Despite their recent slide, the Eskimos still sit in a desirable position.
These are sobering times for the Edmonton Eskimos, more so for their diehard fans.
The Eskimos are in second place in the West with a 5-3 record, having been overtaken by the surging 6-2 Calgary Stampeders, who beat the Montreal Alouettes 38-31 on Saturday.
The Stamps struggled out of the gate, but have now won four in a row – their last loss coincidentally against Edmonton – and look very much like the team that has dominated the West in the regular season the previous years.
The Eskimos, currently on a three-game losing skid, are starting to look like a team that was overhauled after last season when it failed to make the playoffs, and a new coaching staff was hired.
But let’s be honest now: When you lose the league’s leading receiver, Fred Stamps, and a supporting cast of Jason Barnes, Adarius Bowman and Marcus Henry, and replace them with newcomers, there is bound to be a letdown in performance.
A collective four points in their last two games underlines that, including a measly point against B.C. nine days ago.
The fact the Eskimos don’t play again until Labour Day, in the first of back-to-back games in five days against the Stamps, will prolong the fans’ agony.
It’s a long time to be stewing over an ugly effort, but here’s some news that may help: The Eskimos are "hopeful" – the word conveyed to me in an email from general manager Eric Tillman – that Bowman and Henry may be back for the Labour Day game. Tillman said the team is "hopeful" Stamps will be back for the second half of the game but Barnes’ return is uncertain.
How would Montreal do without four of its best receivers? Given that they have a stocked lineup, they could find replacements, but strip away Jamel Richardson, S.J. Green, Kerry Watkins and Brandon London for a few games and this team would not be 5-3. On a side note, the Als have not beaten a team with better than a .500 record this season.
And how would Calgary do without the likes of Ken-Yon Rambo, Nik Lewis, Romby Bryant and Johnny Forzani sidelined at the same time?
We’re not sure what kind of an equivalent we could make for Winnipeg because even though they have some good receivers, none have risen to the elite status just yet. The Bombers have an efficient group of receivers, but have only one, Terrence Edwards, in the top 10 in terms of receiving yardage and only two in the top-15. The Bombers are a blue-collar offence and their strength is more on the defensive side, which explains whey they lead the league with a 7-1 record.
So, that’s why I don’t think the situation is so acute with the Eskimos. I do have some issues with their run game which has basically dried up.
But that’s not entirely surprising because they have been handicapped with their patchwork receiving corps and quarterback Ricky Ray is playing with some newcomers who were picked off of the scrap yard and likely won’t be playing any kind of role when the regulars return, so it’s understandable why the run game has gone south.
The offensive line has become like a sieve, exposing Ray to far too many shots, while the tackle positions have become a turnstile. So whatever happens going forward with the receivers, the five players protecting the quarterback must do better.
Running back Jerome Messam, who looked so dominant in the first five games, has become a non-impact player. In his last two games, he has a total of five carries for minus-4 yards. He was averaging five yards a carry in his first six games, so his dropoff is a key element to the sudden stagger of on offence.
Tillman publicly indicated his disgust for the team’s collapse in the last two games and he made a minor move earlier in the week acquiring Montreal backup offensive lineman Dylan Steenburgen for sixth-round draft choices in 2012 and 2013 and a negotiation list player.
Frankly if Steenburgen was so important, Montreal would not have let him go so cheaply. He was, after all, a first-round pick for the team in 2009. Steenburgen will not dramatically change the Eskimos’ pass protection or running game because he is a work in progress.
In an interview earlier this week with Dan Tencer of Edmonton radio station CHED, I was told it’s been tough for all Edmonton sports fans in recent years because their teams have been losing. That may be true, but there’s a reason Edmonton is called the City of Champions.
Try living in Toronto, where the word champion is not even in the vocabulary.
Had the Ekimos started off with a 1-4 or 2-3 record after five games instead of 5-0, there would be reason in my opinion to start worrying.
Saskatchewan fired rookie head coach Greg Marshall after only eight games and with a 1-7 record, I doubt Tillman would have made such a dramatic move with Reed. If the Eskimos continue to go in the tank, it will be interesting to see how much Tillman supports his coach. I suspect it won’t change.
Reed had the team playing with poise, purpose and desire at the start of the season and drew praise for his passionate locker-room speeches. That’s not to say the Eskimos have lost their gusto, but minus some true playmakers it has had a collective impact overall.
Some teams will say injuries should not be used as an excuse and Tillman has battled this problem before, notably in his days in Saskatchewan as GM, but not to this extreme.
Overlooked in all of this is the Eskimos’ defence, which has shown signs of coming apart in recent games. The Eskimos dressed many new players this year and employed a different scheme from years past, so maybe it took awhile for opposing teams to adjust and identify tendencies. And maybe the defence is starting to fatigue because the offence is coming undone.
As the expression goes, it’s never as good as it looks and never as bad as it seems.
If the Eskimos continue to collapse when their core players return to the lineup, then there is reason to be concerned. I’m not saying the Eskimos are championship material now, but they’re not that bad, either.
Look at it this way: B.C., Saskatchewan and Toronto collectively have five wins. They’d love to be in the Eskimos’ spot.
So breathe deeply, Edmonton fans, your team will recover.
