Mike Reilly makes a great comeback, helping the Eskimos down the Alouettes 33-16 Friday night

Eskimos' QB Mike Reilly had been out since suffering a thumb injury on the team's opening drive against Toronto three weeks ago, but he made his return to the Edmonton lineup in style Friday despite not being completely healed. Reilly threw for 271 yards (with a 68.8 per cent completion rate and no interceptions) and ran for 56 more and two touchdowns on just seven carries (an average of eight yards per carry) against the Montreal Alouettes Friday, leading the Eskimos to an impressive 33-16 win. A lot of the hype heading into this game was about Montreal quarterback Jonathon Crompton, who was with the Eskimos earlier this year, but while he was decent Friday, it was Reilly who really shone, rushing for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and helping Edmonton to an impressive victory.

Reilly's in only his second season as a full-fledged CFL starter, but he's shown himself to be a very impressive quarterback. He's a threat with his legs, picking up crucial yards and touchdowns when defences don't mark him closely enough, but he's far from a run-first quarterback; he's showed off an impressive passing touch and a desire to keep looking downfield when his legs let him keep plays alive. He's been particularly good this season with the Eskimos, completing 66.4 per cent of his passes as compared to 59.6 per cent a year ago. While some of that's definitely about the improvements in his offensive line, a major source of Edmonton's problems last year, Reilly has been a key presence for them, and a big reason why the Eskimos improved to 8-3 with this victory.

There was more than just a superior quarterbacking performance from Reilly Friday night, of course. A big part of the result was about Montreal's inability to stop the run; Edmonton collected a total of 187 yards ojn the ground and averaged 6.4 yards per rush. Another issue was the difficulty the Alouettes had covering the Eskimos' top receivers: slotback Adarius Bowman, who's having an amazing season and currently leads the CFL with 997 passing yards (his closest competitor as of Friday was Winnipeg's Clarence Denmark, who was 351 yards back), recorded 10 catches for 131 yards, while fellow slotback Fred Stamps (in his return to the lineup from injury) had three receptions for 71 yards. Meanwhile, Montreal didn't do much on offence; Crompton threw for just 169 yards and a touchdown with a 55.6 per cent completion rate, while Brandon Whitaker had just 46 yards on 10 carries

Still, Reilly's return was a major reason why the Eskimos pulled off the win. They've now ended their two-game losing streak and improved to 8-3 on the season, and they're still very much in the race for the top playoff spot in the West Division. Getting their starting quarterback back in the lineup is huge for them, and it might be crucial going forward as well. If Reilly keeps playing like this and the defence keeps up its showings, this will be a team to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball.