Game #10 A must win against Ottawa Redblacks

[Mudnyereye]

I call you BS. He is a great team guy.
I agree that he takes a lot of sacks and need to get rid of football faster. But its not to inflate his stat. Its to make something happen out of nothing.

20 yard sack in the 3rd quarter that put Edmonton our of field goal range. Watching the entire field, he had multiple chances to throw it away but hung on. I am not a fan boy for either QB, I am a fan of using the best tool for the job. That's why you have 3 at that position.

[Mudnyereye]

I don't buy the rumours either... but on the latter comment... with my little brush with fame last year, that's exactly how real journalism worked. Of the 150 articles written about it, only one reporter actually contacted me --- the original one. The other 149 copied and copied, made mistakes, and the mistakes got copied... it was an eye opener.

This is the sad effect of the amalgamation of media outlets. I get access to all national media sources in daily bursts. These days, it is one reporter or columnist, appearing in every media source. The message is controlled and sanitized to fit the views of the editorial board of each media conglomerate. There are fewer people on the ground to chase down the details and in some cases, the truth. Instead, copy writers regurgitate press releases.
It's no wonder that people are shifting to podcasts and social media. That is even worse as there is NO oversight of content and too many people don't evaluate the message with a critical eye.

[Mudnyereye]

Congratulations on the win streak. Still lots of work to do but at least you know your going to be in every game.

Ottawa is a decent team even without Dru Brown and it will be interesting to see how BC does against them in a couple of weeks. As for the game, credit special teams for being the difference imo not only with the return td but also on downfield tackling and maintaining field position. Both 41 and 51 stood out.

Should be a good game this week vs the Stamps.

Yes, the Special Teams are coming up nicely. I suspect, you get that when the HC was an ST specialist for so many years. Even two years ago, the offense would often start on their 25 or worse and the other team would get 30+ yard returns. It makes a huge difference in how the game plan is implemented.

[Sectionq]

They got it done. This was a game they had to win and they were the better team.

Defensively, I think we are seeing what at least I was expecting to see earlier in the season. When they named Ford the starter before the start of camp, I expected the offense to be a little slower as he developed under the new system but also developed as a QB but I thought considered they spent a lot of money on defense, the defense would keep them in games. Unfortunately that wasn't the case to start the season. But now we are seeing it. Last 5 games of points against. 20(W), 20(W), 22(W), 28(L), 21(L). IMO, if your defense is holding the other team to mid 20's or less, they have done their job which is to keep their team in it.

Offensively, I don't think they are an explosive, high powered offense but they seem to be becoming a fairly efficient, protect the football type of offense that can win a few ways.

Kicking, I was pretty concerned as I wasn't a believer in Blanchard but he looks capable of doing the job.

Specials. Edm actually has special teams! They actually are a threat on special teams. They even get TD's!

They need to show what they can do against the West but I am seeing potential here. Hervey was on the radio not long ago and he mentioned how his team is the youngest, including the coaching staff and that may have played a part in them sputtering out of the blocks. But I am potentially seeing the makings of a good team.

[bone]

I understand the EE have beaten some weak opponents lately, but that argument is as weak as the teams they played. The name of the game is to beat your opponent, and the EE have done exactly what they were supposed to do. Let's all keep in mind that they used to lose to everyone, no matter what the caliber. This is a step in the right direction. You can't climb the standings unless you win games. I don't care who you are playing. Just win. On to Calgary.

Precisely. I thought Calgary in the early part of the season benefitted from some softened matchups leading to a great start and then they parlayed that into continued success vs good teams. Edmonton played some good games vs the good teams early on but couldn't find a win. Maybe now that they've found some wins, they can turn a "good game" vs a "good team" into an actual win. Back to back vs. Calgary seems a perfect opportunity to test this out with some added drama that you'd think Killam should have some good intel on the Stamps to maybe create a 3-7 point swing beyond normal play (though maybe you could argue the same for Dickenson knowing Killam).

[bone]

Not sure this post held up well. Sure the defence struggled this season but we have new coaches, new systems and new players. It takes time. I was at the game and felt that, aside from the 3rd quarter and occasional breakdowns for some big gains, the D held strong. It seems to be coming together.

Even still, that 3rd quarter they managed to minimize the damage while taking on water with an offense that had stalled while Ottawa put up 3 decent looking drives. That's a major improvement from earlier in the season where those 10 points would have turned into 14, 17 or even 21.

[bone]

20 yard sack in the 3rd quarter that put Edmonton our of field goal range. Watching the entire field, he had multiple chances to throw it away but hung on. I am not a fan boy for either QB, I am a fan of using the best tool for the job. That's why you have 3 at that position.

While I don't think he values his completion percentage more than actual wins, I'm with you that it is frustrating that his sacks often turn into the double digit yards variety. It was only two sacks this week, but one could argue those sacks cost them six points since they were big losses one of which taking them out of FG range and the other pinning them so deep that Ottawa automatically was in field goal range off the punt. One could argue better decisions on those two plays could have made the game a done deal well before the 3 minute warning.

[bone]

Yes, the Special Teams are coming up nicely. I suspect, you get that when the HC was an ST specialist for so many years. Even two years ago, the offense would often start on their 25 or worse and the other team would get 30+ yard returns. It makes a huge difference in how the game plan is implemented.

For sure. This group seems to tilt the field overall so that even if both teams are equally effective on offense, Edmonton is well positioned to win off their gains on Special Teams. It also has to be said that what was a pretty dominant performance on both sides of Special Teams is that they did so with a rookie Canadian handling all kicking duties. That's pretty damn impressive.

[ben_the_eskimo]

For sure. This group seems to tilt the field overall so that even if both teams are equally effective on offense, Edmonton is well positioned to win off their gains on Special Teams. It also has to be said that what was a pretty dominant performance on both sides of Special Teams is that they did so with a rookie Canadian handling all kicking duties. That's pretty damn impressive.

I’ve been really impressed with Vinny, he’s as talented a young kicker as I can ever remember seeing right off the hop so it’s exciting to see where he could be once he’s got a couple of years experience behind him. After seeing what he’s been able to do so far I understand now why Ed and Killer were comfortable going into the season with him.

[Looner]

I’ve been really impressed with Vinny, he’s as talented a young kicker as I can ever remember seeing right off the hop so it’s exciting to see where he could be once he’s got a couple of years experience behind him. After seeing what he’s been able to do so far I understand now why Ed and Killer were comfortable going into the season with him.

Yup I'm with you on this one

[writfiler]

I see that Elliott Brown has been released by Az.
I would love to see him back as an Elk as well as Jake Julien who was cut by TB 2 weeks ago.

[ben_the_eskimo]

Elliot Brown would look nice on our DL for sure…

[adb]

Anyone know is Carter O’Donnell has managed to get on with any NFL team? Wouldn’t mind seeing him on our O-line.

[bone]

I see that Elliott Brown has been released by Az.
I would love to see him back as an Elk as well as Jake Julien who was cut by TB 2 weeks ago.

A canadian duo of Julien and Blanchard could be quite formidable for a long time. That said, I'm not stressing much on Julien at the moment as Grace is also pretty young has been a pleasant surprise, and Blanchard has done a respectable job in relief.

[Looner]

A canadian duo of Julien and Blanchard could be quite formidable for a long time. That said, I'm not stressing much on Julien at the moment as Grace is also pretty young has been a pleasant surprise, and Blanchard has done a respectable job in relief.

Ask and ye shall receive, Julien Signed through 2027. Along with WR's Calhoun and Asante