THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — The double-E adorning their helmets stands for Edmonton Eskimos, but “end the embarrassment” will be the rallying cry for coach Richie Hall’s defence against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium Saturday.
Having allowed 762 passing yards and six touchdowns through the air in consecutive lopsided losses — a 50-16 drubbing in Montreal July 9 and a 40-22 defeat at home to the B.C. Lions July 16 — the 1-2 Eskimos have spent the past week looking for answers.
Given the variety of issues plaguing the Eskimos, from lack of pressure up front to blown assignments and a secondary that’s been one step behind opposing receivers too often, questions remain.
“It’s embarrassing,” defensive lineman Dario Romero said of the back-to-back blowouts.
“We play our butts off out there. For the end result to be that bad and having it look that ugly, let’s face it, it was not pretty. I take it personally. Nobody wants to be a part of that.”
One problem for the Eskimos after giving up 90 points in their last two outings, is Mosaic Stadium has been anything but the place to get things sorted out in recent seasons”.
The Esks have lost four straight games in Regina and are 1-9 in their last 10 visits, including a 55-9 loss last season, when Hall was Saskatchewan’s defensive co-ordinator.
“We’ve been inconsistent. That’s what’s hard to accept,” Hall said. “We understood that coming in, because of a different defensive philosophy and different defensive package, there was going to be an adjustment time.
“Are we where we want to be? No, we’re not. We’re working toward that and we’re encouraged by that. Our biggest thing is going out there and, regardless of what the scheme is, being fundamentally sound.”
It has fallen to defensive co-ordinator Jim Daley to speed up the adjustment process this week and make the pieces fit against Saskatchewan pivot Darian Durant and a receiving corps that includes slot backs Andy Fantuz and Weston Dressler.
“We have to improve our pass rush and our pass coverage,” Daley said. “That’s something we’ve worked on for weeks and, hopefully, we’ll start seeing dividends from it.”
Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo burned the defence for 343 yards and two passing touchdowns. Against the Lions, Jarious Jackson had 362 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Through three games, Edmonton’s defence ranks last in three categories, having allowed 1,251 yards of total offence, 417 yards per game and 9.6 yards per pass completion against.
“You have to look ahead,” said defensive back Kelly Malveaux. “You have to built on the positive things and correct the things that have gone wrong. It’s an 18-game season. The Grey Cup isn’t won or lost in week three.”
Game plan aside, the Esks have changed up their personnel in preparation for the Roughriders.
Malveaux drops from linebacker to halfback. Newcomer T.J. Hill will see time at linebacker. Jonte Buhl, the victim of big plays against B.C. and Montreal, moves from halfback to corner.
“The thing that’s concerned us most if the number of long balls,” Daley said of the loss to the Lions. “That’s uncharacteristic of a good defence.
“There was probably five. In each case, other than one where we were about two steps behind, we had guys right there. Now, we have to learn to make the play at the ball. We had it in zone and in man (coverage). We were right at the receiver, but they’d make the catch instead of us making a play. We’ve got to make the plays.”
Saturday’s game marks Hall’s return to Regina, where he spent eight years as the team’s defensive co-ordinator. The Roughriders will also be marking the 20-year anniversary of the 1989 Grey Cup team. It goes without saying the Eskimos have no desire to add to the festivities.
“We’re in this together,” Romero said of a week punctuated by drills, video and meetings. “We all want to find out what the hell is going on.
“It seems like we’re all sharp, like we know what everybody else is doing. You have to have that to play with confidence and that’s what we’ve been lacking out there.”
