Killer instinct is what winning football teams need to be successful. Finally the Edmonton Eskimos show the killer instinct against the Toronto Argonauts after giving up points on an interception. With the Argos up 8-0, the Eskimos took over in the first quarter. Mike Reilly was far from perfect throwing two picks, but he also threw for a couple of big passes while mixing in John White and Calvin McCarty as receivers and on the run. The pass defence led by Pat Watkins, who had two picks, along with the front four, who had pressure all game long, made life miserable for Logan Kilgore.
Eskimos Killer Instinct Found
Bully Them Early
After starting deep in their own zone, as they have many times this season, the Esks marched eighty-five yards mostly with runs and short passes to White. The march was capped with a thirty yard pass to Nate Coehoorn. Coehoorn has had a tough season that included many drops and an injury, so it is good to see the veteran get involved.
This was easily the best outing by Eskimos defence all season. The pass rush from the front four was much better as they brought solid pressure on Kilgore. Kilgore made a bad read and tossed a quick throw on a short inside route that Watkins jumped and returned the pick down to the Argos six yard line. Overall the secondary looked like far better working together as one unit handing off receivers and communicating with each other. After the pick a mix of White and McCarty combined for the Eskimos second touchdown to give the Eskies a 14–8 lead.
With the lead the Eskimos changed up their play calling via a massive seventy yard skinny post bomb to the other member of the wrecking crew Cory Watson. After Watson put the Esks on the Argos 25-yard line, Adarius Bowman ran a nice corner route to get behind double coverage and caught a perfectly placed ball by Reilly. With Bowman scoring a third touchdown the Esks were up 21-8 very early in the second quarter. Getting up by two majors was important to get the Argos out of any run game plan they may have had and forced their young quarterback to be a passer.
Safety Concerns
After a Sean Whyte put the Esks up 24-8 with 9:53 left in the second, the Argos finally started to move the football consistently. Aided by a couple of defensive pass interference calls the Esks defence surrended a rushing touchdown on the third attempt. Reminders of the Hamilton game stirred for the Esks and they resolved to put their foot on the Argos throat. With that in mind the defence stiffened as the Argos attempted to rally.
Neil King continued to struggle at safety, and although he is a very good special team player, his play continues to hurts the Esks on defence. King was many steps behind Kevin Elliott and clearly screen him giving the Argos new life and eventually resulting in six points. However, the positive on this series was that the Esks short yardage team stuffed the run twice. Even though they gave up the touchdown on the third attempt that is something off which they can build.
The Eskimos fan base held their collective breath when hearing that White was injured with a large cut on his hand late in the second quarter. Without their starting running back the Esks went to the pass throwing another bomb of fifty-two yards to Bowman that set-up a Derel Walker touchdown for a 30-14 lead. McCarty looked very solid filling in for White in setting up another Whyte field goal for a 33-14 halftime lead.
Keeping Focus
Though a few Eskimos fans mentioned early in the third quarter that the Esks should get Reilly out if they scored again, the reality is that the Eskimos have failed to show the killer instinct at times this year. The Esks needed to bring the heat and there was no way the Esks were taking any of the starters out of the game.
Watkins came out in the first minute of the second half and intercepted Kilgore to make the statement that the Esks were going for a win. The pick put the Esks deep in Toronto territory and four plays later, mostly on McCarty’s shoulders, Reilly plunged in to run the score up 40-14. Now that was killer instinct personified.
While some will say that the Esks should have been gracious at this point an eased up, but some Eskie fans wanted to see more of the killer instinct and the Esks to run up the score. Reilly continued to spread the ball around to McCarty, Coehoorn and Watson. The drive led to another Whyte field goal pushing the score to 43-14 for the Eskies, but more importantly the Esks kept Reilly out of harm’s way. They did so while not running up the score and still moving the football. A classy move by Maas and the Eskimos.
Sleep Walkers
While the Eskimos owned the Argos throughout the game once the game was under control, after going up 46-16, the offence went into snooze mode. The defence however did continue to push creating two opportunities in the second half for interceptions. One where Marcel Young was hit right in the hands, but turned too late to spot the ball and was unable to grasp the ball. The second was a Cord Parks jumped route where he stepped in front of receiver deep in Eskimos territory and could have easily had a long return. Both of these two defensive plays should have sealed the game, but yet the Esks let the Argos hang around.
The Eskimos front four did let the pressure wain to some extent, but found a second wind when the offence faltered. After turning over the ball on downs at the Eskimos own twenty-nine yard line, the Argos marched the short drive. The Argos drew closer with the touchdown to make the score 46-23 with 4:18 remaining. A score that flattered the Argos and still needed the Esks defence to put their foot back on the gas.
On a positive note, the defensive line found that extra energy to restart the intensity allowing Almondo Sewell to break though twice and tally a couple of sacks. Newcomer Jason Vega and Deon Lacey both impressed with their hustle on the pass rush throughout the game even if they did not get a sack. Overall the pressure was much improved and the defence looked good even if the offence went to sleep early in the fourth quarter while cruising to a 46-23 win.
Top Performers
Top performers of the game:
- Watkins with two picks and good coverage all game.
- Watson’s long reception to break the game wide open and force the Argos out of the run game.
- Lacey who had six tackles and was also in on the pass rush delivering a shoe top tackle to prevent a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Main Photo.
