The Edmonton Eskimos have been streaking as of late but in the wrong direction. On Saturday, the team will try to end a four-game losing streak when they visit the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field in Toronto.
The Eskimos sit with a 7-4 record and sole possession of third place in the Western Division, just two points back of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for second place.
Edmonton lost the fourth straight game in the Labour Day rematch, falling 25-22 to the Calgary Stampeders. The game came down to a last second field goal attempt by Eskimos kicker Chris Milo, who pulled his 47-yard attempt wide right.
The Eskimos resembled more of the team that raced out to a 7-0 start last week, putting up 443 yards of offence and limiting the Stampeders to 331.
Mike Reilly passed for 461 yards, giving him close to 800 yards passing in his last two games. Receiver Derel Walker recorded nine catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in his first game back from the NFL.
Receiver Brandon Zylstra caught 10 passes for 187 yards and was named a Shaw CFL Top Performer of the Week. Zylstra has the most receiving yards of any player in the CFL over the last two games, recording 314 yards. He has eight second down conversion catches in the same time span.
Poor starts are not helping the Eskimos as they have been outscored 29-3 in each of their last four games.
Edmonton will get some injured players back as safety Neil King, defensive back Johnny Adams and running back Travon Van will all return. Van is listed as the backup to Canadian Pascal Lochard.
Bryant Mitchell will play after being a healthy scratch in the last two games, meaning the Eskimos have five starting American receivers.
Two players who were signed this week have been added to the 46-man roster in defensive back Ahmad Dixon and fullback James Tuck.
Hugh O’Neill will handle all three kicking duties as Milo has been placed on the one-game injured list.
Defensive backs Mercy Maston (Achilles) and Garry Peters (ankle) have been placed on the six-game injured list. Running back LaDarius Perkins has been added to the one-game injured list while receiver Jamill Smith has been placed on the practice roster.
The following is the projected offensive and defensive starters for the Eskimos:
Offence
Quarterback: Mike Reilly
Running Back: Pascal Lochard
Offensive Line: Joel Figeuroa-David Beard-Justin Sorensen-Matt O’Donnell-Colin Kelly
Receivers: Derel Walker-Adarius Bowman-Bryant Mitchell-Brandon Zylstra-Duke Williams
Defence
Defensive Line: John Chick-Almondo Sewell-Euclid Cummings-Odell Willis
Linebackers: Adam Konar-Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga-Kenny Ladler
Defensive Backs: Johnny Adams-Marcell Young-Neil King-Forrest Hightower-Chris Edwards
The Argos are dealing with a losing streak as well as they have dropped their last two games to fall to 4-7 and second place in the Eastern Division. The Argos lost 24-22 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Labour Day. The Argos have won just five of their last 23 games.
The Argos will get a boost to their defensive line as Victor Butler and Cleyon Laing have been activated from the six-game injured list. Butler has played just five games this season but is tied for the CFL lead in quarterback sacks with seven. Fellow defensive lineman Shawn Lemon also has seven sacks and is tied for second in the CFL in quarterback pressures with 16. Lemon has been placed on the six-game injured list with a shoulder injury.
630 CHED will have live coverage of today’s game starting with Countdown to Kick-off at 12:30 p.m. The opening kick-off between the Eskimos and Argonauts will be at 2 p.m. from BMO Field in Toronto.
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