Elks: Edmonton Eskimos Thread 2015: Part 2

[guymez]

They gift wrapped two field goals that should have been toughdowns in the first half, and had Nichols running for his life, when he wasn't getting crushed. Bombers moved the ball better in the 2nd half, but that was more likely due to the fact that they went with a 3 man rush.
I don't care what Nichols did as an Eskimo. He isn't anymore. He is now an opposing teams QB. And if you ask any QB which defence he's rather be playing against, Winnipeg's or Edmonton's, that should take about 1/2 a second to answer. He had by far the tougher task today, and outplayed Reilly. That is a fact. Reilly threw 2 terrible interceptions today that he should have either eaten or thrown away. And I am not a Nichols fan. But I'll give the man his due today. With a different game plan and scheme, he actually looked competent, especially in the crunch time, the 2nd half. His kicker let him and his team down in a huge way. We needed a monster miracle kick to win.

Completely agree. The Esks were extremely lucky to win that game.

Nichols did indeed out play Reilly and the Bombers return game looked like it might win the game for them all by itself.

Reilly needs to get his crap together because he is holding the team back right now.

 

[Starbuds]

^^ I meant the sound capturing and intimate nature of the seating arrangement aas it encloses and looms over the field. Makes for good atmosphere. None of what you typed means a thing to me.

 

[Tyrolean]

I highly doubt the Esks under Reilly will beat the Stamps and go the GC this year, the way he's been playing lately.

 

[Replacement*]

I highly doubt the Esks under Reilly will beat the Stamps and go the GC this year, the way he's been playing lately.

Well, without Reilly nobody would even be thinking of the possibility of beating Calgary so I'm not sure what the point is.

Reilly passed for near 300yds, ran for 50 more, and was the usual warrior on the field and the single best Eskimos on the field. On a day where the Oline was indescribably AWFUL considering the line was healthy. WTF was that about. Reilly was running for life every 2nd down out there.

Welcome to another week of recrimination about Mike Reilly's performance.

I'll take this over any options we've had.

Anybody gonna come out and blast the Oline for the awful performance. When they weren't blocking anything they were jumping early resulting in 3 procedure calls.

A forgettable outing, but name one Eskimo that played better than Reilly yesterday. Maybe Walker. That's it.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Forget Calgary, unless that offense improves we might lose to the East crossover.

 

[Replacement*]

Forget Calgary, unless that offense improves we might lose to the East crossover.

The offense was the only unit that played well in the game. We got beat on the other two sides of the ball. Atypically.

That was just an awful performance on special teams all round. Gave up 200yds on returns

D did absolutely nothing in 2nd half.

3 potential picks dropped.

never got any heat on Nichols the entire 2nd half. Even when they had him they let him evade tackle. Really poor performance by the D giving the league worst offense all those first downs.

 

[Stoneman89]

I don't think anyone here is blaming Reilly for the sake of blaming him or absolving all others for any blame. But let's be honest. He is the QB. He touches the ball every offensive play. We are playing teams that have crappy records and they have crappy records for a reason. The training wheels and excuses should be about done for him. He's had 4 games now in the fire. Looks like his knee is fine based on how he's running. Maybe not 100 % but good enough to not hamper him. We have both O'Donnell and Rottier back, which no other QB on the our team had before. Are we winning? Yes, and that is the most important thing. But a close 2nd to that is is it sustainable when the crunch comes? We will find out about that this Saturday night. Any coach will tell you that eventually, poor play will rear it's ugly head.

Not buying any more excuses. Wind issues. Rain issues. Injuries on the line. Incompetent receivers. Still think the game plan stinks, but that would apply to any QB back there. And also not buying he was running for his life most of the game. More often than not, he had plenty of time, and couldn't find a man. THEN, he ran for his life. A guy that was running for his life was Nichols. Threw at least 4 completions while being hauled down. And a batch of others a split second before being crunched. He showed me some stuff yesterday which I didn't think he had. Tough to hang a lot on this defence. They've played their hearts out this year, most of the time giving us prime field position when we can't seem to get it ourselves, and even chipping in with scoring. There must have been a 1/2 dozen passes yesterday that a defender got his fingernails on or missed the ball by inches. Nichols was on fire, never threw a pick, and bounced back from getting hammered in the first half, something that apparently was going to make him succumb after the very first hit. Reilly got outplayed, plain and simple, and the two interceptions were horrid choices and easy picks by the Bombers. I expect better from a veteran QB. I love his toughness, his competitiveness and his will. But eventually, a good team comes up that is just as competitive and then it is down to playing smart. Half of his trouble yesterday was that he had difficulty picking out an open man, and then got hammered, or failing to pick up a blitz, and dumping the ball off quickly to a release man. We need to have better quarterbacking if we hope to beat out the Stampeders. I sure hope he gets his **** together for next Saturday. We're going to need it to have any chance.

