Eskimos down Argonauts, holding Ricky Ray in check in his old Commonwealth stomping grounds

The return of Toronto Argonauts' quarterback Ricky Ray to Edmonton ended with some revenge—but not for him. A game that set up as Ray's chance to surpass 50,000 career yards through the air in a city where he played for nine seasons proved to be anything but, with another old face in new surroundings making a much bigger impact. That would be Eskimos' head coach Chris Jones, the Argonauts' former defensive coordinator. Jones' familiarity with Ray and the Toronto offence proved crucial to Edmonton's 41-27 win Saturday at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, a victory that was all about the green-and-gold defence rather than the blue-and-white quarterback.

The Eskimos' defence turned in a terrific performance Saturday, continually harassing Ray and limiting him to 277 passing yards on the day, 92 below the number needed for him to hit 50,000. Perhaps even more importantly, they picked him off three times, including a spectacular block, grab and lateral from defensive end Odell Willis. The Edmonton defence even put points on the board, with linebacker Dexter McCoil notching two touchdowns, one on an interception of his own (one of two he recorded on the day) and one following Willis' lateral. That proved crucial, as their offence wasn't in top form.

Although the Eskimos wound up winning big here and improving to 7-1 on the season, a mark they hadn't reached since 1989, they'll have plenty of concerns to address going forward. Chief amongst them is the health of quarterback Mike Reilly, who left this one early on (after throwing just one pass) following an injury to his throwing arm and didn't return. Matt Nichols did okay filling in, but his performance (178 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions with a 53.6 per cent completion mark) certainly wasn't anything to write home about.

The less-than-dazzling Edmonton passing attack was also a key part of Toronto's near-comeback; the Argos were down 31-10 at the half, but the uninspiring Eskimos' aerial offence and their own in-game adjustments brought them within seven points late in the fourth quarter. A final pick-six by McCoil eventually sealed the deal, though, reinforcing that this win was about the rushing attack (Kendial Lawrence had 91 yards and a touchdown on just six attempts, while backup QB Pat White had 23 and a touchdown on four and RB Tyler Thomas had 20 yards on five carries) and the defence, not anything Edmonton did through the air.

Still, that defence allowed the Eskimos to hold Ray and the Argonauts down, and that was impressive considering how Toronto had the league's best passing attack coming into this. This game reinforced the Argonauts' other struggles, though; they couldn't stop the run and they couldn't generate much offence on the ground themselves (Curtis Steele had just 47 yards on 12 carries), and even the passing game wasn't working until they made drastic adjustments. By the time they did, it was too little, too late.

Toronto had a shot at this one, but it was still a rather dominant Edmonton win, which is impressive for a team that lost its quarterback early and didn't create much through the air. It also helped further illustrate the tremendous gap between the West and the East; at 7-1, the Eskimos will still only have a share of the West Division lead if Calgary wins Sunday, but at 3-6, the Argonauts are still solidly entrenched in first in the East. Both of these teams have issues to address going forward, but Edmonton appears to be in far better shape overall despite their quarterback questions. Ray wasn't the entire problem for Toronto Saturday, but he wasn't much of a solution, and that's part of why this game wound up being about the Argonauts' old defensive coordinator rather than their quarterback.