After dropping their third straight football game to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday afternoon, one has to think Kavis Reed and the rest of the Edmonton Eskimos coaching staff are at their wits end. Yet they continues to be at their stubborn best, running an offensive scheme that has been dreadful for weeks.

PHOTO CREDIT - Esks.com

Edmonton - September 16, 2012 - After dropping their third straight football game and being humiliated by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday afternoon, one has to think Kavis Reed and the rest of the Edmonton Eskimos coaching staff are at their wits end. As if losing back-to-back games to the Calgary Stampeders on last second missed field goals wasn't bad enough, to follow that up with a 51-8 drubbing, at the hands of the struggling Tiger-Cats, is taking it to a whole different level.

Yet the Esks coaching staff continues to be at their stubborn best, running an offensive scheme that has looked dreadful for weeks. Here's an idea they apparently haven't give much thought to...RUN THE FOOTBALL!!!

On a team that is currently using the soon to be thirty-nine year old Kerry Joseph as their starting quarterback, in place of the injured and seemingly unpredictable Steven Jyles, you would think Offensive Coordinator Marcus Crandell would devise a game plan that would not revolve around either one being the central figure in Esks attack. Especially when you look at the talent that he currently has at his disposal in the backfield.

With the emergence of Hugh Charles as the Edmonton's feature back and the addition of arguably the team's MVP a season ago, in Jerome Messam, the safe bet would be on the Green and Gold's game plan focusing on getting either man the ball...as much as possible. If your the "feature" running back on this edition of the Esks, you may touch the ball ten times a night, if your lucky. Confused? That makes two of us.

All we have heard from coach Reed, in recent weeks, is that Charles has "earned" the right to be the starting running back...than give him the ball. In my opinion, the second year Eskimos is more of a threat out of the backfield as a receiver but that's not the problem here. If he is your guy, give him the damn ball!

As things currently sit, Charles and Messam might have twelve running plays, between the two of them, on a game by game basis. In the Eskimos last three outings, Charles has had a total of seventeen carries. Six times on Labour Day, another six in the re-match and five more yesterday afternoon. While Messam has seen the ball even less, rushing only fifteen times in those same three games. Anyone else see a trend starting here?

How on earth anyone can expect anything out of the running game, when you refuse to use it, is simply baffling. This edition of the Eskimos are not exactly loaded with game breakers on the offensive side of the ball and outside of Fred Stamps, whom also rarely sees the ball, the other three are all running backs.

With that being case, it would only make sense for this team to try and establish a ground game to help open up their less than impressive aerial attack. Seems simple enough. Instead they continue doing the same thing, making life about as simple as possible for opposing defences.

Apparently the Eskimos coaching staff are not fans of famous Albert Einstein quotes. Einstein's take on insanity sums up the Eskimos playing calling perfectly.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Again, pretty simple stuff and something Kavis Reed must take to heart. This is his ship and if he can't right it, he will be going down with it. There is more than enough blame to go around, be it Crandell or Offensive Line coach Tim Prinsen but at the end of the day, it's the head coach who makes the final call...or at least it should be.