EDMONTON – Can the BC Lions complete one of the most miraculous season turnarounds in recent memory?
It will take a strong stretch of play and some help from other teams, but their quest to do so continues Saturday in Edmonton as they take on the Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium.
It’s only Week 18, but Saturday’s game features playoff intensity.
The Lions sit two wins behind the Eskimos for fourth place in the West and the right to the crossover slot. Whichever team finishes fourth in the West will play the Montreal Alouettes in the East Semi-Final.
The Lions have been on a tear in recent weeks, rattling off four straight victories. Granted, three of those wins came against non-playoff teams, with the outlier coming at the hands of the Vernon Adams-less Alouettes.
However, their late push would turn out to be a fruitless one if they fall to Edmonton, who can lock up a playoff spot with a win. The Eskimos hold the tie breaker over BC by virtue of their two wins earlier in the year.
The Eskimos have struggled to find their form with Trevor Harris on the shelf. Logan Kilgore has gone 1-2 as the starter this season, throwing for an average of 226 yards per game over that stretch.
“They started out hot and fizzled; you want to go into the last third of the season on a roll and they’re trying to get their things together,” DeVone Claybrooks told BCLions.com. “They lost a quarterback but like they say, when you’ve got a dog in a corner, it’ll snap to get out and we understand that.”
The Lions have been in tough against the Eskimos this season, dropping both of their matchups thus far by a combined score of 72-29. However, both of those games came in the first five weeks of the season with a healthy Harris behind centre for Edmonton.
Reilly in particular couldn’t get going against his former team. He endured two of his three lowest passing outputs of the season, throwing for 149 yards in Week 2 and 157 yards in Week 5.
“Every single person, to a man, I don’t think played very good football the first two times that we played them,” Reilly said. “Thankfully we get another crack at it and hopefully, we can make the most of it.”
The 2017 Most Outstanding Player was sacked 12 times over those two games, but the addition of offensive line coach Kelly Bates seems to have solved the Lions’ woes on the O-line. During their four-game winning streak, the Leos have given up a mere three sacks.
Global player Diego Viamontes is set to make his CFL debut Saturday for the Eskimos. The 29-year-old Mexican wide receiver was the first overall selection in the league’s Global Player Draft in January. Viamontes was activated to fill in for Tevaun Smith, who was moved to the one-game injured list.
“I am putting in more than 100 per cent every play I am in and just taking advantage of the opportunity,” Viamontes told Esks.com. “I made some phone calls to my family back in Mexico and my wife here. Right away I went home and told her. We’re pretty excited, but concentrated too.”
Also finding himself on the one-game injured list is C.J. Gable. The seasoned running back is sitting on 997 rushing yards this season. Gable has also been a threat through the air for the Eskimos, with his 54 catches for 421 yards being the most since his first season in the CFL in 2013.
There is some good news on the injury front for the Eskimos, though. Jovan Santos-Knox is set to make his debut in green and gold Saturday. Santos-Knox has been sidelined since the final game of the 2018 regular season, breaking his foot while sacking, fittingly, Mike Reilly.
“It’s been a long journey. It definitely tested my patience,” Santos-Knox said. “I don’t think I figured out how much I love this game until I went through this little thing. I’ve been itching all year to get out there. It’s just great to be able to come in during such an important time for this team and, hopefully, make an impact.”
The 25-year-old was second on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in tackles last season and slots into a linebacking corps that includes Larry Dean and Don Unamba.
BY THE NUMBERS
5 – Straight games with seven or more receptions for Bryan Burnham.
7 – Consecutive losses for the BC Lions in Edmonton dating back to July 13, 2013.
20 – Field goals without a miss for Sean Whyte, the longest active streak in the CFL.
14 – Receptions over the last two games for Duron Carter, twice the catches-per-game he had over the first 13 contests of 2019.
– With files from BCLions.com and Esks.com
AFI, Yare Media and the CFL
American Football International is collaborating with Yare Media and the Canadian Football League to present 2019 CFL games live. This is more than a livestream. This is a stream of the top flight TSN network television broadcast.
LIVE STREAM PPV: CFL –BC Lions @Edmonton Eskimos, Sat. Oct. 12, 5p (7p EDT, 1a, Oct. 13, CEDT)