B.C. Lions visit Edmonton Eskimos in first-place showdown
Best offence in the CFL resides in B.C., while the stingiest defence calls Edmonton home
Yes, it’s a battle between teams with four-game win streaks vying for first place early on in the CFL season.
But if you look past the standings to the reasons why they’ve reached the top, a picture begins to emerge: this game pits the B.C. Lions’ leaguebest offence against an Edmonton Eskimos defence that allows the fewest yards in the CFL.
That’s not to take anything away from Edmonton’s offence and the trio of fourth-quarter comebacks where quarterback Mike Reilly has engineered game-winning drives.
But when you talk about offence, the Lions have set the bar across the league with 32.8 points per game and 405.4 yards of net offence.
“Travis Lulay’s doing a fantastic job,” Eskimos defensive coordinator Mike Benevides said, noting that figure jumps to 43 points per game their last two outings with Lulay, a former CFL most outstanding player, playing in place of the injured Jonathon Jennings.
“Of all the offences we’ve gameplanned so far, this is the most powerful offence, when you take a look at their receivers and the way Jeremiah (Johnson) is running the ball.
“And then they’ve got a guy with No. 2 that’s pretty good (return man Chris Rainey), and they’ve got the MOP 2011 quarterback. I think he’s their best quarterback, I think games are panning out that way.
“We have a monster-type challenge and the guys are excited and these are the games you play for: Season series, the opponent, in front of our crowd, all that stuff.”
After all, the unstoppable force meets the immovable object in an Eskimos defence that has allowed a league-low eight touchdowns in total and 307.5 yards of net offence per game.
“This is a good defensive unit and they’re led by the front,” Lulay said. “When they can messy up the pocket with four guys and play zone with a bunch of guys on the back end, it can make for a tough night. We know we have to be very good on first down — if we’re stuck in second-and-10 a lot, you’re playing a new team with a good pass rush in hand.”
B.C. is the West Division’s best passing team with 338.6 yards per game, while the Eskimos boast the fewest passing yards allowed in the league at 240.8 yards per game.
And as much as Edmonton’s secondary has done what’s required of them, the driving force of the defence, if not the team, has been the pressure generated by the defensive line. They’ve been quietly going about their business while Reilly and the offence take up the spotlight. “Fine by me,” Benevides said. “At the end of the day, our goal is to affect the quarterback; we’ve pressured them more than anybody else. That keeps their passing yards down and gives us a chance to win the football game. We’ve had some turnovers — at the end of it, I really don’t care about that and neither do the guys. It’s about winning games and doing our part and, so far, I’m proud of the guys just because of all the different bodies. We’re down to our seventh linebacker, I’ve never experienced that. You see that they’ve bought into it because every week, it’s someone making their rookie start on defence.”
On the league’s top defence? Fac- ing the top offence? “I just look at it as the two best teams in the league going at it for first place,” said Eskimos defensive end Odell Willis, who leads the Eskimos with three sacks and 10 more QB pressures.
As for who has led the charge to 4-0, Willis doesn’t look at either the offence or the defence.
“We’re just trying to play all together. In my eyes,” he said.
“In my eyes, I think the special-teams has been the most consistent. Look at what we did to returners out of the four games we’ve played. And one blocked punt already? Cool.
“If the defence and offence can raise our level up to the special-teams level, I think we’ll be pretty all right.
“After last year, we already know what our offence can do. As a defence, we just want to hold people to 24 points or less and give them time to get their groove.”