Game #11 Labor day classic vs the Stumps

[BeaverSports]

Fajardo is the starter, no debate there in my mind. That said, he didn't have it tonight and I agree he was running himself into sacks. Maybe he doesn't have the playmakers downfield he needs, and maybe the line could be hanging on in pass pro longer, but it wasn't his best effort. To me, when you struggle like that, you try going with the other guy to see what happens. I guess, though, they were in that game for far longer than they should have been, largely because the D did its job.

The miss on the chip shot by Blanchard and the numerous follies in the red zone loom large tonight also. We were thoroughly beaten, but there were moments where we could have executed at key times and just couldn't do it.

[EsksTMac]

I also want to say this and I constantly remind myself during these games:

Ed Hervey and Chris Morris will get this right. Whoever the long term franchise QB ends up being, they will get it right. I have full confidence in them and it’s way I came back to being an EE fan.

So much damage has been done to this team ever since Len Rhodes came in and ever since TSN made them fire Ed Hervey initially. It took a year or two when Ed came in and cleaned up Tillman’s mess. He’ll do it again with Chris Morris and the ownership group behind him.

[glenvb]

We weren't all that far off. We were ahead in offensive yards after the third quarter and within six points before the roof caved in. Again, our offensive line cost us IMO. Cody didn't look great, but he sure was under pressure all day. Eventually the defense couldn't hols us in the game any longer.

[widowmaker]

I have tried to stay positive but this team just isn't very good.

In this game alone we saw a lineman that can't get the heck out of the way, a wildly inconsistent FG kicker, mental lapses, and bad penalties.

There's no way this team makes the playoffs.

[Esks4ever]

Well at least the D held their own for three of 4 quarters. Too Bad the Offense couldn't piss a drop. 5 mins left down by 21 seems like a good time to get Ford some reps no?

Farjardo did his thing - 21/33 for 255. but really no real threat. One thing that angers me is he throws deep to whomever - but each time that receiver is double covered. Multiple times this game he tried that.

I dont know who was at center this game - or even ones in the past but man he has issues snapping the ball. Constantly high and today was high and outside.


Good thing:

D held us in the game for 3/4. Can't really ask for more.
And I really like akill smith's game.

[Esks4ever]

I LOVE Cody as our starter , Ford has had his chances , proved he will NEVER be a starter as a qb in this league , Ford could be our back up for his career if he wanted to , Cody is a proven winner with a Grey Cup ring , we just don’t have the Oline or the decent receivers , remember this stamps D is the best in the league , shut down the riders TWICE this year , so cool your jets with Cody , the team is way more confident with Cody as our starter than they ever would be with Ford , this off season we need to trade or release Ford , so we don’t have all these professional armchair QBs trying to know what they are talking about

Old habits die hard huh.

[Esks4ever]

1. I think that you think Cody is much better than he is.

2. He won a Grey Cup but that doesn’t make you a great QB. Montreal benched Fajardo for Alexander for a reason. Maas is a QB whisperer and one of the best play callers in the league - if he’s benching Fajardo, I think it says something.

3. Fajardo has had a lot of the same issues his entire career. He’s best when he’s off script and he’s evading pass rushers and getting outside of the pocket to make throws. The problem is the success rate on that is not very good. Teams would much rather have someone who can run their offenses effectively and make the throws they need to make.

4. I won’t claim to say the situation is perfect here. There’s very little talent in this skill group other than Rankin, KGJ and Dunbar. There’s no game breakers or players that you design an offense around. No Tuckers, Vaughns, Stegalls, Lawler or whoever else you want to name.

5. On top of that - Jordan M (OC) has been underwhelming for a long time. I think most will agree on this point.

6.You may be right about Ford. He may be nothing more than a gadget player or a change of pace guy. But I’d like to find out and know for sure before we kick him to the curb and maybe he has success elsewhere.

1, Understatement of the year. Also his blind hatred to Ford is.. well.. something else.

