One step forward. Two steps back.
The Eskimos were trying to build momentum in a run towards the playoffs in their first game since a thrilling 48-42 victory over the provincial rival Calgary Stampeders – their highest-scoring performance in 14 years -, but that’s going to have to wait another week.
The Esks suffered their fourth consecutive defeat on the road Saturday, dropping a 28-15 decision to the RedBlacks at Ottawa’s TD Place Stadium as rookie kicker Lewis Ward booted seven field goals in a game for a second time this season.
Ward, whose only missed field goal attempt this year came in the first game of the season, has made 37 consecutive field goals to set a record for first-year players. He’s also within two field goals of matching Calgary’s Rene Paredes’ CFL record streak of 39 in a row, set in 2012-13.
“We’re 7-6 right now,” Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly said on the 630 CHED post-game show. “That’s one game above the definition of average.
“I believe we’re a much better team than that, but until we go out and show it on the field, show that we can handle it and we can do it every single week, that’s what you’re going to get,” he continued. “You’re going to be 7-6 because you’re going to play really great one week and you’re not going to play great the next week.
“This is pro football. If you don’t play great, you’re not going to win the game. That was shown, for sure, tonight.”
With Saturday’s loss and wins by the Saskatchewan Roughriders (30-29 over the Toronto Argonauts) and BC Lions (35-32 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats), Edmonton has fallen into third place in the West Division behind the 10-2 Stampeders and 8-5 Riders, with the 6-6 Lions and 6-7 Winnipeg Blue Bombers breathing down the Eskimos neck. As of the current standings, only one of those teams would miss the playoffs, with the fourth-place club in the West Division crossing over to play in the East Division semifinal.
The Eskimos next game is against the Bombers at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. Game day is presented by Fisherman’s Friend.
“We’ve got five more regular-season games, and we don’t have time to screw around,” Reilly said. “We’ve got a lot of important games. We’ve got games against teams that we’re battling against to get into the playoffs.
“That’s the reality of the situation. We’ve talked about this being playoff football. Well, playoff football, when you’re inconsistent and play one week really well and next game you don’t, your season is done. If we want to a) get into the post-season and b) do something good in the post-season, we have to bring it every single week, and we’ve got to figure out how to get that done.”
Ottawa jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter and had a 9-0 advantage when Reilly scored his 12th rushing touchdown (from the one-yard line, of course) in the final minute of the first half.
But the RedBlacks also lost three TDs by penalties in the first half – an illegal block infraction cancelled Jean-Christophe Beaulieu’s 12-yard scoring catch on Ottawa’s first series of the game, Diontae Spencer’s 77-yard punt return was wiped out by an illegal block late in the first quarter, and an unexpected five-yard touchdown pass to former University of Alberta Golden Bears’ offensive lineman Mark Korte (who lined up at tight end) was nullified by an interference call against receiver Brad Sinopoli.
The Eskimos defence made some big plays at times to keep Ottawa out of the end zone – six quarterback sacks (three by Kwaku Boateng, two by Almondo Sewell and one by Jake Ceresna, who also had six defensive tackles), nickel back Chris Edwards’ second interception of the season, two knockdowns and six defensive tackles by defensive halfback Aaron Grymes and a game-high nine defensive tackles by middle linebacker J.C. Sherritt.
Reilly completed each of his first 11 passes but for only 67 yards as the Eskimos typical big-play offence was kept mostly in first gear. His first incompletion was a pass he purposely threw out of bounds while under heavy pressure with 5-1/2 minutes left in the half.
Still, the Eskimos moved the ball into Ottawa territory on their first possession but came up empty after Reilly was sacked for a seven-yard loss and Sean Whyte’s 44-yard field goal attempt into a strong wind came up short.
The offence finally showed some life when a 39-yard pass over the middle to newly acquired kick-returner and running back Martese Jackson with 1:33 remaining in the first half and a pass interference penalty against Ottawa put the ball at the one-yard line for Reilly’s TD.
But with time running out in the second quarter, RedBlacks running back William Powell’s 33-yard run on a delayed draw to the Edmonton 45 set up yet another Ottawa field goal to get three of those points back and lead 12-7 at halftime.
