After a 69-yard rouge by Grant Shaw that made it 19-18, the two teams each had a possession before Shawn Whyte, who missed two field goals all season, missed his second of the game, hitting the upright and scoring nothing on the final play of the quarter.
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What started as an offensive showcase by both teams turned into a defensive struggle in the second half. Patrick Watkins, one of Edmonton’s starting cornerbacks, not only led his team in tackles, but chipped in with two more on special teams. Then again, neither were the Eskimos, who had reeled off nine straight victories after Reilly returned from torn knee ligaments. But the Eskmos, even including the bad start, were the better team and the better-prepared team. Jones (Chris, Edmonton head coach) did a great job of putting this team together.
Now, we’re not saying Saskatchewan president and CEO Craig Reynolds is the Dallas Cowboys owner and GM, but the Roughriders are the CFL’s flagship franchise and are currently without a GM and head coach.
The game-deciding drive came with two huge pass interference penalties.
Video replay is a slippery slope and to make the game better we need to give control back to the CFL officials and learn to live (again) with an element of human error.
This is Edmonton’s 14th Grey Cup win, and it’s first since 2005.
So the Redblacks were still in the lead until Reilly threw deep for Walker and the penalty on Sermons put the ball on the Ottawa 10.
As all the sports reporters told us earlier this week, Ottawa defeated Hamilton in the Eastern Division final game, while Edmonton easily handled the Calgary Stampeders to claim the Western Division title.
On Thursday, Campbell (coach of the year), quarterback Henry Burris (outstanding player), receiver Brad Sinopoli (top Canadian) and SirVincent Rogers (lineman) were honoured at the league’s awards banquet. Edmonton’s 14th championship now trails only Toronto, which has 16…
Edmonton players receive $16,000 for the win while the Redblacks get $8,000 apiece.
The Redblacks found themselves up 13-0 before the Edmonton offence had taken the field, thanks to an opening TD drive and a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff that led to another score. The game-time temperature was -5C but the 15-kilometre-an-hour wind created a windchill of -10C.
A football fan is seen prior to the 103rd Grey Cup between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Ottawa Redblacks, in Winnipeg, Man., on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015.
Canada’s biggest party, the Grey Cup, continues to be one of the biggest events on Canadian television, growing 6% compared to a year ago according to preliminary overnight data from Numeris. The CFL has not had a repeat champion since the Montreal Alouettes won their second in a row in 2010…
Talbot says today will be the busiest day of Grey Cup week, as fans trickled in over a few days, but are mostly all leaving at the same time. “This is definitely not a business to be in if you don’t like highs and lows”.
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“I love this group of guys”.
