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Montreal continues to wrestle in opposition to the run and recently has a foul behavior of falling behind in video games.
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Some will recommend the Alouettes’ glass is half full. Others will complain it’s half empty.
Montreal might need the CFL’s finest document, however is it the perfect group? That gained’t be decided till November. However in mid-September, we will state with some certainty the Als are removed from a whole group. Are they adequate to defend their Gray Cup title? Time will inform. Are they adequate to succeed in the championship sport once more? That relies upon how they deal with going from the hunter to the hunted.
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The Alouettes and Stampeders performed to a 19-19 additional time tie Saturday evening earlier than 20,187 McMahon Stadium spectators in Calgary. Whereas there have been some positives for the guests, there have been additionally loads of negatives.
Montreal trailed 10-0 earlier than they knew what hit them.
Tailback Walter Fletcher fumbled on the Als’ opening offensive play, albeit following a 12-yard run. 4 performs later, Calgary quarterback Jake Maier linked with Marken Michel for an 18-yard landing barely greater than 5 minutes into the sport.
The downward spiral continued when James Letcher Jr. fumbled the following kickoff when he inexplicably determined to go airborne on the return. Whereas Montreal held Calgary to a 14-yard René Paredes discipline objective, they dug themselves a 10-point deficit earlier than the opening quarter was midway via.
The optimists will state the Alouettes garnered a tie regardless of being confronted with that hurdle. The pessimists will remind everybody Montreal continues to fall behind in video games recently — a harmful contest of Russian roulette that finally will catch as much as this group.
Street to the Cup
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Montreal was held to 2 first downs via quarter-hour.
And whereas the Alouettes appeared to attain their opening landing on the primary play of the second quarter, after Sean Thomas-Erlington blocked and recovered a punt, he finally was penalized for roughing the kicker following a evaluation from the league’s Toronto-based command centre, which was headed on this evening by former referee Al Bradbury.
Whereas the decision undoubtedly was appropriate, we’d wish to know the way a participant can block a punt with out making contact on the kicker. Simply one other “solely within the CFL” second.
The Alouettes retained their composure and scored the following time they’d the ball. A 3-play, 68-yard drive was capped by quarterback Cody Fajardo’s three-yard bare bootleg following a 55-yard run up the center by Fletcher.
However this was a sport of missed alternatives by each golf equipment.
A 12-play, 87-yard Calgary drive that adopted was squandered when short-yardage quarterback Tommy Stevens fumbled on the Montreal two-yard line. The ball was recovered by Avery Ellis.
On the finish of the opening half, Maier fumbled after being hit by defensive-back Wesley Sutton. Mustafa Johnson recovered the fumble, returning it 31 yards, solely to be tackled in need of the top zone as time expired. With higher clock administration, Johnson would have fallen to the turf, permitting the Als to try a discipline objective. He additionally might have kicked the ball into the top zone and hoped it might be recovered by a Montreal participant for a landing.
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The Alouettes proceed struggling to cease the run. Stamps tailback Dedrick Mills had 12 carries for 80 yards within the first half alone. Whereas Montreal contained him considerably higher following the intermission, he nonetheless completed with 122 yards on 21 carries.
The Als merely appear unable to change this pattern. And with just one sack on Maier, they proceed to wrestle attending to quarterbacks. Fajardo was sacked 3 times and is getting hit too steadily.
The Fajardo landing was the one one scored by Montreal regardless of the return of receivers Kaion Julien-Grant and Tyler Snead from accidents. The Alouettes have been held to a few offensive touchdowns of their final two video games and 42 factors general. That merely isn’t adequate and places an excessive amount of strain on an overworked defence.
The Als produced a modest 16 first downs and 292 yards’ web offence in opposition to Calgary. Montreal ran solely 44 offensive performs and had the ball for a mere 22 minutes and 27 seconds.
Give Montreal kudos for this: Trailing 13-10 with 1:24 remaining in regulation time, Fajardo moved his group to the Calgary 34, establishing Jose Maltos‘s 42-yard discipline objective as time expired, which despatched the sport to additional time. Maltos earlier kicked a season-long 53-yarder and has proved to be greater than succesful after changing the injured David Côté.
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The groups traded discipline targets via the 2 additional time durations. However within the first session, Charleston Rambo was open in the long run zone. Nevertheless, Fajardo was late together with his throw, permitting cornerback Demerio Houston time to get well.
And the way would possibly this sport have gone had Stevens not fumbled? Or had Paredes not missed two lengthy discipline objective makes an attempt from 51 and 52 yards — the primary placing the left upright?
Montreal was enjoying the West Division’s last-place group with the Stamps on a four-game dropping streak. Good groups are imagined to benefit from weaker golf equipment.
The Alouettes have now gone 9 video games on the highway with out dropping, relationship to final season, and their 10-2-1 document is by far the CFL’s finest. However Ottawa (8-4-1) misplaced earlier Saturday at Hamilton and stays 4 factors behind Montreal heading into subsequent Saturday afternoon’s showdown at TD Place. The Redblacks have but to lose at house this season, going 6-0-1.
Whereas Montreal stays undefeated on the highway (5-0-1), the group’s within the midst of a three-game highway journey.
hzurkowsky@postmedia.com
x.com/HerbZurkowsky1
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