Dave Campbell
CFL.ca
If the eccentric physiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane moved to Edmonton, he might make a lot of money counseling the offence of the Edmonton Eskimos about their apparent fragile state of mind. The topic being: not letting early adversity affect the rest of a football game.
The Eskimos faced that scenario in their season-opener last Sunday from Commonwealth Stadium. Marching from their own 28 yard-line, quarterback Ricky Ray led the troops down to the one-yard aided by a pass interference call by Lion halfback Stanley Franks to the tune of 25 yards.
First and goal from the Lion one, the Eskimos are flagged for illegal formation. Left tackle Calvin Armstrong isn’t up on the line of scrimmage (you need seven men on the line of scrimmage). No problem, still first and goal from the six.
Next, the Eskimos are flagged for illegal procedure. Okay, still not a problem, first and goal from the 11 yard-line.
Next play, Lion linebacker Korey Banks comes free of the left side on a blitz and levels Ray who fumbles and turns the ball over on the Eskimo 24.
So it was a bad start, it happens in a football game. The good news is there’s still 55 minutes left in the football game so no problem right?
How very wrong we were.
The offense sags for most of the remainder of the game. In fact, they found the red zone only twice after their opening drive. The first on Arkee Whitlock’s 4-yard touchdown putting the green and gold on the board trailing 13-7 in the second quarter. The second happened late in the game during garbage time.
Morley Scott and I said it on our broadcast, the TSN crew said it, and even Lions head coach Wally Buono said. The failed first drive was the turning point in the football game.
Quarterback Ricky Ray says it’s something that should never happen to a veteran offense.
“We went through the same thing last year”, said Ray.
“I think early on in the season when things didn’t go our way we had a tough time bouncing back. As the season went on, we did a much better job of staying in the game and winning some tight ball games. I think for us, we try and go out there and play to perfect I guess, and when things don’t go our way we get down on ourselves too much”.
The one prime example of not letting bad events dictate the rest of the football game was last year in Regina in Week four. The Eskimos were down 22-0 early in the second quarter to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but rallied to win 38-33.
The big deficit didn’t bother the Eskimos, they knew they had too much time left. Even though they had less than 45 minutes to work with in that game compared to 55 minutes against the Lions.
The team on Sunday looked listless, confused, and unwilling to do the dirty work. Ricky Ray was off the mark on a number of his passing attempts. He wasn’t given much help from his offensive line as the Lions hurried Ray 19 times and hit him about 14 times.
The one bright spot was Arkee Whitlock who rushed 16 times for 113 yards and a touchdown. Head coach Richie Hall says he wasn’t really concerned with the fundamental aspect of his team after the loss; it was what was happening between the ears.
“Right now, my biggest concern coming out of the game was our emotional state,” explained Hall.
“It’s our state of energy after turning the ball over on that first drive; we didn’t seem to have that state of energy to go out there and to win a football game. Even though we had a chance at the end, if we did win the game it still doesn’t change the fact that, why was there such a drop-off in our emotional state?”
The start of the season doesn’t get any easier for the green and gold. The Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes, who despite scoring 51 points, still lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, come to town next.
They’ll be coming into Commonwealth Stadium grumpy because head coach Marc Trestman will want the team to have that mind-set. If the Eskimos fail to be equally as snarly, it could be a tough reality of being an 0-2 football team heading into Mosaic Stadium in Regina next week.
”The biggest thing is we can’t get down on ourselves”, Ray said.
“You’re not going to play a perfect game; things are going to go bad. You’re playing another professional football team on the other side of the ball and they’re going to make plays too. We have to find a way not to be so hard on ourselves and just go out there and play”.
Goodnight Edmonton Eskimos and good mental health.
Notes: Centre Aaron Fiacconi may draw back into the lineup Sunday shifting Kyle Koch back to left guard. Fiacconi missed the season opener with a knee injury. Defensive end Greg Peach suffered a badly sprained ankle vs. the Lions; Kenny Pettway will make his CFL debut vs. Montreal. Rookie safety and 2010 CFL Draft second round pick Saleem Borhot will make his debut for Jason Nugent who’s out with a hamstring injury. Defensive tackle Dario Romero is expected to remain out of the lineup still nursing an ankle injury.