At halftime there was hope that the Edmonton Elks might avoid extending their CFL-record home losing streak, but a disastrous third quarter led to the team dropping its nineteenth consecutive home game, this one by a score of 43-31 to the Toronto Argonauts. Here are my thoughts on the game.
Lost in the trenches
The Elks were dominated along the line of scrimmage, plain and simple. Toronto’s defence generated consistent pressure throughout the game, even when rushing only four linemen. They collected six sacks as Edmonton’s quarterbacks seemed to face almost immediate pressure for plays at a time. If the first read wasn’t there, there was no time to make another read before being met by a sea of white and blue.
“Any time you give up that much pressure, it’s concerning,” said head coach and general manager Chris Jones. “We’ve got to do a better job of managing getting the ball out of their hands, number one. Some of that’s on the quarterback, some of that’s certainly on the protection.”
The offensive line’s run blocking wasn’t much better. Granted, the Elks only had seven rushing attempts — which I’ll get into later — but the holes were not there for big gains. Quarterback Taylor Cornelius had by far the longest scamper on the night and it was on a broken play.
The defensive line did not fare significantly better. The unit didn’t generate any sacks on the night and Argos’ quarterback Chad Kelly had plenty of time to assess the field. I joked with my seat neighbour that Kelly could snap the ball, pull out a pen and paper, write “Dear Mom, I’m going to throw it to Cam Philips,” and still have time to connect the throw without being touched. When Jake Ceresna finally broke through to get his team’s first sack, it was negated by a horse collar tackle. Such was the night on both lines.
The Argos seemed to be able to run the ball at will as running back A.J. Ouellette ran for 84 yards and three touchdowns. Andrew Harris and Daniel Adeboboye also made significant contributions along the ground for a team total of 194 yards. Although there’s some responsibility to the linebackers for that giant number, the lanes were created at the line.
Quarterback shuffle
Taylor Cornelius started the game and seemed to be more comfortable in the pocket in the early going. In the second series of the game, using the running ability he showed last year, he was able to move the ball and finished the drive with a pass to running back Kevin Brown who took it to the house.
The third-year quarterback engineered another drive, starting at the Elks’ 28-yard line with 1:13 to go in the half, and worked the ball deep into Toronto territory for a field goal as time expired. With only ten points scored by the offence into the third quarter trailing 33-17, Chris Jones pulled the trigger on the quarterback switch.
Kai Locklsey entered the game with 5:42 left the in third and promptly fumbled the ball. The Argos recovered and, five plays later, increased their lead off the foot of Boris Bede.
When the offence returned to the field, Jarret Doege took over the controls. The rookie was a healthy scratch for the first two weeks of the season and was making his professional debut. He went nine-for-eleven for 163 yards and two touchdowns, albeit in a game that was almost out of reach when he entered.
Doege made one bad decision on a pass that was picked off by Royce Metchie and returned for the touchdown, but fit the ball into some tight windows and seemed to provide the spark the offence needed.
Last week, head coach and general manager Chris Jones placed his confidence in Cornelius, but he was non-committal on who will start next week against the Ottawa Redblacks.
“We’ll see. I know Doege played really well, other than the one errant throw, which was going to the wrong side of the field. If we’ll learn to go through our reads properly, we’ll be a lot better,” said Jones.
A spark from Sims
With the injury to Ed Gainey, another American roster spot opened up and the Elks inserted returner CJ Sims. The diminutive speedster from New Mexico Highlands University didn’t waste his opportunity as he recorded 285 combined return yards with longs of 72 on kickoffs and 52 on punts. Edmonton fans should be excited to see more of what he can produce.
Big game for Pennywise
As has been his tradition, Loucheiz Purifoy ran on to the field wearing his Pennywise mask, paying tribute to the character from Stephen King’s It. He had his best game for the Elks so far with four tackles and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
His second interception came on a tip drill as it went off of an Argos’ player, off Purifoy’s hand, and then back down into his awaiting arms. He is the elder statesman in the secondary and leading by example.
A matter of inches
The Elks have had their fair share of issues trying to get one yard this year.
The team came up short on three short-yardage plays on Sunday as Doege stumbled while trying to get the edge on third-and-one. Kevin Brown was unable to find a running lane twice from Toronto’s one-yard line before offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo had the good sense to throw it on third down to get the touchdown.
On a related note, with eight minutes left in the game, Geno Lewis seemed to be going in for his second touchdown of the year when he was stripped of the ball within inches of the goal line by Jamal Peters. Football is a game of inches and Edmonton is having trouble finding them at costly times this season.
Still no running
Being as far down as the Elks were in the second half, it’s understandable that they moved away from the run. Up until midway through the third quarter, however, they were within one score.
As much as the offensive line struggled, with two dynamic runners in Brown and rookie Shannon Brooks, only having six combined attempts — two of which came from the one-yard line — seems counterproductive to offensive success.
If Edmonton wants to get the offensive line more comfortable, having them do more run blocking might help. Brown is as good as any running back in the league. He needs more touches.
Dunbar breaks out
Steven Dunbar Jr. has been relatively quiet since joining the Elks as a free agent this past off-season. He had his best game with the team so far on Sunday night as he used his long arms to reel in some wide throws, finishing with eight catches for 98 yards. After a slow star, he appears headed in the right direction.
Missing Mitchell
On the opposite side of that conversation is Dillon Mitchell. He was only targeted twice in the game: one he caught for six yards, while the other led to the Metchie pick-six.
I expected a giant year from Mitchell after his showing at the end of last season. If the protection can improve to allow Mitchell to get open downfield, expect him to turn things around.
Honouring 1993
Edmonton honoured the 30-year anniversary of its 1993 Grey Cup win. It was a nice tribute with 10 players from the team introduced, including Damon Allen, Henry ‘Gizmo’ Williams, Rod Connop, and Jed Roberts. The organization will honour the 2003 Grey Cup team on Aug. 27 against the Ottawa Redblacks.
The Elks are on a short week as they travel to the nation’s capital to play the Redblacks on Friday night. The quarterback position will surely be the hot topic of this week as the club looks to get into the win column following an 0-3 start.
