REDBLACKS STILL TRYING TO FIND OFFENSIVE GROOVE
This football thing, it’s so fickle. A bit more than a month ago, coming off a heartstopping 48-42 win over the Calgary Stampeders, we were talking about the Mike Reilly-led Edmonton Eskimos offence as an unstoppable force.
But something happened. True enough, it was devastating to lose receiver Derel Walker foruptotwomonthswithan injury. But it has been more than that. After beating Calgary, then taking a bye week, the Eskimos stumbled through a 28-15 loss in Ottawa. They haven’t scored a touchdown since then — two full games — losing 30-3 to Winnipeg and 19-12 to Saskatchewan.
Same with the Ottawa Redblacks, at times, this season. They’ve put up 40 points on Saskatchewan, 41 on Toronto and 44 on Winnipeg. But in too many other games the offence has looked lost. It waited until late in the fourth quarter last week against Winnipeg to score 15 points and force overtime (Ottawa lost 40-32).
So what’s going on with two teams that will meet with plenty on the line Saturday afternoon?
“You’re going to go through the ups and downs of a season: you play well, you don’t play well, where you’re moving the ball but not scoring points or you’re not scoring enough points,” said Redblacks offensive co-ordinator Jaime Elizondo. “You need resiliency and mental toughness as a team to be able to go through the ups and downs. Last week was an emotionally tough game, to come back and tie it like we did, then lose it in overtime. The stronger teams, the more resilient teams are the ones that survive those ups and downs.”
But maybe we’re getting too caught up in the negatives, maybe we should be more focused on the Redblacks’ 8-6 record and first-place standing in the CFL East. The team is looking to close out the final four regular-season games strong and grab momentum heading into the playoffs.
“If you’d said at the beginning of the season we’d be in first place with four games left, we’d have been pretty happy with that,” said Elizondo. “These games, this is what October and November is all about. There’s a misnomer in sports where they say you have to rise up to the occasion. No, you have to do what you normally do and you have to do it well. Some people say the (New York) Yankees choked (against the Boston Red Sox). It’s not that they choked, they just didn’t perform at the level they should consistently perform at.”
The Eskimos were without Reilly, the CFL’s most outstanding player in 2017, for Friday’s walkthrough. The veteran quarterback was home with the flu. Explained Eskimos coach Jason Maas: “He just wanted to stay home so he doesn’t infect everybody else. He’ll be ready Saturday.”
With a 7-8 record, the Eskimos are in last place in the West, in danger of missing the playoffs.
“From what I know of Mike, I’d be quite shocked (if he didn’t play)," said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell. “We’ll plan that he’ll be here playing. When Reilly’s going, they kind of go. If you can get pressure on him, however that is, through blitzing or just getting a good pass rush, you have to make him feel uncomfortable in some way.”
Of big concern to Maas and the Eskimos is a statistic that shows the team is minus-11 in turnovers in its past three games. In the 12 previous games, the Eskimos were plus-5.
“I don’t want guys to play scared,” said Maas. “You don’t play scared trying to protect the ball. We’ve played better than what our offensive production has been. But at the same time, we have to be better.”
The Eskimos also going to want to keep their quarterback on his feet. They are second-worst in the CFL in sacks allowed with 35 (Montreal has a whopping 59). The team has made a big adjustment this week, starting former Redblacks offensive lineman Tommie Draheim (returning after being injured in Game 1 of the season) at left tackle.
The Redblacks will want to keep their own quarterback, Trevor Harris, on his feet (Ottawa has allowed 34 sacks, third-worst in the league). He’s been very effective when he’s had time. Teams that have had success have sent everything but the kitchen sink at Harris.
“We have to move the pocket, we have to get the ball thrown quickly,” said Elizondo. “I also think when you establish a run game, that helps.”
How has Harris dealt with the adversity slung his way when the offence has struggled?
“The nature of the business in pro football is if you play a bad game or two, you get labelled as inconsistent,” he said. “The nature of our society is to jump the gun and say, 'Oh, has he lost it?' You just have to roll with the punches, understand who you are and believe in yourself.”
The Redblacks versus the Eskimos has become a good rivalry. Maas is Ottawa’s former offensive co-ordinator, GM Brock Sunderland was Marcel Desjardins’ assistant in Ottawa and there are at least 14 players who have connections to the Redblacks, with four of them — defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, defensive back Forrest Hightower and offensive linemen Draheim and Colin Kelly — starting Saturday.
“I’ve been hungry since the last time we played Ottawa,” said Kelly. “I just want to win. We have to win this one, then we’ll worry about the rest later.”
Asked if it helped in his team’s preparation that the Eskimos faced the Redblacks three weeks ago, Maas said: “Absolutely it does. You just know what they’re about. They’re a good football team, they’re well coached.”
Two wins out of their remaining four games (as long as one of them comes against secondplace Hamilton) locks up first place for the Redblacks. But they’re not looking at it that way.
Said Nigel Romick, who leads the CFL in special-teams tackles with 18: “Win two? Why can’t we win four?”
THE END AROUND: Safety Antoine Pruneau (hand) stayed home. Said Campbell: “I know it’s killing him inside — he wants to be out there helping his team out.” ... Linebacker Kevin Brown was added to the six-game injured list Friday . ... Kyries Hebert is listed as the starter at WILL linebacker, with Avery Williams in the middle and Anthony Cioffi at SAM.