CFL.ca Staff
#FNF
EDMONTON -- Kenny Stafford started the scoring and Patrick Watkins
added a pick-six, as an air-tight Edmonton Eskimos defence shut down the
Riders on the way to a 30-5 win on Friday night.
Matt Nichols found Stafford for a 27-yard
touchdown on the game's opening drive to give Edmonton early momentum,
then he turned the game over to his defence to close things out,
clinching the Eskimos' fourth straight win.
Watkins finished with a sack and two interceptions on top of a
team-high five tackles while Dexter McCoil and Otha Foster also had
sacks, leading an Eskimo defence that's allowed only 20 points over the
last three games and eight over the last two. JC Sherritt added his
second interception of the season.
Nichols threw for 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 27-of-39 passing on a career night to move to 4-0 on the season.
While the Eskimos entered the game with the CFL's number one-ranked
defence, it was the offence giving them a quick start. It started with
three straight rushes to rookie runner Shakir Bell off the top followed
by a completion on second and long to Wallace Miles. Then with the drive
seemingly stalled just on the outside of field goal range, a fake punt
resulted in a run for a first down by Jordan Lynch to keep the drive
alive.
That play was a key one in the first half because without it, the
Esks wouldn't have had the only touchdown of the opening two quarters.
After a 14-yard completion to Bowman on second down, Nichols connected
with Stafford on a slant and the first-year Eskimo hit the seam and
found the end zone.
The 27-yard score, Stafford's third of the season, capped off a 76-yard drive on 11 plays to put Edmonton ahead 7-0 early.
Nichols kept up the pace on the Esks' second possession of the game,
responding to Alex Hall's third sack of the game with a key second-down
conversion on long-yardage. Terrell Maze tried to undercut the out to
the sideline but missed, and there was Bowman making the grab and
tip-toeing in bounds for a 23-yard completion.
The drive didn't culminate in a touchdown this time, but a 31-yard
field goal by Grant Shaw gave the Eskimos a 10-point cushion in the
opening quarter.
Looking to respond and get the Riders back in the game, Smith found
himself overwhelmed early on in his first career start -- a tough task
to begin with against an aggressive Eskimo defence. An 18-yard
completion to Chris Getzlaf in the first was all the momentum Smith
could muster early on, while in the second quarter a nine-play drive on
which Smith went 4-for-5 ended only in a punt single.
A 21-yard run followed by a 20-yard catch by Jerome Messam set up the
Riders' first field goal of the game, a 34-yard boot from Paul
McCallum, while the defence shut down Nichols and the Esks through the
second quarter to keep the score within six points at the half.
In the second half, however, the Riders began to unravel. Smith and
the offence looked to push a little more while the Eskimos turned up the
pressure, and the result was a pick-six by Watkins. Smith looked to
find Ryan Smith but was picked off by the long-time CFL shutdown corner,
and
Watkins sprinted 47 yards untouched to break the game open for the Eskimos.
Up 20-5, Edmonton's defence wasn't done. Smith faced heavy pressure
from Edmonton's front seven and forced a pass off his back foot into the
hands of linebacker Sherritt, who returned the interception inside the
Rider 10. The Rider defence tightened up and forced a field goal, but
the Eskimos took a 23-5 lead into the final quarter.
Patrick Watkins had two interceptions to lead the Eskimos to their CFL-leading fourth win of 2015.
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While the Eskimos showed no signs of any give on defence, the offence
put the game away midway through the third. Bell sprinted the Eskimos
into scoring range on a catch-and-run, then Nichols finished off the
drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kendial Lawrence on the fade pass
to the left end zone sideline.
Nichols' second touchdown pass put him at exactly 300 yards on the night and more importantly put the Esks' lead at 30-5.
Watkins added another pick late while the Esks' defence continued to
play shutdown ball, becoming the first team in the CFL to win four games
in 2015.
Smith completed 15 of 22 passes for 132 yards in an efficient first
career start, but he was picked off twice and failed to find the end
zone as the Eskimos made it two straight games without a touchdown
against. Running backs Messam and Anthony Allen, meanwhile, combined for
only six carries for 27 yards as the Riders' rushing attack was
grounded for the second straight game.
The Eskimos are back in action next Thursday with a visit to BC Place
to take on Travis Lulay and the Lions, where they'll look to win their
second road game of 2015. The Riders, meanwhile, will go back to the
drawing board before visiting the Argos on Aug. 8 -- Toronto's
home-opener -- where they'll seek their first win of the season.
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