At long last, Edmonton Elks Regular Season has returned to the iconic Commonwealth Stadium. So have some of the issues from the past, another loss handed to the Elks to go 0-2 to start the season.
On a beautiful night of football in the City of Champions, the home team displayed many changes, alongside a frustrating performance, for the contingent of Green and Gold fans.
TAILGATE REPORT
The Tailgate Party is STILL undefeated, welcoming a spirited group of fans to Lot B once again. Despite a slow start ourselves (a new BBQ needs to be built by hand, who knew), we were able to serve up over 40 portions of wings and drumsticks to hungry CFL fans, making our own rebrand, the Herdy's Diner debut, a great success. Through all the challenges in our own stall, other great fans stepped up with donairs, boozy cupcakes, garlic shrimp and smash burgers from their own stalls to help us get through a scramble-and-serve scenario. The Tailgate is one giant family and Thursday's edition proved no different, as we certainly felt the love and support from our Pre-Game community. We have to say thank-you to our fellow fans!
GAME TIME
After posting up an EE Roll Call, we proceeded to our favourite section to enjoy a gorgeous evening of football. The game did start with a decent Elks drive featuring a Tre Ford slide and a Vincent Blanchard field goal from the 35, but unfortunately this would be the only Edmonton Elks lead for the entire game. Montréal stormed back with their first touchdown on the ensuing drive, and from there the Elks started to look lost on offense and defense. After a stalled drive, Montréal QB Davis Alexander found WR Charleston Rambo on a long 54-yard play, setting up yet another Alouettes touchdown. The Elks would score another field goal in the 2nd Quarter but so would the Alouettes on their ensuing drive. To make things worse, Alexander would find WR Tyler Snead for another touchdown, expanding the lead even more. Tre Ford, RB Justin Rankin and the Elks showed signs of life on their last drive of the half, but an endzone pass to WR Zach Mathis would be intercepted and the Elks found themselves down on the scoreboard to end the half, 24-6 the score.
The 3rd Quarter started slow for both teams, but particularly for the Elks. The offense failed to find rhythm yet again, the line allowing one of 5 sacks on Ford. Alexander and the Als attempted to storm down the field but Alexander appeared to pull something in his leg, signaling the re-introduction of former Elks QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson to Commonwealth Stadium. The Als would only find a single point on the drive, and the Elks would find another sack on their own quarterback. Ford, however, finally managed to find momentum with his offense, providing a much-needed long ball to WR Steven Dunbar Jr. to close out the 3rd. The 4th Quarter opened with a sight that fans had been waiting for all night; Tre Ford ran into the endzone to deliver the first Elks touchdown of the game. A 2-point pass to Rankin proved successful, 28-14 the score. Unfortunately, this might have been the closest the Elks could get to a comeback, as the Als managed to score a field goal on the next drive thanks to a failed Elks onside kick, and then the Als scored yet another touchdown not long after that. Ford did find WR Kurleigh Gittens Jr. for a touchdown, and then WR Kaion Julien-Grant for another major on the next offensive drive, but the damage against was already too great to overcome with time expiring on the clock. The game would finish with a 38-28 score, a failed 3rd down gamble ending all hope for the remaining Double E fans in the building and for those watching at home.
THE FAN SIDE
We might be in for a long season Elks fans. There were many instances where we were confused, from the branding changes to coaching decisions. While we didn't expect an Elks win on Thursday night, we did expect some entertainment on the turf. Even the return of Nanook couldn't bring fans a throwback performance of the past. The offensive line struggled and Ford did not look comfortable for the majority of the night. The defense could be compared to Swiss cheese for most of the game, and the Alouettes simply looked unstoppable. It's clear that this is another restart for the team on the turf and coaching staff, as a great amount of schemes seemed to fail the Elks in a positional sense. An onside kick was called with around 13 minutes left in the game, raising question marks when the team still had a chance to come back. The 2025 Double E look immature in many ways at this point, from coaching to cohesion as a group. As with their last game against BC, the team seems to get better as time goes on so hopes exist that the performances will get better as the season rolls forward. With a paltry 14,000 plus showing up to support, the Elks are bleeding fans with every loss and wins are needed sooner than later to restore Home Field Advantage.
ON A POSITIVE NOTE...
Kicker Vincent Blanchard has seemed to turn the corner with his role, making both field goals attempted with his longest being a 42-yard kick. Punter Cody Grace also had himself a day, averaging 45.2 punting yards on 6 punts. LB Nick Anderson continued his mission to the top with 9 defensive tackles on the day with DB Kordell Jackson next on the list with 7 defensive tackles, and DL Noah Taylor posted the only sack in the game. WR Steven Dunbar Jr. proved himself with 7 catches on 7 targets, his longest catch coming from a 50-yard play to amass 97 yards in the game. RB Justin Rankin carried the ball 12 times to acrue 76 total rushing yards in the RB1 role.
IDENTITY CRISIS?
Thursday's game presentation featured the word "Eskimos" for the first time in over 5 years, fans of the old name rejoice! The classic Firetruck returned to the sidelines of Commonwealth Stadium with throwback branding, and so did the beloved mascot polar bear Nanook. Prior to Thursday's game, anything resembling Elks or the Elk Head logo was removed from sight, and with the Elks now donning modern throwback uniforms as their primary kit, this team looks closer to the team that played on the same turf 10 years ago as opposed to the team that was rebranded just 4 years ago. Larry Thompson is sure to make his team resemble the Green and Gold that he watched as a fan, and so far his vision is being carried out as promised. At this point it seems likely that another name change is on the horizon but that may be a year away from fruition, for today we have a team that looks like a mix of two brands.
NEXT UP: EDMONTON ELKS @ WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS ON JUNE 26TH 2025
The Green and Gold will travel to the land of the Blue and Gold for another edition of Thursday Night Football, a win desperately needed with the odds in favour of the opposition. The Blue Bombers are on a roll to start their season once again and with the Elks starting their season 0-2, this dreaded "David and Goliath" matchup feels far too familiar for fans of the Double E. Here's to hoping that the Elks can draw up some schemes to finally achieve an elusive win against a team that has dominated for years.
Buckle Up!
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We should not have lost this game. I put the loss squarely on the coach. Ford looked tired, Fajardo should have been in for the 3rd quarter. I hope the coaching improves or we are in for another poor season.
Go ESKS Go
I am a fan of 54 years and have seen my Eskimos Shine