The first test for Edmonton

I think Edmonton will face its first real test of the season over the next 5 weeks. We have a back-to-back with B.C., Saskatchewan in Week 9, and then our Labour Day Classics with Calgary.

Worst case scenario: I could see Edmonton losing 4 straight.

We need to split with B.C. and Calgary and beat Saskatchewan at home. That would keep us competitive.

We've had decent starts the last couple of seasons, but we always seem to fall apart around this time.

Thoughts...?

Divisional games are always the make or break, especially the home games. I'll be seeing the action live this coming Friday; if Edmonton gets win against BC at home, that sets a positive tone and also a win/confidence streak. If the Esks decide to fall apart in the 4th quarter and give the game away, that 0-4 prediction may come true. If we can split these next divisional back to backs with Calgary and BC and/or win a majority of the divisional games in general, we're in good shape heading into the latter part of the season. If we're snything below 2-3 the fans revolt and the Esks' playoff hopes are likely to be extinguished barring the bottom two eastern division teams continuing to fall on their faces even more, whoever they may be later in the season.

I like Edmonton's chances to take the Riders in August; we win more often than nor when they come to Commonwealth, and with a little more fire and killer instinct we could outduel Calgary in the LD rematch. I'm worried about the road games and next week though.

I don't like the Esks chances of winning any of these games. They are still too unpredictable and the secondary with Buhl and Younger are horrible.

I agree, Kristjan; we need to play four quarters next week. B.C. is picking up a lot of momentum right now, and while Jackson might not be the best QB, the Lions still have Smart and Smith, and we saw what they can do the other night.

And as a side note, it should be one hell of a dual between Tristan and Ian. :smiley:

Its gonna get that much harder with the Lions coming off a victory over MTL, and the team having to deal with the loss of Tucker for the season.... I'm starting to be more inclined to agree with Quimby.

Splitting the BC and Calgary back to backs is key for setting up the remainder of our season. Considering we'll be playing the toughest teams in the league over the next 5, I'd be happy with 2 and 3.

I agree with Quimby
Buhl is okay
but honestly... Younger... i could cover better than him anyday.

But i do think that Esks can be at least 3-2 over the next 5 weeks
they just cant fall apart in the 4th quarter like they usually do. If they dont, theyll be great

Have we finally turned the corner? When we started so poorly in the third, I thought for sure it was going to be game over. But we somehow managed to pull out a win tonight.

One down, four more to go.

Buhl is a decent DB... Younger has been dissapointing considering he was an all-star the last few years... I think we r a better team with Goss out on the corner and trey Young at safety... the Robinson guy is pretty solid as well... btw, has anyone else noticed that Keith Williams #20 hits like a truck...

We finished this stretch going 3-2, which I was happy about. After we beat Calgary on the road, I was kind of hoping we'd sweep them. But I knew the chances were slim. We haven't been able to string together more than 2 wins all season. Oh well. Nice job going 3-2. Now we just have to keep it up.

Chief speaks! Hey, haven’t seen much of you around lately. Yes, 3-2 was good against our divisional, 4-2 after Saturday, and while we didn’t get the sweep on Calgary, we did sweep the Cats, something we embarassingly failed to do last season. Anyway, we’ve managed to defeat every team at least once except for the Als. I posted a thread a couple weeks back, where I think that Montreal as the class of the East is our last huge proving ground. All the moreso because if we can keep up in the standings and make a playoff run, the Als will likely be waiting for us when we hopefully make the trip to Olympic Stadium in November. Where we finish in the West is really going to depend on how quickly the Riders get their wounded from the hospital to the playing field, and on how we do against the Lions in the second home and home series.

Definitely been away for a while.

We did sweep the Cats, but what an embarrassing game. Fortunately, I missed most of it. I was watching the USC/OSU game and forgot that game was even on. Had I watched it, I probably would have gone insane.

No offence to either team, but I seriously doubt either team's defence is good enough to force 4 picks each. What was that about? Ray needs to get his TD/INT ratio back on track.

I agree about Montreal. Facing them should be another test (hopefully we get to see the game :lol: ).

We have a mini test coming up. We face Montreal on the road and then battle Winnipeg in a home-and-home. A few week's ago, I would have laughed that off, but seeing how well the Bombers played against the Argos... Let's just say there's no laughing anymore.