Edmonton Eskimos - Labour Day Upset?
BY DARREN POPOWICH

The last time the Edmonton Eskimos beat the Calgary Stampeders in the Labour Day Classic it was 2011 blowout of 35 to 7. Since then all Stampeders, but no real blowouts. Last year's game was a defensive battle ending up in a Stamps 16 to 7 victory. Since then all Eskies winning three in a row against their rivals including the Labour Day rematch that saw Mike Reilly pass for 352 yards for the 27 to 16 win on the way to the Grey Cup.

Much like last year not many outside of a few Esk fans give the Green and Gold any chance to win in Calgary on Labour Day Monday. However, there a few things to consider before discounting the Eskies.
Healthy Mike Reilly

Last season Reilly was on limp still recovering from a knee injury. James Franklin started last year in place of Reilly and struggled getting sacked 4 times and completing only 56% of his passes. Reilly entered the ball game new knee brace and all only to rush for 68 yards while completing 68% of his passes.

In fact Reilly has never been this healthy for the classic as he has been this season. Nor has he been as hot as a quarterback throwing for 3,096 passing yards and a 70% completion. Reilly is on track to shatter the Ricky Ray's single season passing record of 5,663 yards along with others. Reilly would be the first to say he does not care about stats or records, but it does speak to how he gives the Esks a chance to win. On Monday, Mike "The Warrior" Reilly will once again hoist the Esks on his shoulders and lead them into battle.
The Wrecking Crew

Adarius Bowman is currently having his best season as a professional with a 73.3% reception percentage. The knock on Bowman to date is that he has found ways to drop the easy ones and yet come back to make spectacular catches. This year Bowman has been a receiving machine and along with Derel Walker on the wide side combining for 1,843 yards receiving as a duo. That is 59.5% of the Esks passing yards this season.

Walker has cooled somewhat, mostly due to double coverage from the opposing defenses. Add in speedster Cory Watson and the Esks Wrecking Crew pose a legitimate triple threat receiving corps. Watson has been used on the skinny post go route up the seam to burn teams that attempt to double Bowman and Walker. Come Monday the Stamps will match up Ciante Evans on Walker, Jamar Wall on Bowman and Brandon Smith on Watson. All three Stamps give up a significant size mismatch on the Wrecking Crew and that should make for a massive aerial show by Eskimos offense.

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