 

[Tyrolean]

Forget Calgary, unless that offense improves we might lose to the East crossover.

I bet we play BC and they will be tough.

 

[Stoneman89]

The offense was the only unit that played well in the game. We got beat on the other two sides of the ball. Atypically.

That was just an awful performance on special teams all round. Gave up 200yds on returns

D did absolutely nothing in 2nd half.

3 potential picks dropped.

never got any heat on Nichols the entire 2nd half. Even when they had him they let him evade tackle. Really poor performance by the D giving the league worst offense all those first downs.

- Jones said himself the offence was terrible the first half.

- special teams were fine in the 2nd half

- Bowman was wide open and made a miraculous catch on a throw that was way behind him

- two terrible decisions to throw the ball up for grabs in the 2nd half

- inability to find open receivers when there was time allowed

- D just missed several balls that snuck in by inches. It happens. They were right there several times. Pinpoint passes. Credit where it is due.

- a couple potential INT's would have been fantastic catches. No ragging on the D. They have hekd us in there way too many times, including the first half of this one. Had we scored in the first half like we should have, this game is over by the 2nd and we cruise.


We have some work to do.

 

[Stoneman89]

I bet we play BC and they will be tough.

Said earlier the Lions were going to give us trouble long before that, like in 2 weeks time. Jennings is for real, a phenomenal athlete, and Andrew Harris is back, and he loves playing against us.

 

[Replacement*]

I don't think anyone here is blaming Reilly for the sake of blaming him or absolving all others for any blame. But let's be honest. He is the QB. He touches the ball every offensive play. We are playing teams that have crappy records and they have crappy records for a reason. The training wheels and excuses should be about done for him. He's had 4 games now in the fire. Looks like his knee is fine based on how he's running. Maybe not 100 % but good enough to not hamper him. We have both O'Donnell and Rottier back, which no other QB on the our team had before. Are we winning? Yes, and that is the most important thing. But a close 2nd to that is is it sustainable when the crunch comes? We will find out about that this Saturday night. Any coach will tell you that eventually, poor play will rear it's ugly head.

Not buying any more excuses. Wind issues. Rain issues. Injuries on the line. Incompetent receivers. Still think the game plan stinks, but that would apply to any QB back there. And also not buying he was running for his life most of the game. More often than not, he had plenty of time, and couldn't find a man. THEN, he ran for his life. A guy that was running for his life was Nichols. Threw at least 4 completions while being hauled down. And a batch of others a split second before being crunched. He showed me some stuff yesterday which I didn't think he had. Tough to hang a lot on this defence. They've played their hearts out this year, most of the time giving us prime field position when we can't seem to get it ourselves, and even chipping in with scoring. There must have been a 1/2 dozen passes yesterday that a defender got his fingernails on or missed the ball by inches. Nichols was on fire, never threw a pick, and bounced back from getting hammered in the first half, something that apparently was going to make him succumb after the very first hit. Reilly got outplayed, plain and simple, and the two interceptions were horrid choices and easy picks by the Bombers. I expect better from a veteran QB. I love his toughness, his competitiveness and his will. But eventually, a good team comes up that is just as competitive and then it is down to playing smart. Half of his trouble yesterday was that he had difficulty picking out an open man, and then got hammered, or failing to pick up a blitz, and dumping the ball off quickly to a release man. We need to have better quarterbacking if we hope to beat out the Stampeders. I sure hope he gets his **** together for next Saturday. We're going to need it to have any chance.

