Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray will look to turn around his season and his team's fortunes Friday against Calgary. (John Ulan/Canadian Press) What's at stake
For Edmonton (2-7), not much after two embarrassing losses by a combined 88 points in Calgary over the past month. Just potentially the coach's future, continuing employment status for several underperforming players, that sort of thing. There are already several changes in store for Friday's tilt at Commonwealth Stadium after cuts and injuries following the Labour Day game between the clubs.
The Edmonton Journal has reported that longtime CFL executive Eric Tillman has interviewed for the available general manager position. Will the players wait for a rescue, or will they fight for coach Richie Hall? With Winnipeg and B.C. no better than the Eskimos, they're remarkably still in the playoff hunt despite being crushed in three of the last six games.
The Esks have played much better at home than on the road, and Calgary's only loss came on the road. Hey, you gotta hang your hat on something if you're an Edmonton fan.
Calgary (8-1) can win its seventh game in a row and potentially have a three-game lead in the CFL West by the end of the weekend, depending on what Saskatchewan does. Given that the Stamps also won the first meeting with the Riders, it would put Calgary fairly ensconced in the playoff bye position in the division.
Players to watch
Edmonton
Brad Lester/Calvin McCarty: With running back Arkee Whitlock out with an injury, the Eskimos have a choice between a known quantity returning from a hand injury (McCarty) or someone with little CFL experience.
There's little evidence through a few CFL seasons that McCarty is anything more than a good supporting offensive player. Lester was never a starter at the University of Auburn, but accumulated a lot of yards backing up the likes of Kenny Irons and Ben Tate.
Neither player will do much without help from the offensive line, which after being porous on both running plays and pass protection, was overhauled. Calvin Armstrong was cut and picked up by the Toronto Argos, with Jeremy Parquet moving over from the right side to play left tackle. Guard Kelly Bates was acquired from Saskatchewan this week to bolster the line.
Calgary
Joffrey Reynolds: Of course the Stampeders are focused on the 'W,' but Reynolds can help spark a couple of potential franchise records on Friday night. Calgary can score 40 points or more in four consecutive games for the first time ever, while Reynolds needs just 51 rushing yards to move into first on the all-time franchise list past Kelvin Anderson.
Gameday quarterbacks
Edmonton — Ricky Ray (9 GP, 156-242, 1,961 yards, 6 TDs, 8 INTs)
Calgary — Henry Burris (9 GP, 198-304, 2,452 yards, 21 TDs, 13 INTs)
Ray will look for his first full game of action to try to spark the moribund offence. The Esks haven't scored a touchdown in the past six quarters, and Ray hasn't thrown a TD pass since Aug. 6 against Toronto.
Ray threw two picks on Labour Day, with Calgary's Brandon Smith returning one 59 yards to send the Stamps off and running in the second quarter.
Burris has thrown six touchdown passes against the Esks to four different receivers. Calgary dominated to the extent that backup Drew Tate came in both games, going 10-for-11 with two touchdown throws.
The only blemishes against Edmonton for Burris are one interception and the fact all six TD passes have come after the first quarter. It's shuddering to think that the Stamps could bury the Esks even earlier than in the last two games.
Injury update
Whitlock was third in the CFL in rushing but he got few of those yards against a stingy Calgary defence, so a new look couldn't hurt for the Eskimos.
Edmonton gets Tristan Jackson in the lineup for the first time this season after a shoulder injury. He averaged 20.8 yards last year on kickoffs and 10.6 on punts with a punt return touchdown.
The following Stamps are not expected to play on Friday: Defensive linemen Mike Landry, Tearrius George and Miguel Robedem; and defensive back Ahmad Carroll.
Head-to-head
The Stampeders have dominated the Eskimos twice in the last three weeks, by a combined score of 108-20. If this were a college football game, the point spread for this game would be about 28.
More distressingly for Edmonton fans, the Eskimos went out meekly in both games at McMahon Stadium. Calgary outscored their rivals by a combined score of 43-7 in the second half of the games.
Edmonton is 12-8 against Calgary since 1989 in the meetings played immediately after the Labour Day game.
The Eskimos are 121-80-3 against Calgary historically, going 67-33-1 at home.
What they said
"There's no guaranteed contracts, it's game to game. You're always based on your last performance. We know that's an option for a team if you're not performing well they can get rid of you and you just have to use that as motivation." — Edmonton QB Ray on the release of Armstrong, and job security in general
"Our defence is playing very well, they're creating havoc for the other team's offence, but we had way too many penalties [on Monday], some undisciplined penalties that honestly I'm still a little hot under the collar about ." — Stamps coach John Hufnagel, rejecting the notion that Calgary can't play any better than it did on Labour Day.