2. Agreed. 100 percent. Maas clearly saw something.

3. Cody is Cody but this statement I agree with.

4. There is a extreme lack of talent on the O.

5. Unbelievely underwhelming.

6. Agree. Maybe Ford doesn't have it - maybe he does. We need to see what he's learned/got when we can. Some series, let him play in garrbage time like today would have been a prime time to see. 5 mins left and down 21. Farjardo isn't mounting a comeback.


Not gunna hang this all on Cody - the oline wasnt the best - but cody wasn't either.

[Esks4ever]

All these Eskimos fans on planet delusional giving up on Cody lol we should be 4-2 with Cody , he had the game winning td against Hamilton , put the ball right KJG hands in the end zone and he drops it , Cody almost beat the riders , and than faced the number 1 stamps D in the league that man handled the first place riders TWICE , some of you fans are acting EXACTLY like riders fans , like seriously your making the TRUE fans sick , EVERY commentator has said this is a way more confident team with Cody as our starter , these are all ex CFL stars , that actually played the game, NOT arm chair QBs or coaches,WAKE UP !!!

Cody is not the QB that will lead this team into the promise land. He just isn't it.. No matter how much you hug and kiss your Cody doll.


is he horrible ? nope. Is he getting it done ? Nope. Outside of his completion percentage theres no threat from him. He'll have his good games and he'll have his bad. Just like every other QB.... he's just saddled with a poor offense. Stop Rankin and we are really bad.

[Esks4ever]

We weren't all that far off. We were ahead in offensive yards after the third quarter and within six points before the roof caved in. Again, our offensive line cost us IMO. Cody didn't look great, but he sure was under pressure all day. Eventually the defense couldn't hols us in the game any longer.

Yep Better Oline and i'm sure Cody performs better - even if Cal stopped Rankin.

[Eskie54]

Calgary knew Rankin was running on first down. That certainly did not help the offence to be more productive.

[Esks4ever]

Calgary knew Rankin was running on first down. That certainly did not help the offence to be more productive.

to be fair, we do that alot in every game. Its so predictable even my 73 year old mother and my friends 5 year old can call the first down play before we do it.

[cmbuk]

Was always a tough ask.. this is why I said we have to split! We have to win sat now..

we were no where near it today

[Sectionq]

Going into that game, I wasn't expecting a win. Even when Edmonton were good, it was always hard to win the game in Calgary because for whatever reason, Calgary usually seemed to get up for it more than Edmonton. All I wanted from that game was for Edmonton to be in it the whole game, to look like they could compete. If that game came down to a play or 2 and they lost, I would be OK with it.

I didn't see that. I saw a LARGE gap which was disappointing to say the least.

To give credit, I thought the defense keep them in it.

I thought the game changed at the end of the first half. Blanchard missed a 32 yard field. That's a convert. That has to be automatic. Then with almost no time left, the Stamps are of course throwing the ball. They do and the Elks take a PI. Do a running play to get it into a better spot, 49 yr field goal. So instead of the game being 10-6 at the half. It's 13-4.

They get a long field goal to make it 13-7. Then give up the punt return TD and it's game over.

What was troubling to me about that game was the offensive line and special teams. On special teams, they needed that kick. It's one thing if that was a mid field on. It's 32 yards. You can't miss that kick ever. You just can't. Especially at the end of a half. The vibes going into the locker room are IMO a hell of a lot more positive if it's 10-6, than 13-4. Then they can't give up that punt return TD. I personally thought it was really poor coverage on the Elks part as the returner really didn't have to do anything special because the lanes/holes were so big.

Oline. I thought they were awful. Like beginning of the year bad. They only gave up 4 sacks which surprised me because when I looked up the stats, I was expecting there to be more as I saw Dlinemen burning guys repeatedly. There seemed to be pressure in Fajardo's face most plays. On run plays, more times than not, there was guys in the backfield basically waiting for Rankin to get the ball. I know Calgary has a good defense but it didn't look close which is concerning.

