Eskinews

                This game was the story of two teams going in the opposite direction.  The Edmonton Eskimos were looking to stay in first place while the Argonauts were looking to next year already.  Edmonton got off to a slow start in this game giving up some big yardage in the first quarter, but Toronto was not able to make them pay for it.  Despite leading the Argonauts 19-3 at halftime, the Eskimo offense seemed a little out of sync on this night.

                The Eskimos used a ‘balanced’ attack to defeat the Argonauts throwing the ball 31 times and rushing it 24 times racking up 499 yards of total offense.  Jerome Messam rushed the ball 19 times for 115 yards and is now just 36 yards from becoming the first Canadian to rush for 1000 yards since Sean Millington did it back in 2000.  Ricky Ray had one of his best games in a long time passing for 347 yards, 2 touchdowns and even more importantly…zero interceptions!  Fred Stamps had one of his best games since coming back from being injured back in August as he had 7 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown.  All of the offensive weapons that the Eskimos are going to need to make a run at the Grey Cup, all contributed in this win.

                On the defensive side of the ball, the Eskimos were inconsistent.  Despite keeping the Argonaut offense ‘in check’ for about 55 minutes, it will be the final 5 minutes that will have people talking this week at the water  cooler.  Leading 31-3, the Eskimo defense gave up three touchdowns late in the game to make this game a lot more exciting than it should have been!  It was quite the ‘meltdown’ as the Argo offense all of a sudden came to life and moved the ball at will.  The Eskimos defensive line which had been on fire for the last few weeks did not get to Steven Jyles at all on this night and seldom put any pressure on him!  Even the ‘Special Teams’, which had been quite solid this year, got into it allowing the Argonauts to recover an onside kick that resulted in the second touchdown that made the score 31-17.  In the end, it came down to a final ‘hail Mary’ pass by Steven Jyles that was intercepted by Weldon Brown that preserved the win.

                This sets the stage for a first place showdown next Saturday night at B.C. Place!  I believe the Eskimos will be looking for a little ‘payback’ after losing 33-24 a few weeks ago to the Lions in what was a chippy affair.  Jerome Messam was ejected in that game and a number of Lions were ‘fined’ for their parts in a late game skirmish.  This will be the biggest game of the year for the team as they could move into first place all by themselves with a win.  So far the Eskimos have lost two of the three games to the Lions and right now sit at a -28 when it comes to points.  It will be difficult to erase that differential, but it is not impossible.  Personally, I do not believe the coaching staff will even entertain that thought as the Eskimos control their own destiny.  Win the final two games, and it will not matter how many points they win by next week…the Eskimos would finish first and host the Western Final for the first time since 2003.