Eskimos escalate Bombers' home woes

Mike Reilly bounced back from an interception with a 74-yard touchdown pass to Derel Walker on the first play of the fourth quarter, spurring the Edmonton Eskimos to a 20-16 road win against the sputtering Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In a flag-fest that had more successful coach's challenges than sustained touchdown drives, Edmonton (2-1) overcame its third slow start in a row to win at Investors Group Field, where they won the Grey Cup in 2015. The Eskimos went ahead for good shortly after Winnipeg (1-3) twice failed to take full advantage after being staked to short fields by takeaways from their defence.

Edmonton's Patrick Watkins broke up a long pass to Weston Dressler at the Edmonton 10-yard line with 15 seconds left to help preserve the win. Free safety Neil King sealed the win with an interception on the final play. The Blue Bombers are 7-22 at Investors Group Field since it opened in 2013.

Reilly went 32-for-45 for 465 yards with two touchdowns, far surpassing Winnipeg counterpart Drew Willy, who was 25-for-37 for 299 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Yet Edmonton trailed 16-13 after three when Reilly made an uncharacteristic mistake late in the quarter. The 2015 Grey Cup MVP's flare pass intended for Adarius Bowman was tipped by Winnipeg's Julian Posey, who made his first CFL interception at the Eskimos' 23-yard line.

Edmonton forced Winnipeg to settle for a field goal. Two plays later, Walker got behind Winnipeg cornerback C.J. Roberts, caught Reilly's slightly underthrown ball and sprinted to the end zone.

Bowman had nine receptions for 181 yards, including a spectacular 60-yarder late in the first half where he fully extended for an over-the-shoulder catch in double coverage. Walker had seven receptions for 154 yards.

Cory Watson scored Edmonton's first touchdown. Sean Whyte was 2-for-3 on field goals. Star defensive end Odell Willis, who was shut out in Edmonton's first two games, made his first sack of the season in the fourth quarter.

Rory Kohlert scored Winnipeg's touchdown, while Justin Medlock was 3-for-4 on field goals. Star national running back Andrew Harris has been Winnipeg's leading receiver with five receptions for 88 yards, but was limited on the ground to just nine rushes for 22 yards.

Winnipeg got out to a 10-0 second-quarter lead. With the Blue Bombers in a tempo offence, where neither team is allowed to substitute, Kohlert took advantage of pre-snap confusion in the Edmonton secondary to get open for a 20-yard touchdown. The TD was set up by Kevin Fogg's 72-yard punt return. Fogg returned Grant Shaw's punt for a touchdown, but the ball was brought back to Edmonton's 32-yard line by an illegal hands to the face penalty on Shayon Green.

Edmonton had 12 penalties for 109 yards. Winnipeg drew 14 flags for 136.

Reilly ran a great two-minute drill to finish the half, moving Edmonton 75 yards and finding a wide open Watson for a two-yard scoring toss on a third-down gamble with three seconds left in the half. The drive was sustained by Maas successfully challenging for a first-down reception at the four-yard line by Watson, who had initially been ruled out of bounds.

Maas and Winnipeg coach Michael O'Shea were each 2-for-2 on coach's challenges.

Whyte's streak of 18 consecutive field goals ended when he was short on a 49-yard attempt in the first quarter.

The Blue Bombers host Calgary in Week 5, while Edmonton hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.