Reilly was running for his life half the time. There were few downs where he had the comfort the Esks D afforded Nichols where he could just sit back patiently waiting for a guy to get open. The steamboats we gave Nichols in the 2nd half was flat out ridiculous. Forgetting to have anybody even spy Nichols on the 30yd gain where no Eskimo was even in view was ridiculous.

When Reilly had "time" he was scrambling for his life or watching an Oline be pushed back 5yds right into his face.

This was the worst Oline performance of the year and no excuse for it with personnel back.

Still Reilly managed to pass for nearl 300 yds while sprinting around trying to evade yet another gang tackle.

The Oline was disgusting.

 

[Stoneman89]

The defence is not going to be perfect every game. We've come to expect that from them based on their stellar performance this year and last. But there are times the offence has to step up and bring fireworks. We needed that this game, and it sputtered. Again, lots of work needed.

 

[Replacement*]

- Jones said himself the offence was terrible the first half.

- special teams were fine in the 2nd half

- Bowman was wide open and made a miraculous catch on a throw that was way behind him

- two terrible decisions to throw the ball up for grabs in the 2nd half

- inability to find open receivers when there was time allowed

- D just missed several balls that snuck in by inches. It happens. They were right there several times. Pinpoint passes. Credit where it is due.

- a couple potential INT's would have been fantastic catches. No ragging on the D. They have hekd us in there way too many times, including the first half of this one. Had we scored in the first half like we should have, this game is over by the 2nd and we cruise.


We have some work to do.

You know what? One of the things I was really hopeful for when large screen HDTV's first came out was that there would be different use of cameras, i.e. showing more ice, more field, etc. For instance when hdtv first came out I remember watching some international games where most of the ice surface was shown. That was great as a viewer. Like being at the game.

but alas once again the cameras film games as if I don't have a wide screen. They film exactly the way they did for the previous TV universe.

Why do I mention this. I can't see much of the length of the field, I can't spot the open recievers, can't really see much of what is open and whats not.

I think I can only comment on that by attending the games again. I can't really say if Reilly is missing check down on target that are open or not.

 

[Replacement*]

The defence is not going to be perfect every game. We've come to expect that from them based on their stellar performance this year and last. But there are times the offence has to step up and bring fireworks. We needed that this game, and it sputtered. Again, lots of work needed.

I think its a legitimate question how much pts can be expected when the offense is looking at long fields everytime except the start of the game.

probability of scoring drives in any level of pro football is lower when your starting inside your 25yd line.

But anyway, looking at the scorelines this week. In 4 GP 5 teams scored less pts than the Esks did. 2 scored more in what were blowouts.

One was against the hapless Riders that gave up on the season around half a dozen games ago.

CFL is not as wide open a league as people seem to remember it. Average scoring is down league wide.

I think a bigger question is how we managed to give up 23 pts(and should've been 30 counting missed FG's) to a horrible bombers squad that has averaged 18pts/game.

 

[Gord]

morning all. hope you had a good weekend.

recorded the game and watched it late Saturday night. what a pile of garbage. I can't see how the esks are calling themselves a grey cup contender.
the are a good team, but nowhere near a great team. Calgary is going to blow them out if they play like they have the last few weeks.

I know a win is a win, but I also wouldn't mind seeing some quality football.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Winnipeg is not a good team at all and we lucked out a victory against them.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

Winnipeg is not a good team at all and we lucked out a victory against them.

The Stamps did too.

 

[McHilman]

^ Exactly, the Stamps scored two field goals in the last 48 seconds to beat the Ticats by three points who had Jeff Mathews playing in at QB with his first career start.

As bad as the Esks looked, the Stamps haven't looked much better and are very beatable.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

^ Exactly, the Stamps scored two field goals in the last 48 seconds to beat the Ticats by three points who had Jeff Mathews playing in at QB with his first career start.

As bad as the Esks looked, the Stamps haven't looked much better and are very beatable.

Basically the CFL is being as odd as ever this year.

 

[MoneyGuy]

Winnipeg is not a good team at all and we lucked out a victory against them.

Same Winnipeg team that almost best Calgary. No team has distinguished itself this season and the best team in the league has lost the best QB in the league so any one of three teams has a decent chance, in my opinion. Lots can change from now to the playoffs. Besides, a lot of sports games are played between the ears. Teams play a lot differently when it's all on the line versus when the games are less meaningful.

