If it were a cheque, you wouldn't cash it.
If it were a drink, you'd spit it out.
If it were a fish, you'd throw it back.
It was a game which went down to the last play and the final second.
Don't they all.
But it was against the Toronto Argo-nots, an awful football team which is 3-12, mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, losers of five straight and 10 of their last 11.
It was a win in which the Eskimos became the first team to give up a touchdown pass to Toronto since Aug. 28 -- that's after six games and 58 minutes of a seventh -- 113 "drives" and 236 passes. And the Argos lost two starting offensive linemen on the same play early in this one.
FEW FIRST DOWNS
It was a win in which the Eskimos only managed seven first downs in the first half and nine through 45 minutes, ending up with 13 overall -- the fifth time in six games and fourth straight since Kevin Strasser replaced Rick Worman as offensive co-ordinator -- that the Eskimos have managed 20 first downs or fewer.
Worman only had 20 or fewer once.
Ricky Ray only threw one pass longer than nine yards in the first half and three in double figures all night.
Take away three plays and the Eskimos had 165 yards net offence.
One of those plays was a 63 yard touchdown pass to Fred Stamps. Another was a 53-yard run by Arkee Whitlock.
On both plays, and another run by Whitlock late, there were major breakdowns defensively.
No. It wasn't pretty.
But it was pretty important.
And there IS one thing to take away from this game. Whitlock, the last Eskimo player to win a Gibson's Finest Player of the Week award (way back in Week 5) ended up with 15 carries for 135 yards, almost all of it in the second half.
This was only the second time in the last 50 games the Eskimos have had a 100-yard rushing game from a running back.
A.J. Harris ran for 189 against Saskatchewan on August 22 last year. You have to go back to Tyler Ebell on the first game of 2007 to find the previous occasion.
So there's that.
But mostly it was that the Eskimos didn't lose.
They'd lost their previous three and five of their last six -- three of those losses in the last minute including last Friday's devastating defeat to the B.C. Lions when two of the many defenders who weren't here last year or even at the start of this year ran into each other and Geroy Simon scored the winning touchdown.
It was hardly a game to frame but it gave this team which went from first to worst in six games, life in the remainder of their season which is still very much on life support.
The standings don't look too bad this morning with the Eskimos two points back of Saskatchewan and Calgary who are tied for first. The Roughriders and Stamps play today. If you are an Eskimo fan you're cheering for Calgary.
Edmonton won the season series and would finish higher than Saskatchewan in the event the two teams finished tied in the standings.
Saskatchewan has B.C., Winnipeg and a schedule-ending game at home to Calgary to go after today's tilt.
B.C. has games remaining with Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Calgary and a game against the Eskimos at home to complete the schedule and have already won the season series with the Eskimos.
The Eskimos would not only have to beat Calgary but win by 32 points to win the season series with the Stampeders, so that's a ridiculous-to-even-think-about-it long shot considering the Eskimos have won their seven games this season by a combined total of 32 points.
LOOKING EAST
No, the door that's open is the same one the Eskimos walked through as a crossover club playing in the Eastern Conference semifinal and final.
Edmonton is now two points up on Winnipeg and Hamilton with those two teams having four games to go, the last of which is between each other to end the schedule. In addition to their game with the Lions tomorrow, the Bombers have a home-and-away with league-leading Montreal.
The Tiger-Cats have Montreal, Toronto, and Saskatchewan on their late-season schedule in addition to the Bombers. The Eskimos are in Calgary Friday and at home against the Argos a week later.
It would all be pretty exciting if the Eskimos could get you excited again.
TERRY.JONES@SUNMEDIA.CA
