The Eskimos ran out of time during Thursday’s 30-23 loss to the Blue Bombers in a game that included a 30-minute weather delay in the first quarter.
“Losing is frustrating,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “It’s not any one thing. We didn’t start off fast enough to keep up at the beginning but we fought to the end. The bottom line … if we don’t start playing better in all three phases for 60 minutes, it’s going to be tough to win. We realize that, but the loss is what’s more frustrating than anything.”
Winnipeg built up a 17-0 lead. However, Edmonton’s defence managed to keep the Bombers out of the end zone until late in the third quarter.
“It’s hard on any offence when you’re in second and 10 a lot,” said Maas about the offence’s slow start. “We couldn’t answer the bell. Tonight, they did a better job than we did.”
Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly threw for 344 yards extending his team record to eight straight 300-yard passing games.
Walker racked 148 yards as Winnipeg found a way to bottle up Adarius Bowman. Walker finished the game with 11 catches and a two-yard TD catch.
Edmonton’s offence scored its first major of the night midway through the third quarter, when Calvin McCarty powered his way in from two yards. Sean Whyte hit field goals from 47, 38 and 39 yards.
“The stuff’s there, the execution wasn’t,” said Reilly.
“It’s a long season and this game is not going to break our season. There’s no doubt we have a great football team in the making, but we have to learn before we get there. We didn’t play good, but we played hard.”
Harris rushed 22 times for 127 yards, the best outing in Winnipeg blue by the running back who joined the team in the off-season from the BC Lions.
Winnipeg’s Weston Dressler had 111 first-half receiving yards before leaving the game with a leg injury. Darvin Adams took over in the second half, catching 10 balls for 121 yards and a touchdown. Justin Medlock hit all five field goal attempts … from 30, 34, 28, 42 and 38 yards.
“Battling is not going to be an issue,” said linebacker JC Sherritt. “Defensively, we haven’t made a play in two games to switch the momentum and that’s something that has to change.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that how you handle these situations, how you get better, will determine how far you’ll go. You’ll see the Grey Cup champion will learn from their mistakes and get better. Teams that don’t make the playoffs will feel sorry for themselves. We’re going to make sure we’re the former.”