 

[Beerfish]

I highly doubt the Esks under Reilly will beat the Stamps and go the GC this year, the way he's been playing lately.

Calgary has looked just as dubious as the Esks the last number of wins they have had. In my mind there are legitimately 6 teams that could win the cup this year, the Esks and Stamps have both been unimpressive and either or both are ripe for the picking. BC is starting to look dangerous.

 

[Stoneman89]

Calgary has looked just as dubious as the Esks the last number of wins they have had. In my mind there are legitimately 6 teams that could win the cup this year, the Esks and Stamps have both been unimpressive and either or both are ripe for the picking. BC is starting to look dangerous.

Exactly what I'm thinking. There is separation being made in the standings but not in the quality of football being played between the teams. B.C. scares the crap out of me.

 

[Replacement*]

Exactly what I'm thinking. There is separation being made in the standings but not in the quality of football being played between the teams. B.C. scares the crap out of me.

BC is a good club. Not sure why the Esks were expected to roll over them. They've had considerable injury trouble and are getting back on form.

Most CFL orgs know that nothing before September really matters. This league is decided in the fall.

Especially considering how poor some clubs are and how few wins a club needs to make the playoffs.

Being better than the Riders and Bombers on the whole is not a stiff assignment in the standings.

Sure wouldn't want to have to call what happens in the playoffs.

 

[K1984]

Does anyone else find it curious that Nichols never looked even close to as good as he did on the weekend when he was in Edmonton, and Reilly has mysteriously fallen apart since returning?

The common denominator has been the atrocious play calling and game planning. Although it was clear that Nichols was an average at best talent, the play calling still left a lot to be desired while here. Then he goes to a different offense and looks like Aaron Rodgers.

The playbook looks like they dusted Maciocia's off the shelf. Screen plays, 5-10 yard curl routes, and throws to the far sideline dominate. I'm not sure if they have a crossing route in the playbook. I don't think they have hit a receiver in motion in the last five games. Just way, way too vanilla and so easy to defend.

It was painful last week when the team had great field position twice early in the game and had zero killer instinct. We should have been up 14-0 early, but instead we decided to dink and dunk our way to field goals. Nearly (should have) cost us the game.

 

[Replacement*]

Does anyone else find it curious that Nichols never looked even close to as good as he did on the weekend when he was in Edmonton, and Reilly has mysteriously fallen apart since returning?

The common denominator has been the atrocious play calling and game planning. Although it was clear that Nichols was an average at best talent, the play calling still left a lot to be desired while here. Then he goes to a different offense and looks like Aaron Rodgers.

The playbook looks like they dusted Maciocia's off the shelf. Screen plays, 5-10 yard curl routes, and throws to the far sideline dominate. I'm not sure if they have a crossing route in the playbook. I don't think they have hit a receiver in motion in the last five games. Just way, way too vanilla and so easy to defend.

It was painful last week when the team had great field position twice early in the game and had zero killer instinct. We should have been up 14-0 early, but instead we decided to dink and dunk our way to field goals. Nearly (should have) cost us the game.

Nichols didn't evade hardly any tackles here like he did on the weekend. He barely ever took off to move the yardsticks himself. The Nichols viewed in the second half is unlike his play here.

Because the player realizes his stint in pro football is nearly up.

This happens to players is they play better after a wake up call. Nichols, by his own accounts felt he played very well in Edmonton this year and that he contributed considerably to the team having a 5-2 start. Nichols was incredulous that the team cut him after that. He's been very barbed, even hostile about that. He's gone as far to say he should have tanked the last game against Winnipeg( looked like he was trying) and that it would serve the eskimos right.

His comments quoted in the paper on Friday were ridiculous. 2 of the wins were Franklin saves. The other was the D.

Nichols really wasn't bringing it here. It happens.

Reilly on the other hand is playing with a full leg brace with the type of injury that would keep a Nichols out all season.

Reilly is less than 100% and playing reasonably well. He really needs to be seeing some better protection though.

I'm still disappointed the D didn't plant Nichols head in the Investors Field turf. Guy was trash talking the Esks all week.