Eskimos pull off incredible comeback to ruin Chris Jones' return with the Riders

Partway through the fourth quarter of Friday's late CFL game, it looked like Chris Jones' first regular-season return to Edmonton wasn't going as planned, with his Saskatchewan Roughriders trailing the hometown Eskimos 33-19 at one point. However, a Joe McKnight fumble on a punt return (one of two he had on the night) gave the Riders life, and they managed a touchdown, a successful surprise onside kick, a field goal and then another touchdown to take a 36-33 lead with just 19 seconds left, which made it seem Jones' return would be successful after all. Edmonton couldn't be written off, though, with Mike Reilly completing two key passes and Sean Whyte nailing a 51-yard field goal at the buzzer to send this one to overtime, where the Eskimos came up with another field goal and an incredible 3rd-and-1 stop to pull off the 39-36 win and revive the narrative of Jones' unsuccessful return.

There were plenty of emotions heading into this one, with Saskatchewan head coach/GM Jones and the coaching staff that followed him from Edmonton (which Gerry Moddejonge revealed this week was partly about Eskimos' GM Ed Hervey deciding to stop paying Jones' assistants in December, partly because he thought they already had plans to follow Jones and partly because he wanted Jason Maas to be able to pick his own staff) looking to stick it to their former employer and the Edmonton coaches, players and fans looking to get revenge on the coach who left them after last year's Grey Cup victory. Beyond that, both teams were eager for a win thanks to entering the game 0-1, with the Eskimos losing their season opener to the Ottawa Redblacks (also in overtime) two weeks ago, and the Roughriders falling to the Argonauts last week and raising questions about Jones' transformation of the team in the process. Saskatchewan shone early on, leading 7-0 after the first quarter and 19-14 at the half, but Edmonton took over in the third quarter and looked set to cruise to an easy win. The Riders then looked set to pick up the win themselves before the Eskimos' remarkable last-second comeback.

Trailing with 19 seconds left and the length of the field to go is usually a recipe for a loss, but don't tell Edmonton that. After getting the ball, Reilly hit Nate Coehoorn for a 14-yard pickup and Derel Walker for 16 yards, which gave Sean Whyte a 51-yard field goal attempt for the tie with just three seconds left. Whyte nailed that, and although the Eskimos were held to a field goal on their overtime possession, their defence came up huge in the extra frame, first stopping Saskatchewan about a yard short of the first-down marker on second down. That left Jones with the decision to go for the first down or kick the field goal to extend the game. He chose to gamble (which is probably a decent percentage play given how often CFL teams can pick up 3 and 1), and his gamble came up short, with Edmonton's line stopping the Riders' push and linebacker J.C. Sherritt sailing over the top to stop Darian Durant's quarterback sneak.

That was a great play by Sherritt and the Eskimos, and they did very well overall to recover when things looked hopeless here. They also had some excellent performances on the night, with Reilly throwing for 378 yards and four touchdowns, Adarius Bowman making six catches for 141 yards and three touchdowns, and Cory Watson adding seven catches for 118 yards. However, they put themselves into a pretty rough situation with their collapse late in the fourth quarter, and they still have a lot of work to do overall. Meanwhile, the Riders can feel somewhat better about themselves despite the fall to 0-2, as there was some clear progress on display here from their last game. The late heroics helped make this a joyous night for Edmonton and an unhappy return for Jones, though.