Edmonton Elks can’t find another comeback in 24-19 loss to Toronto Argonauts

Photo: Jonathan Patlan/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Edmonton Elks’ winning streak was stopped at four with a 24-19 loss to the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday afternoon.

After what I thought was the team’s best three-phase performance last week, the Green and Gold could not finish at BMO Field and it caught up to them.

Here are my thoughts on the game.

Elks-plosion plays

For most of this season, Edmonton’s defence has done a great job of limiting long passing plays. The secondary entered this week fourth in the CFL with only 19 passes of 30-plus yards allowed over 13 games, an average of a little under 1.5 per contest.

However, Chad Kelly found a way through this week. He hit five explosive throws, including one on his team’s the first offensive play from scrimmage to set the tone early for the Double Blue.

It wasn’t just one guy that got picked on.

Chelen Garnes, Tyrell Ford, and Kobe Williams all found themselves in chase position at some point in the first half. Perhaps the return of Kenneth Logan Jr., who missed the team’s last four games due to injury, forced the defence to reassess its spacing. Regardless, the Boatmen needed only two plays to go up 7-3. It was an auspicious start.

Granted, the defence found its way eventually.

Toronto was held to zero offensive points in the second half, as two Elks interceptions in the end zone took points off the board. Nick Anderson was a man possessed, making three tackles for loss.

Edmonton collectively held Toronto to minus-one rushing yard. The one-handed interception from JJ Ross in the end zone, which he made while being pulled down by Damonte Coxie, was a highlight.

Those early plays hurt, but the comeback scenario held up in the second half — on one side of the ball, at least.

Red zone does not mean stop

During their four-game win streak, the Elks clicked at a 75 percent success rate in the red zone.

Toronto’s defence did a lot of bending but not breaking on Saturday, and it was the difference in the game, as Edmonton went one-for-six in the red zone.

Key disruptive plays, especially by Adarius Pickett, forced Edmonton into field goals much too often. I counted six times that the Elks failed to convert on second-and-three or less.

Five field goal attempts, three of which came from the red zone, won’t win many football games.

Vincent Blanchard also had an uncharacteristic miss with six minutes to play, which only rubbed salt in the wound. I’m not placing blame there, as Blanchard hit the other four field goals with ease. The issue is that he was not kicking converts instead.

Speaking about uncharacteristic, Cody Fajardo launched two passes that were intercepted in the end zone.

One came on the last play of the third quarter, when Benjie Franklin was able to go up and get it with Fajardo throwing from the four-yard line. The veteran quarterback looked frustrated with his receivers after the play, possibly because he wanted one to break off their route earlier.

The second came with just 21 seconds left, as Fajardo was rushed into a long throw that came down in the hands of Tarvarus McFadden.

Some miscommunication and substantial pressure from the Toronto defensive line kept two majors off the board, and pushed the turnover battle the way of the home side.

Overall, it was a tough day in the red zone for anyone in green.

Great between the twenties

As tough as the red zone was, Edmonton moved through the rest of the field reasonably well.

Edmonton finished with 152 yards on the ground and 360 yards through the air. When you record 483 yards of offence, and 129 yards more than your opponent, you typically win.

For the 22nd time in his career, Cody Fajardo surpassed the 300-yard passing mark. The University of Nevada product finished with his standard 73 percent completion rate.

Austin Mack recorded his fourth game over 100 yards and crossed 1,000 yards on the year, while Joe Robustelli caught all six passes that went his way for 56 yards.

Justin Rankin racked up 89 yards on the ground and 47 through the air. The combination of Carter O’Donnell and Brendan Bordner bounced back from last week with some great holes for Rankin to pop through.

Rough stuff

It’s fairly clear that these teams are not fans of one another.

Their last battle in July had a few shoves exchanged and both teams went over 60 yards in penalties. Both teams met that yard total again this week, but with much more swinging.

After a combo tackle on Kevin Mital, Chelen Garnes was over top of the receiver. All of a sudden, Garnes swung down with a punch. I didn’t understand it.

Flags flew, as they should, and I figured the second-year defensive back was done for the day. On replay, the reason for the punch was suddenly evident.

It looked like Mital punched up and caught Garnes in the nether region, and then Garnes punched back in retaliation. I’ll give the command centre credit for catching it and sending the call down after it initially went unpenalized.

My confusion is why both players weren’t tossed if both threw punches. Another concern is that we are talking about different “sacks” two weeks in a row.

It didn’t stop there with three other misconduct penalties. JJ Ross and Damonte Coxie renewed pleasantries by hanging off each other’s face masks at one point, and Paris Shand decided to push Mark Korte down by the grill on his helmet.

It will be interesting to see if cooler heads prevail if somehow these teams meet up at some point in the playoffs.

Another debut

With ShunDerrick Powell being ruled out due to a rib injury, Montrell Washington made his CFL debut as a returner. The rookie ran with the chance — literally.

He totalled 219 yards of returns on six punts and four kickoffs. At five-foot-ten, the speedy receiver showed some great burst coming up the field. His long of 39 yards off a punt found him face-to-face with head coach Mark Kilam celebrating that success.

It has been a hot minute since Edmonton had a number of good returners that consistently average close to 20 yards per return. When Javon Leake gets healthy, the Elks will have the benefit of a tough decision between Leake, Powell, and Washington, which isn’t a bad problem to have.

O-line struggles 

David Beard went down with an injury in the second quarter and Mark Korte stepped in at centre.

The difference in the two is noticeable, especially in pass protection. A high snap in the third quarter not only became a turnover but gave the winning points to Toronto. Korte is a great backup to have, but he seems to do better at center when he has the week to practice for it.

There is no doubt that Toronto’s front-seven is a tough group. Going into this game, they were in a tie with Saskatchewan for first in team sacks.

The pressure was fierce on Saturday. I lost count at how many times Fajardo had to run out of a sack. The California native scrambled for 63 yards, but was also caught for two sacks. The pressure appeared to play a role in him getting the ball out quickly.

Starting a new streak

With the winning streak coming to an end, this week of preparation for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats becomes the focus to start a new streak.

Edmonton has a back-to-back against the Tiger Cats, with a bye week in between. This is a great opportunity to get back to their three-phase ways and lock up that home playoff spot.