{"id":170387,"date":"2026-08-16T22:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T22:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/170387\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T22:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T22:06:09","slug":"were-not-a-good-team-were-a-great-team-cody-fajardo-touts-statement-win-for-edmonton-elks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/170387\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We’re not a good team, we’re a great team’: Cody Fajardo touts \u2018statement win\u2019 for Edmonton Elks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\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: Edmonton Elks<\/p>\n

The Edmonton Elks got back in the win column on Saturday afternoon, but their 30-point blowout of the Toronto Argonauts<\/a> said more about the team than a regular notch on the belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter we just got our butts kicked in Montreal in all three phases, that response right there tells you that we\u2019re not a good team, we\u2019re a great team,\u201d quarterback Cody Fajardo told the media post-game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really good Toronto team. They won two straight. Their defence was stout. They just held Calgary and Vernon Adams to like 100-and-something yards passing. We knew we had our hands full.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Elks entered Week 11 coming off two consecutive defeats for the first time in 2026. In Week 9, they lost a close one to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, falling 28-26<\/a>. The follow-up in Week 10 wasn\u2019t nearly as tightly contested, as the Montreal Alouettes blew the doors off the Green and Gold<\/a> en route to a 48-30 win.<\/p>\n

Both sides agreed post-game that the result was a statement by the Alouettes<\/a>, who are widely regarded as the CFL\u2019s top team at the midway point of the season. It also raised questions about the Elks, who have been the feel-good story of the year after escaping from years of organizational decay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest thing was watching all these West teams continue to win games. The standings tightened up so much, so that might have put a little bit more pressure on everything,\u201d Fajardo admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut here\u2019s what I\u2019ll say: we lost two games versus both teams that were in the Grey Cup (in 2025). If you step back and look at it, we split with both the teams that played in the Grey Cup, 1-1. We know we\u2019re a top team in this league. We know as long as we play our brand of football, we can win. There was no panic this week. Guys just knew we needed to energize, and if we played our brand of football, we\u2019d have a good chance of winning this game. And sure enough, we won all three phases tonight, and a statement win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Mark Kilam, who came under fire after the Montreal loss due to a controversial third-down decision<\/a>, said he was proud of his team for bouncing back and deflected all praise onto his players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership in the room, they deserve the credit. They just came out with a single mindset to come get it done. That\u2019s what they did,\u201d he told reporters outside the locker room<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking one week at a time. Yeah, there\u2019s a plan, and you know where you\u2019re at in the schedule, but we were really trying to respond from last week. That was what the focus was all week, and that\u2019s full credit to the leadership and the players in the room for doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the lopsided scoreline, victory was far from easy against Toronto. Edmonton led just 11-9 at halftime, as the offence continually sputtered through two quarters. However, it was all Green and Gold after the break, as they forced six turnovers and held the Argos to just three points in the final 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Fajardo praised his teammates\u2019 resilience and pointed to complementary football as a big reason for the 42-12 victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just kept telling the guys on the sideline, \u2018Weather the storm, it\u2019s going to come out positive.\u2019 And credit to our sideline; nobody hit the panic button,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we were kind of stalling out a little bit on offence, our defence stood up, and our special teams stood out. Coming out in the third quarter, our defence, our special teams go down, get a huge turnover, instant points for us. Even though we didn\u2019t do much offensively, instant points and as long as you feel points as an offence, that kind of gets you going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old finished 25-of-31 passing for 301 yards and one touchdown. He also turned back the clock by adding three carries for 50 yards on the ground, including a career-long 44-yarder. The result was 28 unanswered points in the second half.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Edmonton, the task does not get any less daunting next week, as they prepare for one last matchup before a well-deserved bye week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a really big game coming up on a short week against Winnipeg, a Western opponent. Standings, like I said, are very tight. We\u2019re going to be excited about that,\u201d Fajardo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on game 10 of 10 straight, which is one of the longest stretches in the CFL. Our guys are limping to the finish line, and the message was to get to 8-3 at the bye week. In order to do that, you\u2019ve got to win today, and that was phase one was complete. Now we\u2019ve got a tall task against a Winnipeg team that\u2019s playing much better than when we faced them earlier on in the year. In order for us to get to 8-3, we\u2019re going to have our hands full.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Edmonton Elks (7-3) will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-4) on Friday, August 21. Kickoff at Commonwealth Stadium is set for 9:30 p.m. EDT.<\/p>\n

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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

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