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ESKIMOS FIGHTING FOR PLAYOFF HOPES AGAINST BOMBERS IN WINNIPEG
WINNIPEG — November football seems so close, yet so far away.
The leaves are already changing on trees across the nation and the intensity of games across the CFL has picked up as teams inch towards playoff football.
Playoff football which, as it stands, both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos will be a part of. For the Esks, however, that’s only by virtue of an East Division crossover at the moment.
At 8-5, the Bombers are a win or two away from firming up a playoff berth, while the 6-7 Eskimos need a win to jump back in the West Division race and even compete for a home playoff game.
If the defending Grey Cup Champions are looking to make a run, last week’s win over the second-place Lions was a pretty good start.
The Esks are now within touching distance of .500 following last week’s 27-23 win over the Leos at Commonwealth, but quarterback Mike Reilly knows the Bombers will be a whole other challenge in Winnipeg in Week 15.
“They’ve been playing really good football the last two months,” Reilly told Esks.com. “They’re opportunistic — if you make a mistake, they force a lot of turnovers. They give their offence a short field to work with.”
The Edmonton pivot highlighted the importance of momentum swings at Investors Group Field on Friday.
“They try to flip the momentum of the game and they do a nice job of it,” continued Reilly. “The way you counteract that is you’re smart with the football. You don’t give them those chances. If you’re able to eliminate it, that makes it much more difficult for them.”
League-leading receiver Adarius Bowman said last week’s win against BC instilled a renewed sense of confidence in Edmonton’s locker room.
“We can compete with any team in this league and (last week’s win over BC) was an amazing step,” said Bowman, who at 1,400 receiving yards is on pace to shatter his previous career high. “In terms of this week, Winnipeg is a great team — they’ve been on a great run.”
Bowman, named a Shaw Top Performer for the month of September this week, said it will be up to Edmonton’s offence to produce — something the Esks have struggled to consistently do this season.
“Their strength is their defence (and) having the weapons we have on offence, it’s going to be a great game,” predicted the Oklahoma State product. “If you look at their games, it was all takeaways. Their defence does a good job — if you make mistakes, they capitalize — (so) the key to the game is our offence: Stay on the field and don’t give them the ball.”
Limiting mistakes on the offensive side of the football was the Eskimos’ focus in practice this week.
While the Esks boast the league’s most productive offence, the turnover battle hasn’t been as kind. The Eskimos rank second-last with a turnover ratio of minus-six, while on offence they’ve given the football away 29 times.
“This is going to come down to a ball-security game for sure,” said Edmonton head coach Jason Maas. “Bottom-line is we want to protect the ball and we’ve thought about it all week. I’d like to see us create more turnovers than we give up.”
Shakir Bell, named the Esks’ starting running back earlier in the week, won’t play on Friday due to an injury reportedly suffered in Wednesday’s practice. That means the Esks will go back to John White on the ground.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had their seven-game winning streak snapped last week by the Calgary Stampeders in Cowtown.
Despite the loss to the Stamps, Winnipeg is well in the running for a home playoff game down the stretch.
“We’re past Calgary and have been for a while — I love that about this team,” said breakout rookie defensive back Kevin Fogg. “That was a tough game to lose, but it was just one loss and we can’t make it out to be any more important than any other past game on our schedule.”
Where mental fortitude has been a question mark for Winnipeg in the past, Fogg — a top-ten player in both tackles (61, tied for ninth) and interceptions (three, tied for fifth) — believes the Bombers are ready for the mental grind ahead.
“We know who we are now. We’ve built up to become a very confident team that knows what we are capable of doing,” described Fogg. “To have that stronger mindset is crucial now. This season has been a great journey for us, a real learning curve.”
A learning curve indeed. The Bombers started off 1-4, then rattled off seven-straight W’s on the hot hand of quarterback Matt Nichols, who is slated to face his former team for the second time.
“You want to win each and every week and against your former team would make it that much sweeter,” said Nichols, who threw for 304 yards and a touchdown in Winnipeg’s Week 6 win against the Eskimos. “We need to take that next step as a team and learn how to handle a loss and come back with the same emotion we’ve been playing with this year and try and get back to winning football games again.”
The Bombers will be boosted by the return of leading tackler Ian Wild to the linebacker corps; the Pittsburgh native sits just outside the league’s top-10 tacklers despite having missed the past two games with injury.
Andrew Harris is listed second on the depth chart behind Timothy Flanders, leaving his status up in the air for Friday night’s game. If he can’t go, Flanders has proven capable as a backup filling in for Harris the past few weeks.
By the Numbers
11 – Interceptions combined between Winnipeg DBs Maurice Leggett and TJ Heath.
14 – Sacks combined between Edmonton DLs Odell Willis and Almondo Sewell.
375 – Points surrendered by Edmonton this season — the third-most in the CFL.
4,353 – League-high passing yards for Edmonton QB Mike Reilly.
The Skinny
The Bombers need to bounce back from last week’s ugly first half in Calgary.
They did, partially, in the second half at McMahon, but their comeback fell short and anything less than a win for the ‘new’ Bombers is a disappointment.
Back at home in front of their home fans, they’ll be looking to return to the win column in a big way against an Eskimo team that will be hungry.
While the Matt Nichols vs. Mike Reilly angle is always a tasty one, Friday’s game could be decided by strong defence.
Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET and can be seen live on TSN or followed online via CFL.ca Game Tracker.
