First place won’t change Eskimos’ approach
In the CFL, first place is a fluid concept, especially with three regular-season games remaining, and the Eskimos grasp this completely.
Yes, in just under two seasons working for head coach Chris Jones, the Eskimos have distanced themselves from the wreckage of a 4-14 season in 2013 to go 12-6 in 2014, advancing to the West Division final.
And they sit in first place at 11-4, having won two of the three games against the 11-4 Stampeders this season. Their regularseason win-loss mark under Jones is 23-10 and counting.
That’s a massive reversal since the Stampeders beat them four times last season, including a 43-18 victory in the West Final. If the Stampeders were the benchmark of success in 2014 — they are the defending Grey Cup champions — then the 2015 Eskimos have attained, if not surpassed, that level of play at this point in the season.
They also have clinched a home playoff berth, which would be the West Final if they keep pace with Calgary the rest of the way.
And yet, the Eskimos business remains unfinished.
“This franchise, the last couple of years, has been working toward getting back to greatness, right?” said Justin Sorensen, the Eskimos offensive centre. “So, yeah, it’s nice to be in first place.
“But the fact is, this game (against the B.C. Lions on Saturday) is just as important as the last one. Because if we lose this game, we’re not in first place anymore.
“So, yes, it’s nice to get there, but it is by no means over yet.”
The Eskimos do keep their focus short — Jones insists on it, for one thing — so much so that the whole ‘next game up’ mantra can get monotonous. But the players are anything but robotic, either in their preparation or on game day.
“You always want to play on an even keel,” Sorensen said. “But our team is an emotional team and we thrive on (our) emotions.
“We’re always going to go out there being little bit emotional. That’s the kind of team we are. We’re not an even-keel team, we show emotions, we make big plays, we rally around that high emotion.”
They also rally around a team-first culture that Jones has installed with near unanimous buy-in, during his two seasons in Edmonton. This group truly believes the ‘next-game-up’ and ‘build-every-week’ mantras they repeat, as if by rote.
“We’re in a good position now,” said go-to receiver Adarius Bowman. “But you could lose the next three and it would put us in a whole ‘nother position.
“Anything can happen in the CFL, you know. You get down to the last four weeks and that makes or breaks some teams. For us, let’s make. Let’s make ourselves in first place at the end.”
Just so. That’s why the Montreal Alouettes traded for quarterback Kevin Glenn on Wednesday. With a veteran pivot in the mix, that 5-9 team could well earn a playoff berth in the West Division, where they could end up playing the Eskimos. Speaking of ‘anything can happen.’
It’s why the Calgary Stampeders traded kicker Tyler Crapigna, a third-round pick in the CFL draft and the rights to a player on their negotiation list to Saskatchewan for battering ram running back Jerome Messam. They also could wind up facing the Eskimos in the playoffs, depending on how the cards are dealt.
Jon Cornish, Calgary’s feature back, is undergoing the concussion protocol after taking a hard hit from Eskimos linebacker Dexter McCoil in Edmonton’s 15-11 victory over the Stampeders last Saturday.
The Eskimos, a relatively healthy team, continue to fine tune what they have.
Bowman, an eight-year CFL veteran, in his fifth season with Edmonton, said one of the keys to the Eskimos approach has been the veteran leaders on the team reinforcing Jones’ messages.
It’s quarterback Mike Reilly not caring about his completion percentage; it’s Bowman not obsessing about his receiving numbers; it’s defensive end Odell Willis dialing down his megawatt personality.
“Honestly, right now, winning makes me excited,” said Bowman, who with 68 catches for 886 yards and five touchdowns, is likely to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in his career.
Bowman said the component that has helped the team focus on short-term goals has been humility not, for example, a surge in confidence.
“We always had confidence,” Bowman said. “It’s humbleness.
“That’s why we reset ourselves every week. That confidence is great to have, but sometimes confidence boosts egos. So, we’ve been stressing humbleness.”
So, Bowman said, he and Willis, for example, players he acknowledged have been known “throughout their careers as cocky guys that care about stats” have set those individual achievements aside to focus on collective goals, week by week by week. That process continues. “We’ve got three games left,” said defensive back Aaron Grymes. “The challenge now is how far can we go?
“How good can we be?”