Elks: Edmonton Eskimos Thread 2.0: 7 - 5

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

I missed all of the Esks games except the season opener due to being in the hospital and recently watched them after downloading the torrents... gotta say as somebody who used to criticize Reilly for his sometimes happy feet and lack of pocket presence two or three seasons ago, I have to say that he his improvements in terms of reading a defense and progressing through his reads, his two step drop and poise in the pocket and especially his accuracy is absolutely phenomenal.

Never questioned his leadership ability or heart and I've always appreciated his knack of being able to rise to the occasion in the biggest moments but as of this point in time, the guy is pretty is pretty much the definition of the perfect QB if you could draw up the ideal attributes you'd want in one.

It's unbelievable that this team is (knock on wood) 7-0 with the rash of injuries they've sustained. I don't know if I've ever seen a football team suffer the amount of losses to starters, never mind star players, as this iteration of the football team has. Absolute insanity. It is almost hard to believe that the quality of the depth two and three strings deep has been good enough.

 

[SullivanT]

Man another injury who would of thought

 

[Del Preston]

7-0!

 

[nabob]

That Trevor Harris sad face at the end was almost as good as Johnny Hockey's last season. Guy looked devastated.
7-0!!!

 

[RipsADrive]

Man another injury who would of thought

And to another key player.

I won't say it but based on the area the trainer went to and how he had to be carried off the field I'm not optimistic about the outlook.

Another huge win. This club keeps on ticking.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

wow, Esks keep finding ways

unreal

Reilly is such a stud

 

[Cloned]

So what I'm getting from this is that the Esks could field 3 teams in the CFL this year and as long as Reilly was the QB for each of those teams they would all be 7-0.

 

[JSlick]

Sewell and Howard are down
Who's next? Esks will be playing their entire C team by the time the season ends

 

[Kyle McMahon]

There's a non-trivial chance we could lose out and still make the playoffs.

 

[Cloned]

There's a non-trivial chance we could lose out and still make the playoffs.

Considering our injury situation this could actually happen.

 

[JordanGalhanth]

Thread title needs to be changed to 7.0.

 

[Cloned]

I missed all of the Esks games except the season opener due to being in the hospital and recently watched them after downloading the torrents... gotta say as somebody who used to criticize Reilly for his sometimes happy feet and lack of pocket presence two or three seasons ago, I have to say that he his improvements in terms of reading a defense and progressing through his reads, his two step drop and poise in the pocket and especially his accuracy is absolutely phenomenal.

Never questioned his leadership ability or heart and I've always appreciated his knack of being able to rise to the occasion in the biggest moments but as of this point in time, the guy is pretty is pretty much the definition of the perfect QB if you could draw up the ideal attributes you'd want in one.

It's unbelievable that this team is (knock on wood) 7-0 with the rash of injuries they've sustained. I don't know if I've ever seen a football team suffer the amount of losses to starters, never mind star players, as this iteration of the football team has. Absolute insanity. It is almost hard to believe that the quality of the depth two and three strings deep has been good enough.

Maas is a good coach with some pretty epic playbook superiority over the rest of the league right now.

Benevides has been very good this year as well.

 

[MoontoScott]

Man I like Perkins.

This guy is an animal.

In the pre-season there wasn't much to pick between Van, Perkins and Grice so its not surprising that Perkins has got it done and I notice that Grice is back on the practise roster.

 

[MoontoScott]

Sewell and Howard are down
Who's next? Esks will be playing their entire C team by the time the season ends

It might have an upside. Guys who wouldn't have otherwise played have now had their chance and many of them have excelled and gained a lot of confidence.

So when some of the guys return we could be heading into the playoffs with a deep group.

When you look at the play of guys like Jones, Mitchell and Perkins you wonder if they might have starting jobs next year as well.

 

[iCanada]

I think some of our B and C guys might have grabbed A spots, personally.

 

[JordanGalhanth]

I think some of our B and C guys might have grabbed A spots, personally.

Yep, especially at the receiver spot.

Call me crazy, but something tells me that Bowman is rapidly becoming more expendable by the week.

