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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto courtesy: Edmonton Elks<\/p>\n
The Edmonton Elks had more good vibes entering Saturday\u2019s rematch with the Saskatchewan Roughriders than a hippie at a mushroom farm, but there was no peace and love on display between the opponents as the Green and Gold fell 28-26.<\/p>\n
Here are my thoughts on the game.<\/p>\n
Pinch-hitter<\/p>\n
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\t\tBy signing up you agree to receive daily emails from 3DownNation, as well as our Being the type of perceptive connoisseur of football analysis\u00a0who frequents\u00a03DownNation.com,\u00a0you\u2019ve probably clued in that this isn\u2019t your regular Elks recap. Unfortunately, a scheduling conflict has left regular contributor Andrew Hoskins unable to provide a column, so I will step in as an untimely and inadequate replacement.<\/p>\n Though I generally pen these pieces about the B.C. Lions<\/a>, rest assured that I am Edmonton-born and was raised in a household where supporting the Double E was an expectation. As a reporter, I obviously have no vested interest now, but this is a return to my roots.<\/p>\n Feel free to blame this loss on Andrew\u2019s absence, though it should be noted that Regina-based purveyor of \u2018The good, the bad, and the dumb\u2019 analysis, Joel Gasson, was also indisposed this week. I\u2019ll take a different tack, though in his honour, there was plenty of dumb to choose from.<\/p>\n Flop house<\/p>\n If you were frustrated by the incessant flopping and melodramatic writhing of (allegedly) grown men during the recent FIFA World Cup, the CFL offered a sharp contrast on Saturday.<\/p>\n Defensive end Noah Taylor was flagged for embellishment early in the second quarter after taking a swan dive during an exchange with Saskatchewan\u2019s Jacob Brammer. The punishment for his Razzie-worthy performance? Ejection from the football game.<\/p>\n The necessary context behind the disqualification is that Taylor had already taken a penalty for contacting an official earlier in the game. Under CFL rules, two separate misconduct fouls committed by the same player result in that individual being tossed, regardless of the exact nature of the final infraction. It is a cut-and-dried rule that has mostly served the league well, though admittedly, this situation was pretty comical. It certainly drew the ire of Edmonton head coach Mark Kilam, who was hit with an objectionable conduct penalty of his own after giving the referee an earful.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, Taylor\u2019s removal from the game foreshadowed a fatally undisciplined performance by his team. 10 total infractions for 92 yards isn\u2019t an astronomical number, but the game\u2019s biggest moments were marred by preventable flags.<\/p>\n Late in the third quarter, Edmonton appeared to have stolen the momentum from Saskatchewan when rookie Canadian linebacker Dariel Djabome made the greatest play of his young career, sorting through traffic to knock the ball out of short-yardage QB Tommy Stevens\u2019 hands near the goal line. Kobe Williams recovered for what would arguably have been the best defensive stop of the year, but a flag flew for too-many-men. The moment was wasted, and Stevens soon scored to extend the lead.<\/p>\n Trailing inside of three minutes, left tackle Brendan Bordner was called for holding and put the offence in a hole they couldn\u2019t escape, eventually resulting in a punt. The defence stepped up with what appeared to be another huge stop, allowing time for a game-winning drive, but Tomari Fox was flagged for roughing the passer. Sure, the hit was a soft one, but he undeniably came in two beats late. You just can\u2019t do that in a situation where the game is on the line and put the result in the official\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n A loss was already pretty much assured at that point, but Malik Carney sealed the result with an unnecessary roughness penalty against his former team with 44 seconds left. A forearm to the throat of an offensive lineman succeeded in choking out the clock with an automatic first down. Game over.<\/p>\n The battle for the West Division is going to be a heated one, and Edmonton can\u2019t afford to keep losing their heads. Discipline needs to be a focus this week.<\/p>\n Searching for Superman<\/p>\n Through the first six weeks of the 2026 season, Justin Rankin was the clear frontrunner for Most Outstanding Player. That buzz has almost entirely disappeared after the past three games, in which the Elks\u2019 running back has been held to just 76 rushing yards combined.<\/p>\n For the second consecutive game, Saskatchewan was able to hold Rankin in check. Though he powered through half a dozen arm tackles en route to a three-yard touchdown on Edmonton\u2019s opening drive, the 29-year-old felt like mostly an afterthought on the ground. He finished with eight carries for 28 yards, producing a measly 3.5-yard average.<\/p>\n The dual-threat back did make a splash in the passing game midway through the fourth quarter, rolling uncovered up the seam and making a couple of defenders miss for a 51-yard gain. That play set up a key touchdown pass to T.J. Luther, which kept the Elks in it. However, Rankin was only targeted one other time, which resulted in a loss of three yards.<\/p>\n With all due respect to Cody Fajardo, 510-yard passing performances are not a reliable path to victory for this team every week. The passing attack was fine, as it usually is, against the Riders, but it wasn\u2019t enough. The Elks have to find a way to get Rankin going again along the ground or in the screen game. Any week in which he doesn\u2019t have 15 or more touches should be considered a failure by offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic.<\/p>\n Red dead revolver<\/p>\n There is an amusing trend in football where coaches have begun calling the red zone the \u201cgreen zone\u201d instead, in order to psychologically reinforce the fact that the offence shouldn\u2019t stop there. Honestly, it\u2019s all a bunch of hokum, but perhaps the Elks should give it a go.