IT WASN’T ALL SO PRETTY
The Edmonton Eskimos hung 40 points on the visiting Montreal Alouettes Saturday. What else did we expect against a last-place opponent that has won only once in its last 20 games? But there are things that happened in the 40-24 win that don’t exactly bree
1. A bit offside
We understand the need to keep their foot on the gas after taking a 10-0 lead, but attempting an onside kick against an Alouettes squad that didn’t manage to make it out of its half of the field on its first possession put the Eskimos in a ditch.
Montreal recovered the ball in enemy territory, which gave rookie quarterback Antonio Pipkin the boost he needed to mount a four-play, 53-yard drive to the end zone.
Besides the seven points, the short field led to a sense of confidence Montreal’s offence probably didn’t deserve early on.
We like the couple of things the Eskimos have done this season to spice up special teams and keep the opposition guessing, but this one came off as just plain arrogant.
2.
Penalties persist
The same week head coach Jason Maas bites the bullet and takes the blame for all of Edmonton’s penalties since he was hired three years ago, one of the Eskimos gets ejected from the game.
Cornerback Mercy Maston retaliated after taking a lid-losing punch from Alouettes receiver Adarius Bowman, of all people, whose Commonwealth homecoming was cut short when referee Al Bradbury sent a message to both sides with their immediate ejections.
Whether wholly warranted or not, it’s another black eye on an Eskimos roster leading the league in penalties and penalty yards, while suffering from a seemingly incurable lack of discipline.
Things might not have seemed as bad Saturday with Montreal getting flagged 14 times for 129 yards, but the Eskimos still gave 105 of those yards back on nine infractions.
3.
Protection racket
At one point Saturday, the Alouettes were one blind heaveho away from getting four sacks in a row against an Eskimos pass protection that surrendered just four over the first six games of the season.
While the five they surrendered against Montreal stands as a season high, three came in a row with four minutes to go in the half as Montreal pinned its proverbial ears back and played the one-upsmanship game with Edmonton’s blockers.
On the fourth rush (Montreal penalties separated the first three), Reilly barely had time to throw a high, looping ball in the general direction of the end zone to no one in particular, only to have Mitchell somehow come up with it after starting the play on the opposite side of the field.
Yes, they missed C.J. Gable. But the next man up has to be ready to do it all.
4.
Me first
Duke Williams deserves all the credit in the world for leading the league in receiving yards this season. He’s athletic, physical and, boy, is he fun to watch.
He deserves full style points for crawling through an end-zone advertisement sandwich board after scoring a 10-yard touchdown for a 17-7 lead early in the second half.
But with the way the rules are now, his prop-using antics once again ended up penalizing his team by 10 yards.
Did it make a difference in Saturday’s game? No. But it could against an opponent like Calgary. Especially if players continue to put themselves before the team.
5.
Wild West
At 6-3 in the standings, the second-place Eskimos are 4-1 at home and 2-2 on the road, while going 3-2 against the East Division and 3-1 against divisional opponents.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, in third place, are just two points back of the Esks, who are in Steeltown to kick off the second half of the season Thursday (5:30 p.m., TSN, ESPN+, 630 CHED) against a third-place Ticats squad that already won a Week 2 meeting at Commonwealth.