THE CANADIAN PRESS
Now it would of course be fool-hardy to take just one single moment from one game and point to it as a microcosm of a team’s entire season, but have I ever been accused of consistent rational thought? So let’s give it a try. There were a couple of plays that stuck out for me from Saskatchewan’s 26-23 win over Edmonton and one of the biggest ones was an incomplete pass by Mike Reilly that feels like it sums up the Eskimos’ season to this point.
Edmonton is pinned back at its own 10-yard-line early in the second quarter and Reilly has plenty of time to pass despite a five-man rush by the Roughriders. Now as a general rule, whenever a team’s blitz is successfully picked up, that usually means an inevitable big play by the offence, especially when the quarterback is the league’s leading passer. Reilly steps up in the pocket and spots a wide open Derel Walker with former Eskimo Otha Foster trailing by three yards. So you have a linebacker chugging to keep up with the league’s number two receiver in yardage. This is about to be a 100-yard play that will silent the Mosaic Stadium crowd hoping to see at least one more home win (just 1-4 at home coming into the game) before the stadium is torn down. Nope. Instead, the ball is just an inch off — crisis averted for the home squad and Edmonton would have to punt five plays later.
Yes, I understand that it’s a wild oversimplification, but that one play kinda encapsulates so much of the 2016 season for Edmonton. So many losses have felt like Edmonton was just a couple yards away from victory. The Eskimos have all this fire power on offence with Reilly, Walker and of course the league’s most dangerous player, Adarius Bowman, yet they find themselves in fourth in the West fighting for their playoff lives. We live in a fantasy football world where the stars of the game are quarterbacks and receivers so it’s difficult for us to compute the idea that Edmonton has both a losing record and such an explosive roster. For many observers, the Eskimos’ losing record is just weird.
Let me take you back to one more, even smaller play that may help to explain just what the hell is going on in Edmonton. On Saskatchewan’s second play from scrimmage, Darian Durant would take off for a 25-yard run. An impressive play but not one that had any direct impact on the outcome as the Roughriders would have to punt the ball away soon afterwards. I noticed that Durant managed to keep himself just out of the reach of Deon Lacey despite being eight years older than the Eskimo linebacker. Of course, this play isn’t all about Lacey – Odell Willis and Almondo Sewell both had shots at taking down Durant behind the line of scrimmage and also failed to do so. Bigger picture, this play reminded of me of the obvious reason for Edmonton’s sub .500 record: Its defence.
Just go back and look at the team’s 2015 Grey Cup roster compared to who started on Sunday. Missing are so many stars and productive players like Willie Jefferson (tied for second on the team in sacks in 2015), Otha Foster (Started 33 games the previous two years with Edmonton), All-Star Aaron Grymes (now with the Philadelphia Eagles) and All-Star Dexter McCoil (signed with the San Diego Chargers). Edmonton’s defensive woes are not just about the talent lost but the new players that have replaced them.
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Darian Durant picked up his first win in two years vs. the Eskimos (The Canadian Press)
I have no doubt some of the younger guys we saw on Sunday will become effective players but it takes time, especially with a first-time head coach in Jason Maas. I see a newcomer in Jabari Hunt on the defensive line, a rookie at linebacker in Kenny Ladler, John Ojo is out for the year in the secondary plus there are several other players that are either new to Edmonton or are just now becoming full-time starters instead of plying their trade on special teams. The defensive side of the roster is filled with so many guys dealing with a wide variety of different transitions. This is not to excuse their play; let’s face it, they have been downright awful for huge stretches of the season. I’m merely trying to explain the origins of the team’s drop-off.
On the other side, how could you not be happy for Saskatchewan? Okay, scratch that question considering the nature of Chris Jones’ arrival in Regina and the Riders’ earlier (sudden coughing fit) roster shenanigans. All right, can we at least feel good for Durant, who had lost his last 10 games in a row as a starter? It was so much fun watching the reaction both on the Saskatchewan sidelines and in the end zone after Durant just got past JC Sherritt for the game-winning touchdown run in overtime.
I don’t want to hear anyone complaining about how the Riders looked foolish with just how enthusiastically they were celebrating. Spare me the whole “what the hell is a two win team celebrating for” old-school argument. Football is hard. It’s painful. It must stink putting in all that work and 10 times walking away with such an empty feeling. Watching the guys go bonkers close to Chris Jones or mobbing Durant, I couldn’t help but feel really happy for a group of players that have known nothing but disappointment since the end of June.
This will be a lost year, a learning year for Chris Jones’ squad, but on this day the players and the organization were allowed to feel that at least some progress has being realized.