The Edmonton defence also gave up some other costly big plays like Sinopoli’s 38-yard pass-and-run effort after Ottawa intercepted a Reilly pass that bounced off D’haquille (Duke) Williams’ shoulder pads near the RedBlacks’ goal line early in the fourth quarter when only three points separated the teams and Powell’s two-yard run on a third-down gamble at the Edmonton nine-yard line with 5:20 remaining followed two plays later by Greg Ellingson’s five-yard TD catch at the goal line.
“There’s games where we need to stand up as a defence and hold tight if (the offence is) not clicking,” Sherritt said. “I had my hand on the football. Well, I have to ‘pick that ball. You can’t let it hit the ground.
“It’s just crunch time in the CFL. When it’s crunch time, if you let a play slip through your fingers, it could be the game.”
Sherritt admitted that it a “frustrating” game for the Eskimos defence because “we’re still looking to put our game together and the simple fact is we’re running out of time.”
“I don’t think there’s any doubt in this locker room, and really anywhere else, that we’ve got the pieces to win this thing,” he added. “But if you don’t put it together, you’re just another great team that could have been.
“We’re right there, I mean, fingertips away, literally. … When it clicks, I’ve been on teams where when it happens, and you become unstoppable. It’s either going to be all for nought, or we’re going to find a way to come together and go get this Grey Cup.”
Edmonton also took nine penalties for 114 yards and lost two potential touchdowns on video reviews by the CFL command centre in Toronto. Sherritt returned a recovered fumble 73 yards for the team’s first defensive touchdown of the season (it was later ruled that Ottawa QB Trevor Harris’s knee was down before the ball came out late in the third quarter) and an almost incredible one-handed catch by Duke Williams at the goal line was assessed as trapped against the ground.
Sherritt said losing the fumble-return TD hurt, but “more than anything, it took our breath out of our lungs.”
Williams did catch a 23-yard touchdown pass from Reilly in the third quarter to extend his scoring streak to five consecutive games and Reilly’s streak of throwing a touchdown pass to 13 games in a row. Bryant Mitchell then caught a two-point convert as the Eskimos finally got back on even terms, tying the game 15-15.
But a roughing the passer penalty by defensive end Alex Bazzie and pass interference against defensive back Forrest Hightower helped Ottawa get into field goal range and re-gain the lead 18-15 by the end of the third quarter with yet another Ward field goal.
Reilly completed 27 of 41 pass attempts for 276 yards, but the Eskimos didn’t have a 100-yard receiver for the first time this season, with Mitchell (eight catches for 69 yards) and Williams (four for 65 yards) leading the way.
“When we’re humming, and we’re playing our best football, with the guys we have in this locker room, we’re the best offence in the league,” Reilly said. “I have no doubt in my mind. But that seems to be an every other week type of thing.
“It’s like one week we show up, and we’re on point with everything, and we put up points in bunches throughout the course of the game, and then the next week we come out and lay an egg, and we’re not on top of our stuff.
“It’s flashes during those games like today,” he continued, “flashes of positive things of moving the ball and everything like that, but it’s far too inconsistent. If we want to finish this season right – and I’m just talking regular season; I’m not even going to talk post-season because we’ve got a lot of work to do just to get there – we’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got figure out what the key is in the games where we come out and operate at a high level. We have to make sure that happens every single week. This is pro football.
“If you come out and you’re not ready to play, it’s going to show up on the scoreboard, and it’s going to show up in the standings, and that’s what happened tonight, and that’s what’s happened too many times this year.”
Jackson flashed his punt-return potential in his first Eskimos game with a 30-yard runback in the fourth quarter and a 19-yard return where he reversed directions in the first quarter to finish with 58 yards on three punt returns and 107 yards on eight kickoff returns. But he also failed to catch a kickoff at the Edmonton 12 and then recovered the ball, leaving the Eskimos backed up at their six-yard line.
SHORT YARDAGE: With Powell rushing for 147 yards to take over the league lead with 1,141 yards, the RedBlacks dominated the time of possession (35:06 to Edmonton’s 24:54) … Boateng, who leads the Eskimos with eight sacks, ended a six-game dry spell end Saturday … Sherritt has 499 defensive tackles in his CFL career with the Eskimos … Reilly has 39 touchdowns (27 passing, 12 rushing) this season … Williams passed the 2,000-yard receiving milestone with the Eskimos while Vidal Hazelton (five catches for 56 yards) went over the 2,000-yard mark in his CFL career.