this week but that hasn’t stopped fingers from being pointed. The future of head coach Jason Maas and Mike Benevides, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, is being debated.
The Eskimos were outscored 25-10 in the second half against BC. Blake Dermott, a former Edmonton offensive lineman who is now a broadcast analyst on the Eskimo radio broadcasts, has joined those who believe Maas was outcoached by the Lions’ Wally Buono.
“This is a team that didn’t make adjustments or enough adjustment at the half to be successful,” Dermott said on the post-game show.
“I take no pleasure in saying that these guys have been out-coached. It doesn’t bring me any joy to say that but … there is obviously a pattern and that pattern has been very difficult to watch and you wonder why it continues to happen and when corrections are going to be made.”
Maas added fodder for his critics with a head-scratching decision late in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game.
Trailing by 10 points, the Eskimos had a first down on the Lions 33 yard line with 1:56 remaining. Maas elected to kick a field goal to cut the lead to seven points.
The Lions took the kickoff, marched down the field, and kicked a field goal of their own.
Maas defended his decision.
“If we had got the stop we needed, we’d have more time on the clock,” he said. “I’ve also seen it where teams try to score a touchdown and they leave themselves no time left.
“You can second-guess anything you want. If it works we are going to get the ball back with over a minute to go, to go down and score a touchdown.”
Come Friday night the Eskimos will know their fate. Either they will have dodged a bullet, or their playoff hopes will be dead.
“With the roster we have it would have been nice to see things go a little differently,” said Grymes. “It didn’t, and we can’t change that now.”
