Eskimos in search of elusive first win

Football Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Off to their worst start in nearly half a century, the Edmonton Eskimos again take aim at their first win of 2010 when they entertain the British Columbia Lions on Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium.

Edmonton, which hasn't won the Western Division title since putting together a three-year run between 2001-2003, probably won't be raising another trophy anytime soon since the club is off to an 0-4 start for the first time since 1965. Despite having the most overall victories (591) of any club in the CFL since 1945, the Eskimos are currently suffering from a five-game slide dating back to last year.

Rick Lelacheur, president and CEO of the Eskimos, has made it clear that losing is no longer an option for this once proud team and that being embarrassed as they have is simply not acceptable. It remains to be seen what Lelacheur has in mind, but he has stated that the entire franchise is under scrutiny and changes could extend throughout the organization if improvements are not immediately made.

Last week the Eskimos were ripped apart by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who not only scored 21 points off Edmonton turnovers, but they came up with a 47 points overall in the 26-point victory, and all of that with a backup quarterback manning the action for the home team.

Edmonton QB Ricky Ray had a mixed bag when it came to his results, converting 18-of-25 pass attempts for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he also tossed two interceptions. Early in the fourth quarter the Eskimos pulled Ray in favor of backup Jason Maas, but the move did little to change the lopsided outcome as Maas converted only 1-of-9 passes for 29 yards.

Receiver Fred Stamps, who had a combined 332 yards receiving in the two games leading up to the Winnipeg meeting, caught just two balls for 22 yards and watched his per catch average take a dip down to 16.2 yards after the outing.

Finding a sustained offense has been a problem for the Lions so far this season as well, the team now riding a three-game skid and sitting in third place in the Western Division standings.

Ahead by a score of 20-10 in the fourth quarter, the Lions appeared to be on their way to evening their record on the season, but instead both the offense and defense cracked and allowed Toronto to fight back for the 24-20 decision at the Rogers Centre last Friday.

Even though Casey Printers could have made the start for the Lions last week against Toronto, BC opted to go with Travis Lulay and considering it was the youngster's first-ever CFL start he did pretty well. Lulay hit 26-of-40 passes for 330 yards, with 58 of those coming on a desperation heave at the gun, but he was also tabbed for a pair of costly interceptions, one of which was returned 41 yards for the game-winning score.

Jamal Robertson helped shoulder some of the load for the Lions as he gained 54 yards and scored two majors on 12 carries coming out of the backfield, but the team as a whole was credited with a mere 76 yards rushing on 18 attempts, less than half what the BC defense gave up (161 yards) to the Lions.

Oddly enough, even though BC has just one win in four tries this season and allowed a victory to slip away last week, the program actually moved up two spots in the latest power rankings to fourth, while Edmonton advanced to seventh only after Hamilton suffered such an ugly loss to Montreal on the road.

The Lions made a couple of moves off the field this week as they cut ties with kick returner Robert Jordan, but added quarterback Mike Reilly to the practice squad. Reilly was one of the most accomplished QBs in Division II history while at Central Washington, but his addition to the club doesn't make clear who it will be making the start for the Lions this week, whether it will again be Lulay or if Printers is ready to return.

No matter who it is under center for the Lions, the fact remains that the passing attack is not all that it could be, completing just 59.4 percent and having accounted for three touchdowns, compared to four interceptions. Then again, Edmonton is having similar issues with the same TD and INT numbers through the air at this stage.

Edmonton has fared somewhat well against opposing quarterbacks, allowing for the fewest passing first downs (40) in the league thus far, but if the run defense doesn't put up a strong enough front the Lions might not have to put the ball in the air as much anyway.

In terms of the all-time, regular-season series between these two teams, dating back to 1949 the Eskimos maintain an advantage of 99-68-4. The Lions won the first meeting of the season back on July 4 with a 25-10 decision, avenging a lopsided 45-13 setback to Edmonton late in the 2009 campaign. The clubs also have an October 16 date set for British Columbia.

The pressure coming down on the Eskimos is almost palpable, but just because Lelacheur is going to be over everyone's shoulder doesn't mean Edmonton is ready to make a drastic change. BC has already shown that it can defeat the Eskimos, even if it was with Printers at the helm, but expect the outcome to be much the same this week.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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