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Some nights they simply couldn’t make a play. But they came together and gained strength down the stretch and won a playoff game in Hamilton before it all went sideways in that November blizzard.

“We just need to continue the momentum ride we were on,” said Sherritt. “There wasn’t a week that went by in the second half of that season that we didn’t improve on something and get better. … We just need to keep moving, keep striving for that greatness.”

They will do it with new defensive players throughout the lineup. Gone are the likes of Patrick Watkins, Deon Lacey and Eddie Steele. Different is a given in the CFL, but better is the goal for Benevides, who is a year wiser about his players and their strengths, a year more comfortable in his surroundings.

“My job is to make sure we’re better and to customize (the defensive schemes) to the personnel we have,” said Benevides. “We were able last year, in the last nine games, to be better than anybody else because we grew. I got to know who they were, and we got better together.”

There is satisfaction in having crawled out of the hole they kept digging for themselves in the first half of 2016. And truth be told, they weren’t a complete bust in all nine games in the first half. They played some great defensive football against Saskatchewan and Winnipeg.

But the Eskimos left wins on the table — at least three, according to Benevides — and the overriding theme is one of missed opportunity. Of a job undone. Of big plays unmade.

“There were so many plays we left out there; dropped balls, sacks we just missed,” said Sherritt. “That’s how you win games. That’s how you win championships, by making those plays.”

By making them in June and November. By turning the pain of an Eastern Final loss into a heartier work ethic and more desire. By finishing the job.

dbarnes@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @jrnlbarnes