Elks: Edmonton Eskimos 2018 v4

[guymez]

So...for the Eskimos today...same old script.

Offence was too inconsistent...I suspect more than anything to suspect play calling by Maas.
Defence simply isnt good enough.

That equals a loss.

I thought the final score flattered the Esks.

 

[yukoner88]

The end of the Argos and riders was fun to watch

 

[Kyle McMahon]

So...for the Eskimos today...same old script.

Offence was too inconsistent...I suspect more than anything to suspect play calling by Maas.
Defence simply isnt good enough.

That equals a loss.

I thought the final score flattered the Esks.

Maas absolutely killed the offense today by going back to Maciocia's play book. 3 yard outs to stationary receivers, pass plays on second down that leave us well short of the first down marker. #OffensiveGuru

Defense gave up a lot of yards, but never broke (well, they broke after Ottawa got given 2 extra yards on a spot that allowed for a 3rd down gamble). Considering how bad the offense was, I can't point fingers at them. They had us in position to win midway through the 4th quarter despite being on the field practically the entire game.

 

[guymez]

Maas absolutely killed the offense today by going back to Maciocia's play book. 3 yard outs to stationary receivers, pass plays on second down that leave us well short of the first down marker. #OffensiveGuru

Defense gave up a lot of yards, but never broke (well, they broke after Ottawa got given 2 extra yards on a spot that allowed for a 3rd down gamble). Considering how bad the offense was, I can't point fingers at them. They had us in position to win midway through the 4th quarter despite being on the field practically the entire game.

Defence was very lucky in my opinion. They need to do more than consistently give up yardage between the 20's.
They need to start pressuring QB's and taking the heat off of the secondary. This passive vanilla defence isnt going to get it done in the playoffs.

Totally agree about Maas though. WTF is he thinking?

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Defence was very lucky in my opinion. They need to do more than consistently give up yardage between the 20's.
They need to start pressuring QB's and taking the heat off of the secondary. This passive vanilla defence isnt going to get it done in the playoffs.

Totally agree about Maas though. WTF is he thinking?

The defense needs to force some 2 and outs. No question. We had 6 sacks today though, I was pretty satisfied with the pressure we got.

Maas' play calling is entering Steve McAdoo territory. It's like we went from throwing deep on every bloody play, to playing dink and dunk Maciocia ball. We went from bad to...bad. A team with the best QB and best receiving corps is the least creative offense in the entire league.

 

[guymez]

The defense needs to force some 2 and outs. No question. We had 6 sacks today though, I was pretty satisfied with the pressure we got.

Maas' play calling is entering Steve McAdoo territory. It's like we went from throwing deep on every bloody play, to playing dink and dunk Maciocia ball. We went from bad to...bad. A team with the best QB and best receiving corps is the least creative offense in the entire league.

I think that 3 of those were coverage sacks. For me sacks are nice but if they dont get sacks and get pressures consistently thats more effective because it completely disrupts the opposing teams offensive schemes.

As for Maas...I dont know what to think. I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt but he is making it really hard to do that.
As you said with the talent he has to work with there is no excuse for the level of play calling inconsistency we have seen so far.


Maas needs to get his s*** together quickly IMO.

 

[guymez]

Well, the game notes for the Eskimo contest look similar to past editions:

- 8 points in the second half, usually not enough to win a CFL game.

-No ball control offence or long sustained drives, the hallmark of past EE clubs since the days of Tom Wilkinson.

- One of the most unimaginative offenses I've seen in EE history. Try something else, like maybe a good old fashioned sweep, a double reverse, a flea flicker, some draw plays or some fakes. Maybe try some running plays with pulling guards headed outside to the wide side of the field instead of always running up the gut. Our head coach is an ex-QB and ex- offensive coordinator so you would think that a varied offensive attack would be the most important trait in the team's character but its just not so.

- Defence just wasn't good enough when they absolutely had to be. Lots of missed tackles. We simply have to find someone better at that safety position. There must be a capable Canadian somewhere. Is Trent Brown still living in the Edmonton area? Can John Farlinger still leg it out?

-Very little confidence in the field goal unit. 45 yards seems to be max.

-Mitchell, Hazelton and Williams were bright spots as was Jackson but he needs some blocks to help him out. When do you finally make a statement by getting a new special teams coordinator, if only to make a point that if you can't deliver, you can't stay with the team. It's not a charity event.

-Reilly was very ordinary in the game.

-Boateng has been our best defensive player in 2018.

Excellent post.

Completely agree about the offence. I just wonder how much of the issue is play calling....I think that has really hamstrung the offence too much the past few weeks. So inconsistent.

As for the defence...
I understand that Benevides was schooled by Buono about running conservative defences but I think he has taken it to an extreme. This is such a vanilla defence,,,very tough to watch game in and game out.

Hoping we see some magic from Jackson next game. If not then I have to question the blocking schemes on ST.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

I think that 3 of those were coverage sacks. For me sacks are nice but if they dont get sacks and get pressures consistently thats more effective because it completely disrupts the opposing teams offensive schemes.

As for Maas...I dont know what to think. I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt but he is making it really hard to do that.
As you said with the talent he has to work with there is no excuse for the level of play calling inconsistency we have seen so far.


