2008 Edmonton Eskimos season explained
The Edmonton Eskimos season was the 51st season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 60th overall. The Eskimos finished fourth in the West Division, but made the playoffs because of the "crossover" rule. Edmonton became the first West team to win the East Semi-Final. The Eskimos attempted to win their 14th Grey Cup championship, but they lost the East Final to the Montreal Alouettes.
Offseason
CFL Draft
In the 2008 CFL Draft, 48 players were chosen from among 752 eligible players[1] from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The first two rounds were broadcast on TSN.ca with host Rod Black.
Transactions
Preseason
Schedule
| Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance | Record | Pts |
A | June 13 | Edmonton Eskimos | 14–39 | | | 27,580 | 0–1 | 0 |
B | June 19 | | 7–37 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 33,508 | 1–1 | 2 |
|
Regular season
Season schedule
Week | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance | Record | Pts |
1 | June 28 | Edmonton Eskimos | 13–34 | | | 28,800 | 0–1–0 | 0 |
2 | July 3 | | 31–34 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 32,706 | 1–1–0 | 2 |
3 | July 10 | | 28–47 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 31,707 | 2–1–0 | 4 |
4 | July 20 | Edmonton Eskimos | 31–35 | | | 28,522 | 2–2–0 | 4 |
5 | July 25 | Edmonton Eskimos | 19–13 | | | 21,402 | 3–2–0 | 6 |
6 | July 31 | | 24–35 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 35,008 | 4–2–0 | 8 |
7 | August 8 | Edmonton Eskimos | 34–40 | | | 30,863 | 4–3–0 | 8 |
8 | colSpan=6 align="center" | Bye | 4–3–0 | 8 |
9 | August 21 | | 10–27 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 48,808 | 5–3–0 | 10 |
10 | September 1 | Edmonton Eskimos | 37–16 | | | 35,650 | 6–3–0 | 12 |
11 | September 5 | | 38–33 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 46,014 | 6–4–0 | 12 |
12 | September 13 | | 33–38 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 37,500 | 7–4–0 | 14 |
13 | September 21 | Edmonton Eskimos | 4–40 | | | 20,202 | 7–5–0 | 14 |
14 | September 26 | Edmonton Eskimos | 23–30 | | | 29,794 | 7–6–0 | 14 |
15 | October 4 | | 22–36 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 40,453 | 8–6–0 | 16 |
16 | October 10 | Edmonton Eskimos | 27–20 | | | 34,778 | 9–6–0 | 18 |
17 | October 17 | | 43–28 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 34,342 | 9–7–0 | 18 |
18 | October 25 | Edmonton Eskimos | 9–55 | | | 30,945 | 9–8–0 | 18 |
19 | October 31 | | 14–37 | Edmonton Eskimos | | 29,911 | 10–8–0 | 20 | |
Total attendance: 336,449
Average attendance: 37,383 (62.8%)
Ron Lancaster
On Thursday, September 18, Ron Lancaster, 69, died from an apparent heart attack, less than two months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.[2] Despite working in television, Lancaster returned to football as the Eskimos' head coach in 1991.[3] During his seven-season tenure as Edmonton's head coach, the Eskimos won the 1993 Grey Cup.[3] Lancaster resigned as the Eskimos' head coach after the 1997 season to become the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' head coach and director of football operations.
Player stats
Passing
[4] Rushing
[5] Receiving
[6] Defence
[7] Kickoffs
Kicking
[8] Punting
[9] Returning
Player | GP | K. Ret. | KR Yds | KR Avg. | KR TD | KR LG | P. Ret. | PR Yds | PR Avg. | PR TD | PR LG | MFG Ret. | MFG Yds | MFG Avg. | MFG LG | MFG TD |
---|
Tristan Jackson (CB) | 17 | 35 | 839 | 24.0 | 1 | 94 | 79 | 809 | 10.2 | 2 | 67 | 5 | 142 | 28.4 | 64 | 0 |
Fred Stamps (SB) | 14 | 14 | 297 | 21.2 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Kelly Campbell (WR) | 15 | 13 | 291 | 22.4 | 0 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Tyler Clutts (DE) | 18 | 6 | 37 | 6.2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Lenny Williams (HB) | 9 | 4 | 99 | 24.8 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Bradley Robinson (DB) | 7 | 4 | 59 | 14.8 | 0 | 24 | 6 | 33 | 5.5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Damien Anderson (RB) | 2 | 3 | 56 | 18.7 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Mathieu Bertrand (FB) | 17 | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Jason Goss (HB) | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
[10] Awards and records
- Kamau Peterson (WR), Edmonton Eskimos – CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award
- Ricky Ray, Led CFL, Passing Yards (5,861)
- Ricky Ray, Led West Division, Passing Attempts (605)
- Ricky Ray, Led West Division, Passing Completions (422)
- Ricky Ray, Led CFL, Passing Completion (69.8%)[4]
All-Star selections
[11]
Milestones
Playoffs
The Eskimos advanced to the East Division playoffs as "crossover" being that they had a better record than Toronto. By defeating Winnipeg, Edmonton became the first crossover team from the West to win an Eastern semi-final.
Week | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Attendance |
Division Semi-Final | Nov 8 | Edmonton Eskimos | 29–21 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | | 27,493 |
Division Final | Nov 15 | Edmonton Eskimos | 26–36 | Montreal Alouettes | | 38,132 | |
East semi-final
Date and time: Saturday, November 8, 12:00 PM Central Standard Time
Venue: Canad Inns Stadium, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
---|
| 3 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 29 |
| 8 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 21 | |
East final
Date and time: Saturday, November 15, 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
---|
| 7 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 26 |
| 3 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 36 | |
Notes and References
- Web site: Draft List for Year 2008 . Canadian Football League . 2008-01-28 . May 6, 2008 .
- News: CFL fans remember Ron Lancaster . CBC News . September 19, 2008 . September 23, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080923054521/http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/story/2008/09/18/ron-lancaster-fans.html . September 23, 2008 . live .
- Web site: CFL legend Ron Lancaster dies at 69 . 2008-11-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080919082636/http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=9fdad57f-d163-4dae-9bbe-c4498026f466 . 2008-09-19 .
- Web site: CFL.ca . 2017-08-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090318154908/http://cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Passing/year/2008 . 2009-03-18 . dead .
- Web site: Rushing 2008 Statistics CFL.ca Official Site of the Canadian Football League . 2017-08-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151022080207/http://cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Rushing/year/2008 . 2015-10-22 . dead .
- Web site: Receiving 2008 Statistics CFL.ca Official Site of the Canadian Football League . 2017-08-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151020000011/http://cfl.ca/statistics/league/stat/Receiving/year/2008 . 2015-10-20 . dead .
- Web site: CFL Statistics – Sportsnet.ca . https://archive.today/20130115125619/http://www2.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/stats/defence . 2013-01-15 . dead . 2009-06-17 .
- Web site: CFL Statistics - Sportsnet.ca . 2009-06-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090708112422/http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/stats/kicking . 2009-07-08 . dead .
- Web site: CFL Statistics - Sportsnet.ca . 2009-06-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090708112432/http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/stats/punting . 2009-07-08 . dead .
- Web site: CFL Statistics – Sportsnet.ca . https://archive.today/20130115184228/http://www2.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/stats/returning . 2013-01-15 . dead . 2009-06-17 .
- Web site: CFL.ca - 2008 East & West Division All-Stars . 2017-08-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081206180127/http://www.cfl.ca/article/2008-east-west-division-all-stars . 2008-12-06 . dead .