<\/p>\n Edmonton lost this game in no small part due to red zone inefficiency. Five trips inside Saskatchewan\u2019s 20-yard line resulted in two touchdowns and three field goals, leaving at least 12 points on the field in a two-point loss.<\/p>\n At the end of the first quarter, a promising drive stalled out at the 17-yard line after a swing pass to Javon Leake went for no gain. In the third quarter, Kilam elected not to gamble from the Saskatchewan six-yard line after Fajardo was sacked and failed to gain it back on an ensuing scramble. Early in the fourth, they attempted another chip-shot from the Saskatchewan 15-yard line after Jonathan Edouard broke up a misplaced shot to Brendan O\u2019Leary-Orange in the end zone.<\/p>\n The root causes of each slip-up were different, but had any one of those series crossed the goal line, the result would have been different.<\/p>\n He cannot af-Ford<\/p>\n On the same day that quarterback Tre Ford was benched in Hamilton<\/a>, his identical twin brother, Tyrell, ensured the family name would not become mud.<\/p>\n The uber-athletic Canadian cornerback hasn\u2019t gotten the same level of attention since moving to Edmonton last year, but he made a handful of memorable plays in this one. The first was an excellent punch out on a pass to KeeSean Johnson towards the end of the second quarter, which forced a punt deep in Saskatchewan territory and gave his team a prime scoring opportunity. Minutes later, Ford lowered the boom on punt returner Daniel Wiebe, proving that he isn\u2019t all flash and dash.<\/p>\n His biggest play, however, was an interception at the start of the second half. With both teams ice-cold after a 67-minute weather delay, he sprinted underneath a deep shot from Harris to Johnson down the right sideline, hauling in all the momentum. Unfortunately, Edmonton quickly squandered that opportunity.<\/p>\n On a solid night overall for the Elks\u2019 defence, Ford wasn\u2019t the only Canadian making plays. Robbie Smith saw his usage increase following Noah Taylor\u2019s ejection, finishing with three defensive tackles and another on special teams, while 2026 first-round pick Dariel Djabome had his best game of the year, amassing eight defensive tackles, a special teams tackle, and a sack.<\/p>\n Two-toned revival<\/p>\n It was fantastic to see a crowd of 31,757 fill Commonwealth Stadium for this game, forcing the team to open up the upper bowl for the first time since 2023<\/a>. Most impressive was the resilience of those in attendance, as hardly anybody seemed to leave despite a thunderstorm forcing them to take shelter for over an hour. They were rewarded with an excellent finish, though it couldn\u2019t quite live up to the bar set last week.<\/p>\n For as much praise as is being rightfully heaped on the Green and Gold for their complete organizational turnaround, I do feel the need to reconnect this narrative with reality. The TSN broadcast and several local media outlets have conveniently forgotten to mention the fact that when Edmonton hosted Saskatchewan in 2025, it drew an official crowd of 30,053. The Riders\u2019 watermelon-clad diaspora is a major boon at the turnstiles, which you could see by their numbers in every camera shot praising the Elks\u2019 turnout.<\/p>\n An improvement of over 1,700 fans at the gate is still laudable, and the momentum behind this franchise feels palpable. Everyone involved should be applauded, but they can\u2019t rest on their laurels. This game was a highly impressive but predictable anomaly. The real accomplishment will be improved attendance for non-marquee matchups.<\/p>\n Spokesman of the Year<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s game may well be a preview of the West Final, but the most entertaining part of it came pre-game. Elks\u2019 general manager Ed Hervey sat down with the CFL on TSN panel and delivered a trademark rant regarding his process in turning around the team<\/a>, which was later re-broadcast during the weather delay.<\/p>\n Hervey has a well-earned reputation for being blunt and quotable, which was on full display as he walked viewers through his systematic purge of bad apples from Edmonton\u2019s locker room. As a writer, I love the endless content he provides and wish more people in the CFL were as forthcoming. As a fan, you should love the passion and identity he\u2019s brought back to the organization. With president Chris Morris, Hervey, and Kilam making up the core leadership group, Edmonton has something special.<\/p>\n With that said, none of us should be so naive as to buy his full-throated insistence that the Elks will never compromise on character in pursuit of talent. By all accounts, they\u2019ve amassed a stand-up group of guys in the locker room, but there is no workplace in the world exclusively occupied by saints, let alone one in which your capacity for violence is a pre-requisite.<\/p>\n Is this not the same team that added NFL offensive lineman Isaiah Adams to their negotiation list<\/a> immediately after he was arrested on gun charges? Are we supposed to believe that was a computer error or a false-flag attack by Chris Jones? Edmonton saved face by quickly relinquishing his rights<\/a>, though that conveniently occurred after it was reported that Adams\u2019 charges wouldn\u2019t prevent him from reporting to training camp with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n At some point, there will be an exception whom Hervey deems worthy of overlooking red flags. There always is in this sport.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n The Elks (6-2) may have recorded their second loss of the season, but they remain in sole possession of first place in the West Division. They\u2019ll face an equally tough test next week, as they travel to Montreal on Saturday, August 8, to face the Alouettes (7-1) in a battle of divisional leaders.<\/p>\n Montreal has lost just one game this season, though it came in a 32-29 defeat to Edmonton in Week 3. Davis Alexander and company will be looking to exact revenge for that insult.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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