Edmonton Elks take away everything but the win in loss to Argos (& nine other thoughts)

A dream start for the Edmonton Elks in Toronto turned into an all-too-familiar nightmare. For the second year in a row, a fourth-quarter lead turned into a walk-off field goal by the hometown Argos and a 31-30 loss. Here are my thoughts on the game.

Turnover extravaganza

As training camp started, the buzz in the Elks fanbase was about the defence. With the free agent additions, pressure from the line and the ability to take the ball away were seen as potential strengths for the team. But 12 games in, Edmonton ranked last in the league with a total of three interceptions and four forced fumbles.

Saturday’s game was a swing back to what was expected. Six turnovers, including four interceptions, were a giant leap forward for the defence. Four different defensive backs contributed a pick to give their offence back the ball. Kordell Jackson started the fun and was followed by Tyrell Ford, J.J. Ross, and Kenneth Logan Jr.

Ford, in particular, made a spectacular grab up and over Argo receiver Jake Herslow. The Canadian corner not only grabbed the ball out of Herslow’s hands, but held on as he went down and got his feet in bounds. Another spectacular sideline pick from the Waterloo product was taken off the board due to a roughing the passer call against Royce Metchie.

Both of the other two turnovers were on downs. Jared Brinkman found a way to break through the line on a Toronto third-and-one and tackle Spencer Brown for a loss in the first quarter. The entirety of the Elks’ defence stopped a lunge by Brown again in the second quarter. Metchie was credited with the main tackle on that play.

When you win the turnover battle 6-1, it should be a no-brainer that you win the game. Edmonton gained 27 points off turnovers, but they let the Argos hang around and paid for it.

Limited to field goals

I love the season that Vincent Blanchard has been putting together. It was a tough start, but he has found consistency as a young kicker — I’d just prefer he was kicking converts.

The third quarter ended with a 30-yard field goal from the Laval product after the Ross interception. Three of the previous four turnovers had resulted in touchdowns. This one set an unfortunate tone for the final frame.

When Logan Jr. collected the fourth interception of the game, the Elks were up by three with less than 10 minutes left in the game. That should have been the dagger. Instead, Edmonton drove to the nine-yard line and could not finish with a major. As Blanchard completed the 16-yard boot, I texted my friends to say, “Not getting a major there will come back to bite us.”

Two series later, the Argo front four blew up Edmonton’s O-line and strip-sacked Cody Fajardo. David Beard just missed covering the fumble, and it was picked up and run in for the touchdown by Andrew Chatfield.

For all the touchdowns Edmonton put up early, they could only find field goals in the final quarter. It cost them dearly, coughing up a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.

O-line shuffle

Recently signed Carter O’Donnell drew in at the right guard spot, taking over for Gregor MacKellar. He joined fellow University of Alberta Golden Bear alumni Beard and Mark Korte to make the middle of the line entirely homegrown. It was the first CFL game after five years in the NFL with Indianapolis and Arizona for the Calgary native.

There were some great plays by the six-foot-five lineman, and you could see the reason he was down south. The one thing it seemed to affect, though, was the communication on the line. After they paved the way for a dominant rushing attack against Calgary, the run game all but dried up. Justin Rankin had a combined 179 yards the last time these two teams met. Only 35 yards were gained from scrimmage by the team leader this week.

Without a rush game to balance the attack, Fajardo fell back into some bad tendencies and held the ball longer than we would like. Five sacks were surrendered, including the strip sack for the game-changing touchdown, by the new offensive line setup. A total of 48 yards lost on sacks explains part of why they couldn’t win with that turnover differential.

I get that O’Donnell is a talented player, and he will be a great addition to the line. I think another week of working with the full unit may have been beneficial. The execution for a game this important wasn’t where it needed to be due to a lack of chemistry.

Kordell Jackson, have yourself a game

I am sure that all the players will say that the loss overshadows any personal performance, but Kordell Jackson had a big game in the halfback spot. Six tackles, including one for a loss, an interception and a knockdown showed up on the stats sheet for the Birmingham native.

In his sophomore season, Jackson has been rotated through the strong-side linebacker position to the halfback spot on both sides. The Austin Peay product has already surpassed his tackle total from 2024 in three fewer games. I prefer him in the halfback spot as he can act as the hard-hitting presence that receivers don’t like to get near.

Jake Herslow found out firsthand when he tried to hurdle Jackson, only to find himself met mid-jump and thrown to the grass. A penalty was called for unnecessary roughness on the hit. Letter of the law, helmets collided, so it was the right call, but it’s pretty hard to judge how they would connect when both players are jumping. The Matrix moment of them meeting in the air will still find its way onto many a highlight reel.

Fajardo accurate, but short

Coming into Week 15, Cody Fajardo led the league in completion percentage. He continued his accurate ways with an 89 percent completion rate on Saturday afternoon. The issue in this game was that so many of those completed passes were for four yards or less.

Fajardo’s longest pass was 22 yards to OJ Hiliare. Edmonton’s top receiver was Kaion Julien-Grant with 61 total yards. A lot of accurate passing, but not a lot to show for it. There was not a lot of time for Cody to find a player downfield.

The two receiving touchdowns came in the first half on decent drives. Toronto’s adjustments for the second half paid off, though, with only the one major coming off a turnover in Argo territory. In their four recent wins, the Elks found the big play in the latter stages of the game. They couldn’t in this one.

Honorable mentions

After being out of football for a year, Jonathan Kongbo signed with Edmonton in January of this year. There was a lot of speculation on whether he would even make the roster that Ed Hervey was compiling.

The Congo-born defensive end has proven his worth these last two games with nother two sacks in this tilt after two against Calgary. I will call this the “D-Max Factor,” as D-line coach Demetrious Maxie just finds ways for players to succeed. A great story to watch as it continues to unfold.

Receiver OJ Hiliare has been with the Green and Gold for three weeks. There was a lot to learn for a pass catcher that had only been on Hamilton’s practice roster to that point, but Hiliare has grown in his role every week. This was no exception, as the Bowling Green State product caught all six of his targets for 49 yards. He continues to build chemistry with Fajardo, and I will be looking for his first score to come soon.

More ouch

There are 12 players on Edmonton’s six-game injured list already. The list already includes big names like Jake Ceresna, Steven Dunbar Jr., Nyles Morgan, and Robbie Smith, and it looks like some major additions will be coming this next week.

Canadian safety Royce Metchie went down in the fourth quarter with a non-contact injury. As he walked off the field, even I could lip-read him saying “Achilles” to one of his teammates. That’s a massive loss after he already had a six-game stint.

Nick Anderson made his return from the injured list and took over as the starting middle linebacker from Nyles Morgan. With two minutes left in the first half, the sophomore defender went down again and was not able to return.

There is still concern about Jared Brinkman, who is definitely playing injured. He did go out for a few plays, but was able to finish. He is dealing with something and fighting his way through to help that D-line.

Questionable call

Edmonton forced its second turnover on downs with just over a minute to halftime. After a short pass and a 12-yard sack, the Elks were forced to punt. Instead of using a timeout, a time-count penalty was taken, and the ball was moved back to the Edmonton nine-yard line.

The decision here was to either give up the safety or punt from your own end zone. The punt went out, and Janarion Grant was able to return it 15 yards, leaving time on the clock for a field goal attempt. Lirim Hajrullahu converted and gave Toronto its first three points.

I am not sure if the plan was actually for Jake Julien to run a bit and then kick it, or punt it closer to the sideline to prevent the return, but head coach Mark Kilam was not happy. I had a debate with some on whether the safety would have been the better choice. Give up two and not give them any life over a 50+-yard field goal try. Hindsight is 20/20 when losing by a single point, and that could have been the difference. They could also have run the clock down to prevent any further chance of the Double Blue scoring.

Second week of classless moves

After a demonstration of sore loser behaviour on the last play push by Clarence Hicks last week, this week we have a bad winner. Argos’ head coach Ryan Dinwiddie ran up the field after the game, yelling at the Elks bench and doing a kicking motion to show how they won. There was some scuffling over it, and Coach Kilam needed to be held back.

I just don’t get how that does anything positive for either team or the league. Yes, you won. Yes, there was banter on the sidelines. Be classy about it and proud of your win. Brian Kelly always said, “Act like you’ve been there” for touchdowns. You should do that for wins, too.

Edmonton has left itself with quite the challenge to find their way to a postseason appearance. It does not get easier, as they travel to face the East Division leaders in Hamilton next week and follow that with an away game in Saskatchewan. There is a lot of work ahead to get back into the playoff conversations.