ESKIMOS FIGHTING FOR PLAYOFF HOPES AGAINST BOMBERS IN WINNIPEG
WINNIPEG — November football seems so close, yet so far away.
The leaves are already changing on trees across the nation and the intensity of games across the CFL has picked up as teams inch towards playoff football.
Playoff football which, as it stands, both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Eskimos will be a part of. For the Esks, however, that’s only by virtue of an East Division crossover at the moment.
At 8-5, the Bombers are a win or two away from firming up a playoff berth, while the 6-7 Eskimos need a win to jump back in the West Division race and even compete for a home playoff game.
If the defending Grey Cup Champions are looking to make a run, last week’s win over the second-place Lions was a pretty good start.
The Esks are now within touching distance of .500 following last week’s 27-23 win over the Leos at Commonwealth, but quarterback Mike Reilly knows the Bombers will be a whole other challenge in Winnipeg in Week 15.
“They’ve been playing really good football the last two months,” Reilly told Esks.com. “They’re opportunistic — if you make a mistake, they force a lot of turnovers. They give their offence a short field to work with.”
The Edmonton pivot highlighted the importance of momentum swings at Investors Group Field on Friday.
“They try to flip the momentum of the game and they do a nice job of it,” continued Reilly. “The way you counteract that is you’re smart with the football. You don’t give them those chances. If you’re able to eliminate it, that makes it much more difficult for them.”
League-leading receiver Adarius Bowman said last week’s win against BC instilled a renewed sense of confidence in Edmonton’s locker room.
“We can compete with any team in this league and (last week’s win over BC) was an amazing step,” said Bowman, who at 1,400 receiving yards is on pace to shatter his previous career high. “In terms of this week, Winnipeg is a great team — they’ve been on a great run.”
Bowman, named a Shaw Top Performer for the month of September this week, said it will be up to Edmonton’s offence to produce — something the Esks have struggled to consistently do this season.
“Their strength is their defence (and) having the weapons we have on offence, it’s going to be a great game,” predicted the Oklahoma State product. “If you look at their games, it was all takeaways. Their defence does a good job — if you make mistakes, they capitalize — (so) the key to the game is our offence: Stay on the field and don’t give them the ball.”
Limiting mistakes on the offensive side of the football was the Eskimos’ focus in practice this week.
While the Esks boast the league’s most productive offence, the turnover battle hasn’t been as kind. The Eskimos rank second-last with a turnover ratio of minus-six, while on offence they’ve given the football away 29 times.
“This is going to come down to a ball-security game for sure,” said Edmonton head coach Jason Maas. “Bottom-line is we want to protect the ball and we’ve thought about it all week. I’d like to see us create more turnovers than we give up.”
Shakir Bell, named the Esks’ starting running back earlier in the week, won’t play on Friday due to an injury reportedly suffered in Wednesday’s practice. That means the Esks will go back to John White on the ground.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had their seven-game winning streak snapped last week by the Calgary Stampeders in Cowtown.
Despite the loss to the Stamps, Winnipeg is well in the running for a home playoff game down the stretch.
“We’re past Calgary and have been for a while — I love that about this team,” said breakout rookie defensive back Kevin Fogg. “That was a tough game to lose, but it was just one loss and we can’t make it out to be any more important than any other past game on our schedule.”
Where mental fortitude has been a question mark for Winnipeg in the past, Fogg — a top-ten player in both tackles (61, tied for ninth) and interceptions (three, tied for fifth) — believes the Bombers are ready for the mental grind ahead.
“We know who we are now. We’ve built up to become a very confident team that knows what we are capable of doing,” described Fogg. “To have that stronger mindset is crucial now. This season has been a great journey for us, a real learning curve.”
A learning curve indeed. The Bombers started off 1-4, then rattled off seven-straight W’s on the hot hand of quarterback Matt Nichols, who is slated to face his former team for the second time.
“You want to win each and every week and against your former team would make it that much sweeter,” said Nichols, who threw for 304 yards and a touchdown in Winnipeg’s Week 6 win against the Eskimos. “We need to take that next step as a team and learn how to handle a loss and come back with the same emotion we’ve been playing with this year and try and get back to winning football games again.”
The Bombers will be boosted by the return of leading tackler Ian Wild to the linebacker corps; the Pittsburgh native sits just outside the league’s top-10 tacklers despite having missed the past two games with injury.
Andrew Harris is listed second on the depth chart behind Timothy Flanders, leaving his status up in the air for Friday night’s game. If he can’t go, Flanders has proven capable as a backup filling in for Harris the past few weeks.
By the Numbers
11 – Interceptions combined between Winnipeg DBs Maurice Leggett and TJ Heath.
14 – Sacks combined between Edmonton DLs Odell Willis and Almondo Sewell.
375 – Points surrendered by Edmonton this season — the third-most in the CFL.
4,353 – League-high passing yards for Edmonton QB Mike Reilly.
The Skinny
The Bombers need to bounce back from last week’s ugly first half in Calgary.
They did, partially, in the second half at McMahon, but their comeback fell short and anything less than a win for the ‘new’ Bombers is a disappointment.
Back at home in front of their home fans, they’ll be looking to return to the win column in a big way against an Eskimo team that will be hungry.
While the Matt Nichols vs. Mike Reilly angle is always a tasty one, Friday’s game could be decided by strong defence.
Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET and can be seen live on TSN or followed online via CFL.ca Game Tracker.
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