5 THINGS: Edmonton Elks Leaving It All Up To Faith At This Point

Sports
Football
Edmonton Elks
CFL

Published Sep 10, 2023 • 3 minute read

Edmonton Elks place kicker Dean Faithfull (18) gives a queen wave to the fans after kicking the game-winning field goal against the Calgary Stampeders at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. The Elks won 25-22. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

It’s official, the Canadian Football League just had its most CFL result ever.

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Saturday’s Battle of Alberta saw the Edmonton Elks win to split the 2023 Labour Day Series.

That means the Calgary Stampeders just lost to the worst team in the league, as the Elks came into this one a paltry 2-10. Yes, the same Stampeders who previously handed the top-dog Toronto Argonauts their lone loss on the season, so far.

So, Calgary is 4-9, having beaten the best while also losing to the worst. At the same time, there is no guarantee the Elks will finish in last place, having improved to 3-10 with Saturday’s win.

Those three victories have come in the past five games for the club that started out 0-9 — a rough patch that saw them get shut out twice, amazingly, by the same opponent.

And while the Elks remain on the outside looking in at post-season positioning, there is no time like the present if they want to start turning things around.

Here’s what we learned from Saturday’s 25-23 win over their provincial rivals:

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1. OL’ FAITHFULL

Hoisted up on the shoulders of his teammates in the locker-room, post-game, what is Dean Faithfull supposed to do? After all, he just scored the walk-off winning field goal in front of the home crowd.

It’s the moment every kicker dreams of, and the opportunity doesn’t come around nearly as often as they’d like. And while the season isn’t going as according to plan as the 36-year-old rookie would like, he sure put his stamp on this one.

He is 17 of 20 through the uprights to sit 85 per cent on the season, which isn’t going to win him any awards. But it won him the game Saturday. And in a game where he missed an extra point earlier that could have spelled disaster.

After a couple of fist pumps while being held high, the native of Southampton, England, regained his regal composure and flicked his hand, royal-style, for the TSN camera.

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2. GROUND GAINS

Calgary was dropping nine back to make things more difficult for second-year Elks quarterback Tre Ford, who had all of 21 passing yards to show for the first three quarters.

So, Edmonton took the cue and kept it on the ground, rushing a couple of dozen times for 226 yards and a 9.4-yard average, compared to Calgary, who ran 27 times for a 4.6-yard average.

Running back Kevin Brown chased down a career-high 143 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown to open the scoring, while Ford provided the other half of Edmonton’s one-two punch in the ground-and-pound offence, scampering 82 yards on eight carries.

3. PENALTY PROBLEMS

The Elks needed to go back to the air out of necessity, after falling behind 23-7 heading into the fourth quarter. And just like what happened to them in Calgary a week earlier with drawing a pair of pass-interference penalties that pushed the Stampeders to a 35-31 comeback victory, Edmonton was on the receiving end of some calls this time around.

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Pass interference on Calgary safety Nick Taylor led to an Edmonton touchdown to open the fourth quarter and another pass-interference penalty against defensive back Brad Muhammad led to the winning kick.

In all, Calgary was penalized eight times for 156 yards Saturday compared to seven for 71 yards by Edmonton.

4. DOING IT ON DEFENCE

Penalties aside, the Elks wouldn’t have had a chance at mounting the comeback to kick the winning field goal with no time left on the clock had the defence not continued to get them the ball back ASAP with three straight two-and-outs.

And they did it with the same urgency that Calgary’s defence had when they shut down any sort of Elks momentum before it could get going, forcing a crucial two-and-out in the final three minutes.

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On Saturday, Calgary won the turnover battle, 4-0, yet Edmonton still won the game.

5. GOING STREAKING

With another streak broken, the Elks beat a West Division opponent for the first time in 10 games on Saturday. The nine-game losing skid began after beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 26-24, this same week a year ago.

At the same time, it was the second home win in a row for the Elks, who have taken that North American record 22-straight home losses that only just ended and are now on the brink of potentially turning it into a winning streak.

E-mail: [email protected]

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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