Esks know Als defence has evolved since opening day
The Edmonton Eskimos are starting their post-season the same way they opened the 2019 Canadian Football League regular season, against the Montreal Alouettes.
Well, one version of them, at least.
Back then, the Eskimos racked up a season-high 608 yards of net offence on their way to a 32-25 victory at Commonwealth Stadium — to the surprise of absolutely no one.
After all, the Alouettes had just fired head coach Mike Sherman days before, handing the reins to offensive co-ordinator Khari Jones.
But by the time the two teams met again, the Alouettes split the season series and improved to 3-2 with a 20-10 win over the Eskimos at Percival Molson Stadium, the site of Sunday’s East Division semifinal (11 a.m., TSN, 630 CHED).
And before that one, the Alouettes fired general manager Kavis Reed amid a swirl of controversy.
Fast-forward to this week’s rubber match between the two teams, where the loser goes home, and it’s more than a little surprising the Alouettes not only survived, but thrived through the tumultuous start.
“To get rid of your GM and head coach early in the season, that doesn’t usually lead to a lot of success,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas, who will be coaching his fifth playoff game with the team. “You see it work both ways, but obviously it’s worked for them and your hats got to be off to them. I think Khari has done a tremendous job leading that organization and leading that team since the changes have been made.
The Alouettes were 6-3 at home this season, while the Eskimos went 3-6 on the road. That win on opening day was the lone victory Edmonton managed against a team that finished with a winning record.
“It feels like it was a long, long time ago. It feels like it was 21 weeks ago,” said Maas, whose 8-10 record this season was the first time the Eskimos were sub- 500 during his tenure. “We’ve watched all the film we’ve needed to prepare for them. We’ve played them twice. So as much as those games haven’t been played for quite a while, we’re still somewhat familiar with them. And obviously, like I said, we’ve watched a ton of film.”
Enough to know they can’t count on another 600-yard performance against the Alouettes.
“It takes some time and they have obviously adjusted,” said Maas. “They’ve done an extremely good job all throughout the year, they’ve been very opportunistic. They’re tough and they’re obviously much better than the first game you played them. And if you’re a playoff team, that means you’ve gotten better throughout the year and they’ve done that.
“Obviously, they’ve gotten extremely good on defence and then they’ve just learned their defence. And anytime a new co-ordinator comes into the league, they’ve got to get their feet wet too.”
But the Alouettes aren’t the only ones who have endured and evolved throughout the season.
“If you’re not getting better than then shame on you as a team, but I do feel like we’re progressing as a team,” Eskimos quarterback Trevor Harris said, adding there are still lessons that can be pulled from their first meeting of the season. “We were able to feel each other out early and feel good about the way we were executing and you can kind of feel that coming on again.”