The Edmonton Elks travel to Winnipeg looking to start a season 3-0 for the first time since 2017. The organization needed a good start to the season, both for the players and coaches, but also to show the fans the organization is headed in the right direction after a decade of self-destruction.
General Manager Ed Hervey improved his offensive line via free agency, augmented the defensive line and vowed to bring in players who would compete and be good in the room. It is early, but the results show his plan is starting to work.
Head coach Mark Kilam’s enthusiastic energy and drive is starting to show on the field. The coaching staff is more experienced, and it showed with the adjustments they made after falling behind 13-0 to Montreal last Saturday. Last season, that game would have ended as a blowout loss, but the Elks regrouped and scored 26 unanswered points.
It wasn’t a perfect game. They blew a 10-point lead in the final 4:44, and Montreal forced overtime, but the Double E regrouped and won in overtime.
They are coming off a short week of practice to prepare for Winnipeg tomorrow night, but quarterback Cody Fajardo feels confident despite the short week.
“I don’t mind a short week early,” said Fajardo. “There is not a lot of tape to watch anyways, only two games of tape for Winnipeg as they are coming off a bye. A lot of times those short weeks you feel you are behind when it is later in the season, because there is a lot of data to comb through. But when you have a short week early, with only two games, I felt I was on schedule with my prep and that helps you confidence-wise going into the game.
“Winnipeg has been running their defence for the last seven years I’ve been a starter, and we know what we are going to get. They are very good at what they do. They do it, everyone knows what they are going to do, but they do it at such a high level so we know what we will get out of them. Some teams’ short weeks are bit tougher when you are shuffling around players, but offensively we stayed pretty healthy, and we have basically the same starting O as last week and that helps going into a short week.”
In previous seasons, the Bombers were hard to score on in the green zone. Mainly because they could get pressure with a four-man front, and that allows them to play more zone inside the 20-yard line. Early on this season the Bombers have allowed eight touchdowns in two games.
In Week 2, Hamilton had TD passes of 23, 11 and 4 yards, while adding a 1-yard quarterback sneak. In Week 1, Calgary had rushing touchdowns of one, one and three yards while connecting on a 22-yard TD pass.
The Bombers defence hasn’t been as dominant as previous years, especially in the green zone. The Elks need to find ways to punch the ball in and not settle for field goals. Winnipeg is at their best when they force teams to settle for short kicks.
QUICK HITS…
— Justin Rankin led the CFL in yards from scrimmage last season with 1,726. He already has 426 yards through two games with 281 rushing yards and 145 receiving yards. Rankin is hoping to become the first player in CFL history with 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving.
He is also on pace to set a new league record for most yards from scrimmage in a season. Mike Pringle is the current record holder. Amazingly, he had 2,414 twice.
- 2,414 – Mike Pringle (1994, 1,972 yards rushing, 442 yards receiving)
- 2,414 – Mike Pringle (1998, 2,065 yards rushing, 349 yards receiving)
- 2,207 – Robert Mimbs (1991, 1769 yards rushing, 438 yards receiving)
- 2,157 – Jon Cornish (2013, 1,813 yards rushing, 344 yards receiving)
- 2,140 – Willard Reaves (1984, 1,733 yards rushing, 407 yards receiving)
Rankin needs to average 124.3 yards/game over the final 16 games to break Pringle’s record. If he remains healthy, his incredible start has set up him to take a serious run at the CFL record for yards from scrimmage.
— Nick Anderson is out with a hamstring injury. Brock Mogenson will take his place at middle linebacker.
— Long snapper Luke Burton-Krahn is out with an Achilles injury, and Bradley Hladik will take his spot.
— Tamari Fox draws back on the D-line and U of A graduate, Carter Kettyle will make his CFL debut. Kettyle had a great camp and preseason, and he’s impressed many of his coaches and teammates. His football IQ really caught the attention of Cody Fajardo, and don’t be surprised if Kettyle makes a few big catches if he gets an opportunity on offence.