 

[Cerebral]

I think some of our B and C guys might have grabbed A spots, personally.

The one saving grace to Mondo going down is that Bowers looks like an absolute beast in the middle. Between him and Cummings (who has been a huge surprise this year - he's all-CFL!), we should be okay. With Howard hurt, they'll likely replace him with Boateng and the just need to make sure they have a Canadian to back him up.

I'll be really curious to see what the team does when guys start to get healthy. With back-to-back 100 yard games, Mitchell can't go back to the bench/practice roster. However, there are only so many receiver spots available and someone will have to sit.

 

[Cerebral]

Call me crazy, but something tells me that Bowman is rapidly becoming more expendable by the week.

With how much he makes, it definitely has to be considered. However, he's the heart and soul of the offence outside of Reilly and the guy is coming off of a 1700 yard season. He certainly drops the ball a little too much, but he's also arguably the best receiver in the CFL.

I could see the Eskimos offering up to a team like Hamilton or Montreal who are in need of a go-to receiver.

 

[MoontoScott]

If Walker gets cut down South then the EE receiver positions become very interesting but with Bowman already being the highest paid receiver in the league then it is difficult to see how the EE could afford both. Walker would be much sought after and I assume the T-cats would be very interested.

We also have to remember that Zylstra and Williams will probably get an NFL shot so Bowman might be around for a few years yet.

 

[MoneyGuy]

Thread title needs to be changed to 7.0.

Whoever changed it please fix the mistake. Eskimos has no apostrophe FFS!

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Considering our injury situation this could actually happen.

Nah we got three more against the East. So at least 10-8 haha.

 

[Tyrolean]

It's not what you do at the beginning of the season, it's the results at the end. I've seen maybe a great team succumb in the playoffs, so the Esks hopefully be prepared when the playoffs come.

The number of injuries to the club is unreal. It's got to stop sometime and give them a break.

 

[Jumptheshark]

7 and 0 gotta love it

 

[Stoneman89]

Absolutely incredible, and should be the story of the year in the CFL. The engine that keeps on ticking despite all odds.

- the defensive line just continues to roll on. Willis having a career year, losing Sewell for any length of time should have an impact, but the two young studs inside, Cummings and Bowers continue be beasts and force all kinds of problems. And let's be honest, only a matter of time before the bandaid named Howard goes down with injury once again. The guy has spent more time on IR than the playing field the last 4 years. I don't like to see anyone get hurt and have some empathy for him, but enough is enough. Cut him loose at the end of the year and get more people that can actually suit up. It's not like he was an actual force out there anyhow. I do see great things ahead for Boetang. With some experience, he will take that Howard spot and provide some impact from it.


- scary to see Marcus Young lined up back there. Weakest link by far on the defence, but we applied enough pressure and the other guys stepped up enough to mitigage any damage he can do. Hope Peters comes back soon.

- agree with an earlier comment about Reilly. Seems to be going through his progressions quicker and smarter, and finding the open man more often.

- love Bowman and what he can bring, but has anyone else noticed how few dropped balls we have had this year? Those can be absolute killers no matter what else you do. Drive killers, momentum killers, etc. These "replacements" are hanging on to almost everything and also making catches they shouldn't make. And every one of them is a big YAK producer. Gone are the days of Nate Coohorn, when a catch is made and that is the end of it.

- Trevor Harris strikes me as one of those QB's that have great stats but cannot win when the noose gets tight. The D line completely flustered him in the 4th quarter, and there was never a chance he was going to mount a comeback. The opposite persona of Reilly.

O'Nell was superb tonight. Made every kick he was supposed to make, and shanked the really long shot but got it deep enough to keep the Redblacks pinned relatively deep. But his punt under pressure in the 4th quarter with the game very much in doubt was a kill shot. Something Grant Shaw could not come close to doing in his 5 years on this team.

 

[Stoneman89]

Anyone else notice how much more smoothly and seamlessly the game progressed without all the challenge flags thrown? A seemingly small but logical change has made the game much more enjoyable for me as a fan.

Thankyou Mr, Ambrosie!