If it had been seamless and the Edmonton Eskimos had remained in the race for first place, it would have been a story which went away with the weather.
And it can still be that way.
If the Eskimos get the offence going again to beat the B.C. Lions here Friday and climb back in it and salvage the first home playoff game since 2004, there will be no need for a Rick Worman Inquiry.
If all's well that ends well, there will be no need to find out who really fired Worman – G.M. Danny Maciocia or head coach Richie Hall – and why in the world anybody would think it would be a
good idea to bring in a new philosophy with new schemes and new terminology in mid-season.
With the Eskimos at 5-4 and either first, second and third in virtually every offensive category, they fired Worman as offensive coordinator after the Labour Day loss in Calgary and replaced him
with Kevin Strasser who has been 1-3 since.
The inquiry light is flashing.
Strasser has been offensive coordinator for four games and has only had one in which the Eskimos managed more than 20 first downs.
Worman in his nine games only had one in which the Eskimos managed fewer than 20.
In terms of total offence, the Eskimos averaged 396.8 yards a game under Worman as compared to 332.2 per game under Strasser so far.
And remember that the Eskimos didn't have an interception for the first seven games of the season and have since started supplying some points. Yet the Eskimos still scored more points under Worman than Stresser.
If the offence doesn't get back on track after their train wreck in Winnipeg, it'll be the offence and the Worman- Stresser move which will find the focus.
“We understand that,” said captain Jason Mass.
“And we don't want to have that happen.”
There's no better guy to read the offensive side of the Eskimos dressing room than Maas as the Eskimos head into the final five games of the season after losing battles for first place with Calgary and Saskatchewan as the are now featured in a battle for the basement with the B.C. Lions.
“Some times new things make individuals think more than just react using their physical gifts,” he said.
“We've had drops and bad reads and routes and throws.
“For the next five weeks as a group we're committed to study more and understand assignments better.”
Receiver Mo Mann said there's been an adjustment.
“There are a lot of new things.,” he said.
“We haven't been running this new offence that long.
“It's kind of a training camp and pre-season feeling. We're still working on where we're supposed to be and how we're supposed to get there. We're still working to understand the concepts.”
Coach Hall says he doesn't think that's it so much.
“I don't look at it as much because of the change so much as the inconsistency we've played with all year. I think that's the real reason for the number of drops. It's the fundamental things.”
Quarterback Ricky Ray thinks it's not about new philosophy with new schemes and terminology, it's about getting their helmets screwed on straight.
“That's not the reason,” he said.
“We're thinking a little too much out there. When you're thinking too much you are not trusting what you see.
“Thinking too much trying not to make mistakes,” continues the quarterback who completed 20 consecutive passes in Saskatchewan when Strasser went from genius to idiot at half time.
“When you start thinking about making mistakes, you're likely going to go out and make more mistakes. When you stop trusting yourself, that's when it happens. It's better to be making
mistakes at 100 miles per hour than because you're over-thinking everything. We need to go out there and make things happen.”
If they do, fine. Rick Worman's run as offensive co-ordinator will be forgotten and his claim to fame will be bringing Ray to town.
But if not, if thing go from bad to worse, there will be a lot of explaining to do about why the Eskimos at mid- season would try to fix something that didn't appear to be broken when right now it looks like it's broken and needs to be fixed.
