Esks thrash Lions (and Mike Reilly) to clinch season series

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

Good old fashioned Thursday night beatdown.

The Eskimos dominated all three phases en route to a 33-6 win in B.C. Mike Reilly’s stats are a little summary of how he’s done against his former team: after being held to 149 passing yards in Week 2, he improved ever so slightly to 157 this week for a TWO GAME total of 306 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Also:

Lions were up 17-3 on the #Esks in week two. Since then, Esks outscored them 69-12. Thanks to Section O for the stat.

— Reid Wilkins (@ReidWilkins) July 12, 2019

*whistles*

I’m impressed. Are you impressed?

Time for some thoughts on the game.

– For CFL fantasy players, my advice to you is, in general, avoid Eskimo receivers. Trevor Harris has been terrific all season and was again versus the Lions, completing a pass to nine different players. But even with Greg Ellingson, DaVaris Daniels, Ricky Collins Jr., and Kenny Stafford available it was Canadian Natey Adjei leading the way with a 77-yard catch and run TD and 106 yards on the night.

.@Tey11_ blows by a bunch of defenders and takes it all the way to the house!! #CFLGameday pic.twitter.com/qd92DiJlRO

— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) July 12, 2019

You can’t predict this stuff. Awesome for Adjei to get his first career 100-yard game in his sixth season, with a previous high of 54 yards achieved in Week 1 this year.

– DaVaris Daniels made a very nice snag for his first TD as an Eskimo in his green and gold debut. Looking forward to more of that.

Welcome back, @SincerelyToot!

DaVaris Daniels scores his first touchdown as a member of the @EdmontonEsks to extend their lead in the third quarter!#CFLGameday pic.twitter.com/oQDzlgmamf

— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) July 12, 2019

– Martese Jackson had an excellent night on kick returns. I will hold my breath until he repeats it against a team that isn’t B.C., but positive signs. Drive starts after returns:

B.C. 52

B.C. 54

Edmonton 5 (penalty)

B.C. 46

Edmonton 36

Edmonton 32

Edmonton 54

Edmonton 5 (penalty)

Edmonton 48

Quite the field position game. Five around midfield and two inside their own 10.

– Sean Whyte posted another perfect night with field goals from 31, 36, 47, and 45 plus three converts. 7-for-7 two weeks in a row, thankfully with a trio only being worth a single each this time.

– Five sacks for the Esks ‘D’ in the first half before easing up in the second, which makes it 12 in two games against Edmonton on poor old Reilly. Six points allowed, 177 total net yards, three turnovers… overwhelming.

– To a more serious topic: roughing the passer reviews (well, not just reviews…) in the CFL are broken and beyond any shred of credibility. Consistency? Nah, who needs that?! Graze a face mask and it’s 15 yards, but dive straight into a knee and it’s nothing. No, Odell Willis was not pushed. And if you want to claim “well the letter of the law” answer simply: was it dangerous and/or was there a high probability of injury? Yes, and objectively that really can’t be argued.

Somewhat less importantly Edmonton would have had the ball at the B.C. 45 with time before halftime to get a little closer, so even though the game turned out fine it probably cost them points.

– Jason Maas is still stubborn as a donkey. Even if Harris hadn’t taken a heavy shot to his knee, a 30-6 lead is more than enough to rest the starter in the last half dozen minutes. A couple of depth guys definitely saw the field on D, but the offence stayed full go. Regardless if the injury risk is small, you never know how useful getting the backup QB a few reps will be.

– The Esks penalty count ended up at 12 for 95 yards, which in raw totals is an improvement. It didn’t feel like that much and a lot came in extended garbage time. Bonus: zero roughing the passer calls. (And also zero turnovers. Very tidy game.)

– Guard Matt O’Donnell went down early with an apparent knee injury and didn’t return. That would – literally and figuratively – be a giant loss for an O-line that has had a very nice start to the season. In particular, him being a national could make things tricky, possibly requiring a switch back to two Canadian receivers. 2019 draft pick Kyle Saxelid saw his first action in O’Donnell’s place.

– Next up on the schedule is a road trip to Montreal followed by a home game against Toronto. This is about as easy as a sequence gets (on paper), so here’s hoping the Eskimos make the most of it.