34 in a row, but not one year more

They are not taking the news that the Eskimos will miss the playoffs for the first time in 34 years very well in Edmonton today.

Many most likely feared that the Esks were just not going to make the cut this season, few probably actually had prepared themselves for the eventuality.

With two weeks still to go in the season, most probably figured that things would go down to the last game of the season and another last second drive to pull the game out of the fire. 39,553 in attendance probably figured that a visit from Saskatchewan in two weeks would be the ultimate test of the Esks resolve. Instead, they now have two weeks to vent and make plans for the playoffs, a second season that will not feature a green and gold participant.

Saturday afternoon, the Eskimos fell to the Toronto Argonauts 28-25, a game that highlighted many of the Esks troubles this year, untimely turnovers, missed assignments and a struggling offence all contributed to yet another loss on the season and elimination from the chase for the mug they brought home less than year ago.

Terry Jones who follows the Esks with a passion, wrote the obituary for a season. He has spent the majority of the season expressing concern for the most dominant football franchise Canada has ever seen, he certainly pulled no punches on the day that the CSI Edmonton force moved in to view the body..

Sad end to streak
Dysfunctional squad blows stunning run
By TERRY JONES
Edmonton Sun
October 15, 2006

EDMONTON -- Official time of death: 3:43 p.m. MT, Oct. 14, 2006.
On the scoreboard: 13:46 of the fourth quarter.

One of the most remarkable records in the history of sports -- the Edmonton Eskimos' amazing 34-year run of making the playoffs -- died a miserable death at Commonwealth Stadium.
Quarterback Ricky Ray, who had ended the previous three years of his career here in a Grey Cup game, twice winning it, had the Eskimos in Toronto Argonauts territory with a chance to take a four-point lead and stay alive in the race for a crossover playoff spot.

INTERCEPTED

Instead, Toronto's Byron Parker intercepted his pass and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown.
The run was done, made official with a 28-25 loss.

"I feel like a failure. It's the worst I've ever felt in my career,'' said the quarterback. "It was such a thrill reaching and winning those Grey Cups. To go from that kind of excitement and happiness to this ... this is the complete opposite. This is on the bottom.''

Ray said the last interception summed up the season.

"You want to be the one out there making the plays to win the games. We were never able to get the job done when it mattered.

"I feel bad. It's definitely not a good feeling. You definitely don't want to be on a team that ends the streak. The good part of it was that I was on a couple of championship teams to help to extend the streak. At least that showed me just how amazing that streak is.''

Was, Ricky. Was.

A crowd of 39,533 left the stadium infuriated with their team, not so much for the end of the streak as the way they played looking at their last life.

All good things have to come to an end. But it was hard to watch this team, this season and this embarrassing ending and believe this is when and how it should have happened.
The Toronto Argos didn't win this. The Eskimos made a mess of another one and added a bunch more bullet holes in their mukluks.

A team which had averaged 3.8 points in the first quarter this season challenged themselves to show up for this one game. And they didn't. They managed two points in the first 15 minutes. A safety touch.

Criticized all year for an ultra-conservative offence, not running one trick play all year, coach Danny Maciocia saved them all season to unload in this one.
Trouble is, none of them worked.

The difference, in the end, was Damon Allen's big play passes for 51 and 59 yards versus Ray's interceptions. A Tony Tompkins fumble on a punt return which turned into another touchdown didn't help Edmonton.

And then there was that last interception ran back for the touchdown.
"We had a bust on that play,'' said Maciocia.

The whole damn season was a bust. Maciocia was a bust. His coaching staff was a bust. The pre-game preparation for a team which never managed to do anything from the start of a game was a bust.

The Eskimos' dysfunctional in-transition setup was a bust. Paul Jones's scouting was a bust. The new import talent was a bust. Tony Tompkins was a bust. The special teams units were a bust. The on-training-wheels offensive line was a bust. The aging defensive secondary was a bust. The aging receiving corps was a bust. And three times in the last month Ray was a bust with the game there to be won.

The remarkable record run had to end. But it didn't have to end this year. It didn't have to end this way. It didn't even have to end on this day.