I am hoping for a good showing on Saturday but after watching that game, then hearing about a few more guys potentially banged up, I have my doubts.

[ben_the_eskimo]

Going into that game, I wasn't expecting a win. Even when Edmonton were good, it was always hard to win the game in Calgary because for whatever reason, Calgary usually seemed to get up for it more than Edmonton. All I wanted from that game was for Edmonton to be in it the whole game, to look like they could compete. If that game came down to a play or 2 and they lost, I would be OK with it.

I didn't see that. I saw a LARGE gap which was disappointing to say the least.

To give credit, I thought the defense keep them in it.

I thought the game changed at the end of the first half. Blanchard missed a 32 yard field. That's a convert. That has to be automatic. Then with almost no time left, the Stamps are of course throwing the ball. They do and the Elks take a PI. Do a running play to get it into a better spot, 49 yr field goal. So instead of the game being 10-6 at the half. It's 13-4.

They get a long field goal to make it 13-7. Then give up the punt return TD and it's game over.

What was troubling to me about that game was the offensive line and special teams. On special teams, they needed that kick. It's one thing if that was a mid field on. It's 32 yards. You can't miss that kick ever. You just can't. Especially at the end of a half. The vibes going into the locker room are IMO a hell of a lot more positive if it's 10-6, than 13-4. Then they can't give up that punt return TD. I personally thought it was really poor coverage on the Elks part as the returner really didn't have to do anything special because the lanes/holes were so big.

Oline. I thought they were awful. Like beginning of the year bad. They only gave up 4 sacks which surprised me because when I looked up the stats, I was expecting there to be more as I saw Dlinemen burning guys repeatedly. There seemed to be pressure in Fajardo's face most plays. On run plays, more times than not, there was guys in the backfield basically waiting for Rankin to get the ball. I know Calgary has a good defense but it didn't look close which is concerning.

I am hoping for a good showing on Saturday but after watching that game, then hearing about a few more guys potentially banged up, I have my doubts.

I hear ya on the expectations. I went in expecting a loss as well which is uncharacteristic of me but it just felt more realistic unfortunately.

I thought the D played surprisingly well for the most part but all in all our team is just not there yet. Might be another year or two of Ed and Mark tinkering before we’re ready. At this point even if we manage to squeak into the playoffs somehow we won’t make it past the first game. Just not there yet.

Kilam addressed special teams directly after the game and said the punt cover unit had a hard time adapting to Julian’s style of punting. Hopefully that gets sorted in time. Also, I’m still hopeful that Vinny will develop into a reliable, automatic kicker, just hurts going through the rookie growing pains when so many other areas of your team are not functioning the way they should.

[bone]

I hear ya on the expectations. I went in expecting a loss as well which is uncharacteristic of me but it just felt more realistic unfortunately.

I thought the D played surprisingly well for the most part but all in all our team is just not there yet. Might be another year or two of Ed and Mark tinkering before we’re ready. At this point even if we manage to squeak into the playoffs somehow we won’t make it past the first game. Just not there yet.

Kilam addressed special teams directly after the game and said the punt cover unit had a hard time adapting to Julian’s style of punting. Hopefully that gets sorted in time. Also, I’m still hopeful that Vinny will develop into a reliable, automatic kicker, just hurts going through the rookie growing pains when so many other areas of your team are not functioning the way they should.

Yeah, I'm not stressing too much on Vinny yet. Despite his challenges he's delivering essentially as well as Bede did last year and I'd rather deal with that from a rookie than a long established veteran.

It can't be undersold that all of Blanchard's misses this year came in games where it was the first start with that holder except the miss in Montreal which was a long one and was in a game where he suddenly had to add punting to his duties. I just can't remember whether the miss was before or after Grace was injured.

He'll adjust. And if he doesn't it may be worth questioning whether Julien has some issues in how he sets the ball considering Bede fell off a cliff last year from how he kicked the prior year with Julien as his holder.