Eskimos looking to crank it up a notch for final six games
Maas expects to see playoff mentality rest of the way, writes Gerry Moddejonge.
The Edmonton Eskimos went into last week’s bye on top of the world, and came out of it Monday only slightly behind that same mark.
While they didn’t practice for eight days after defeating the first-place Calgary Stampeders 48-42 in a Labour Day rematch for the ages, the Eskimos managed to slide back into a tie for second spot with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who fell 30-25 to the Ottawa Redblacks. Both the Eskimos and Riders sport 7-5 records.
Now, after resuming practice at the indoor field house of Commonwealth Stadium on Monday, the Eskimos will get a chance to thank Ottawa in person when they travel to the nation’s capital Saturday (2 p.m., TSN, ESPN+, 630 CHED) to kick off the final-third of their regular-season schedule.
The next six games making up the home stretch will determine playoff positioning and, ultimately, the path to Commonwealth Stadium for the two teams earning the right to play in the Grey Cup on Nov. 25.
“I think in the second six (game stretch), we played really good football,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “Our record was 3-3, but I think we played better football than that.
“We didn’t put it all together in all three phases for the entire six games and I think that’s why you saw the 3-3 record rather than probably what it could have been.”
The Eskimos are riding high after knocking off the top dogs to split the annual Labour Day series. And while Calgary is in no danger of seeing first place slip from their grasp at 10-2, the Eskimos can certainly take pride in the fact they came out ahead of the two-game head-to-head by a point total of 68-65.
“I like the way we’re playing. I think we’re right there and just have to finish this off and have a great six games,” Maas said. “We talked about it today. These are six playoff games in a row is the way we’re looking at it. The standings are so tight, you can’t slip up at all.
“Our focus has got to be tight all week, every week and it starts with this one. So when we show up to work tomorrow, it’s going to be with a different mentality coming in focus-wise.”
Also sporting a 7-5 record are the Redblacks, who sit first in the East Division, making it a threeway tie for second overall behind the perennial powerhouse Stampeders.
But a lot can still happen down the playoff stretch.
“I don’t think anybody feels like anything ’s locked down, no matter who you are in this league,” said Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly, who leads the league with 3,943 passing yards, putting him on pace to finish with what would be a club record 5,914 yards on the season. “And we all know that the last third of the season is really when you want to be playing your best football. And in order to do that, you’re going to be playing against teams that have a lot to play for, and we’re no different.
“It’s a bit of a logjam in the West, which is kind of how it always is, so these games are going to be extremely important, not just for playoff seeding but to be playing your best football and carrying that momentum into the post-season,” added Reilly.
Three years have passed since the Eskimos last won a Labour Day rematch. Back then, it kicked off a 10-game win streak that ended with them hoisting the 2015 Grey Cup.
“It’s still a long way away,” Reilly said. “But each game you’re trying to build and each game is very important.”
GO WITH THE FLOW
He’s right in the fray of helping the Eskimos earn a home playoff game, but Travis Bond can at least rest easy knowing all is quiet on the home front.
And rest he did during the team’s scheduled bye last week, despite Hurricane Florence wreaking havoc in his home state of North Carolina.
“Where it was originally supposed to touch down was right by my house,” said the 27-year-old native of Windsor, N.C, who currently resides in Colerain, N.C.
While his neighbourhood dodged a bullet this time, it wasn’t always quite so fortunate.
“In 2011, a tornado hit and killed, like, five people on our row,” said the six-foot-seven, 356-pound left guard. “I was home visiting my son, who was born in March, and it happened in April.”
This time, it was hit or miss in the surrounding areas.
“New Bern, which is an hour away, got like 10 feet of water,” Bond said. “So a lot of people lost homes and were flooded out.
“But where it was originally supposed to touch down, it should have been in my hometown. But thank God it passed and a lot of people got safe. It’s still bad that people lost homes and stuff in other towns but hopefully the government helps out a lot and pays dividends to help those people out because a lot of them don’t have much.”