Eskimos O-line expects a challenge

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This article was published 03/08/2011 (5559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — Friday night had a familiar feel to it.

The Edmonton Eskimos were trailing early in the game and quarterback Ricky Ray was busy fleeing opposing defenders and enduring contact.

After having praise heaped upon it while the Eskimos built a 4-0 record through the first month of the Canadian Football League season, Edmonton’s offensive line was exposed by the Toronto Argonauts defence.

While the feeling may have been similar to years past, where Ray took a pounding, the end result was positive. The Eskimos improved to 5-0, erasing a 17-1 second-quarter deficit en route to a 26-25 win.

“It was one of those games that I wasn’t too impressed with, and everyone in the meeting room wasn’t impressed with, I know that,” said Eskimos centre Aaron Fiacconi.

Even though quarterback protection extends beyond the offensive line, Fiacconi wasn’t interested in spreading blame around before the team practised on Tuesday.

“It’s our job,” he said. “We’re offensive linemen. We’ve got to protect for as long as it takes for (Ray) to get rid of the football. There are no excuses being made here. We didn’t rise to the occasion and we didn’t play good enough to win the football game. We got lucky.”

Eskimos coach Kavis Reed said that the Argos’ pass rushers are a talented bunch.

“Toronto’s defence is absolutely a brilliant group of guys in terms of their talent,” he said. “But their front four is, I would argue, the best in the league. They’re powerful, they’re explosive, they’re quick and they’ve very cerebral in the things they do.”

Heading into Friday’s game against in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers, Reed is expecting his offensive line to be challenged again. The 4-1 Bombers are anchored on defence by defensive end/linebacker Odell Willis, who leads the CFL with seven quarterback sacks. Defensive tackle Doug Brown has three, while defensive end/linebacker Kenny Mainor and defensive lineman Dorian Smith each have two.

“We’re going to face a similar-type front four this week, but unfortunately for us, I think three weeks in a row we’re going to face that kind of front four,” Reed said, counting Toronto, Winnipeg and the Montreal Alouettes next week before remembering that the Calgary Stampeders aren’t too far off in the distance again on Labour Day.

“So our work is cut out for us.”

Ray said defences like Toronto’s and Winnipeg’s puts the pressure on him.

“You definitely don’t want to try and hold on to the ball too much,” said the league’s leader in passing yards, with 1,492. “You want to understand that those guys are coming and you want to make good decisions, get the ball out. Other than that, if they’re in there, try not to make a play out of nothing.

“If they’ve got you, live to play another down. You can get yourself into trouble if they’ve got their arms wrapped around you and you’re trying to throw, so try to protect the football and (know that) they’re going to win a few plays.”

“We know we’re first place now, we’ve strung five (wins) together and everyone wants to beat the Eskimos now,” Fiacconi said. “We have to raise our intensity and get better and it’s not going to get easier.”

AROUND THE CFL: When he steps onto the Rogers Centre turf Thursday night, Anthony Calvillo’s top priority will be getting the Montreal Alouettes back on track. After starting the season with three straight wins, the defending Grey Cup champions have lost two straight heading into their road game against Toronto. The Argonauts (1-4), though, are struggling as well. Barring injury, Calvillo will take down another of Damon Allen’s CFL records. He needs just nine completions to break Allen’s all-time mark of 5,158. Earlier this season, Calvillo broke Allen’s CFL record of 394 career TD passes and is on pace this year to eclipse Allen’s all-time passing yards mark of 72,381 and become the most prolific passer in pro football history… Wally Buono is the winningest coach in CFL history. But with the Lions’ 0-5 start to the season, Buono now also has the distinction of having suffered the most losses ever by a CFL head coach.

 

— Postmedia News, with files from The Canadian Press