Maas needs to get his s*** together quickly IMO.

It's tough to get consistent pressure on 4 man rushes, and that comes back to the conservative Benefeces scheming. I don't know why they don't blitz Edwards on every single play. He can't cover or tackle worth a crap.

Speaking of blitzing, Chris Jones probably saved the game today by practically calling a jailbreak on Toronto's last two plays before the 50 yard FG attempt. I have to think any other coach in this league probably doesn't have the stones to do that, and lets Toronto pick up a few yards to get closer.

 

[iCanada]

Sometimes i wonder if Maas doesn't overthink himself into corners sometimes.

The number of times he's called plays in the same sequence is concerning. We ran on first down, then threw on 2nd down predictably all game until we needed 2 tds in like a minute.

I dunno, just almost seems like he's thinking no one would assume he'd keep doing it, so he keeps doing it. Because we have all the tools we could want offensively.

The other thing is, its suspicious to me that the playcalling looked great vs Calgary, but suspect otherwise; why can we carve up the best defense in the league, but look just ineffective vs yhe likes of Montreal and Toronto? Is Maas sandbagging perhaps?

Or is he just as uncreative as he seems? Idk, he was creative as hell with an Ottawa team that was frankly not that great as an O.C. as well. Like... he's proven?

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Wtf did I just witness from June Jones?

 

[iCanada]

Lol wtf Hamilton.

 

[iCanada]

I think that convert is good. Close enough it should be good, imo.

Edit: it counts. June Jones... lol.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

I had under 50.5 for the total. Jones bizarre call saved me. Or so I thought. How on freaking earth do you let Jonathon Jennings go 75 yards in 30 seconds. Worst beat ever, f*** me. 24 points in the final 2:40.

Maas in the western final level of stupidity there by Jones. Beyond insane.

 

[Cloned]

Maybe the Esks missing the playoffs in a GC host year would be enough to get some of these clowns fired.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

BC with a gift from the gods. Incredible. And they're now just two points behind us. Absolute worst case scenario for us this weekend.

Why can't these ridiculous one in a million scenarios ever happen in our favour?

 

[McTrashBoat]

Lol wtf Hamilton.

all they had to do was kick a what? 38 yard FG?

what an end

 

[iCanada]

This game ended with justice.

June Jones deserves this loss. Turned down a 42 years FG. Lol. Even if you failed you're still in the same spot.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Even more baffling, he didn't even punt for the corner. I'm honestly as flabbergasted right now as I was last November.

This is the third win the Lions have absolutely pulled out of their asses. How the hell is that team 6-6 with Jennings...

 

[iCanada]

Right. Like if you have zero faith in the field goal then pin them on their 5 yard line and play prevent D.

Just... yikes. That's Maas playoffs bad.

 

[Cloned]

Even more baffling, he didn't even punt for the corner. I'm honestly as flabbergasted right now as I was last November.

This is the third win the Lions have absolutely pulled out of their asses. How the hell is that team 6-6 with Jennings...

It’s ironic because just a few days ago you were impressed with Jones’ growth as a coach. Now he’s thrown all that growth into the garbage.

 

[TB12]

Rod Black has always been horrendous. His general knowledge of football is worse than your average casual viewer in a bar.

I firmly believe he actively hurts TSN's viewing numbers. I will turn a game off if he's commenting and the Esks aren't involved. He straight up sucks. WOAT.

 

[guymez]

BC with a gift from the gods. Incredible. And they're now just two points behind us. Absolute worst case scenario for us this weekend.

Why can't these ridiculous one in a million scenarios ever happen in our favour?

BC has a game in hand and I believe they have the tiebreaker too.

 

[Drivesaitl]

The Jones call there is predictable to think that your team is not going to give up a major in 33secs. That's an NFL type of decision, but made in the CFL. This is the inherent problem with coaches that have less familiarity with Canadian ball.

Its amazing as well how much coaches overthink themselves into some weird corner. You could even see Jones was worried about his call the whole time BC had the ball. The nightmare just got worse and worse as The Leos drove the ball down the field but Jones expression alone belied he knew he made the wrong call even before BC scored the TD.

I was hoping for a BC W because I want the Esks to have to earn a playoff spot, not to back in.

 

[guymez]

Man...June Jones really did channel his inner Jason Maas in this game.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

BC has a game in hand and I believe they have the tiebreaker too.

We play them again this year, so that game will decide the tie breaker.

It’s ironic because just a few days ago you were impressed with Jones’ growth as a coach. Now he’s thrown all that growth into the garbage.

Yup. An indefensible decision, and you can tell the players were pissed. Hope for his sake he didn't just lose the locker room. Hajralahu was landing 50+ yard attempts deep in the endzone after they went through the uprights. Even if he'd missed wide from 45, the ball is going to land way at the back of the endzone if not go right through it.

Speaking of 50+ yard field goals, it really became apparent today that Whyte is on borrowed time, or at least should be. Lauther hit a 56 yarder, Long and Hajralahu both hit 50+ yarders with distance to spare. Meideros missed wide from 51, but it had plenty of leg. Whyte being a question mark distance-wise from beyond 40 is really becoming a hindrance compared to everyone else.