Sep
Montreal ready for Ticats
Courtesy Globe and Mail:
They’ve rolled to a 9-2 record on the season and bestride the CFL, but the Montreal Alouettes can’t quite bring themselves to be content.
There are niggling problems with offensive consistency, and their league-leading defence has shown occasional signs of fraying.
Which may explain the attitude heading into the final stretch of seven eminently winnable games in which the Als will play four against the lowly Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts, two against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and once at home against the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders.
“Every game is like a playoff game at this time of year we need to win, pure and simple,” veteran centre Bryan Chiu said yesterday.
And after last year’s Grey Cup fizzle, there’s an ever sharper focus on the details of successful football in the Alouettes’ fold.
“We have a head coach [Marc Trestman] who reminds us daily of that. It’s a great thing, he just refuses to let the little things slide, he’s on you, correcting the mistakes. … We’ve always been held to a high standard, maybe the difference this year is that as players we expect more from ourselves,” Chiu said.
The Als travel to Hamilton for tomorrow’s game knowing a victory over the Tiger-Cats (6-5) would effectively clinch the East Division championship.
Though a loss wouldn’t be catastrophic, given their commanding lead in the standings, it’s not something the Als are especially inclined to contemplate.
“If we win, it will certainly be an advantage, but if we lose, it will be a dogfight to the end,” quarterback Anthony Calvillo said.
The Alouettes are also mindful of the perils of playing at Ivor Wynne Stadium in the fall. Last year they were 9-4, and had won seven of eight when Ticats quarterback Quinton Porter smoked them for 429 yards and five touchdown passes, leading his team to a 44-38 triumph in Hamilton.
The loss was a harbinger of sorts for the Als, who limped to a 4-3 mark to close out the regular season, and had their failings laid bare in the CFL championship game in front of a home crowd at Olympic Stadium.
And this year, the Ticats have proven a tough nut to crack at home, piling up a 5-1 record – last week, they surprised the Stampeders 24-17.
“We know it’s going to be noisy, it’s going to be a playoff environment,” Trestman said, before adding his team’s main challenge will be coping with Hamilton’s “vicious defence” and containing Porter and running back DeAndra’ Cobb.
The Alouettes are unbeaten against East opponents this season (they’ve outscored the division 118-34 in four games) but are coming off a short week of preparation.
But any suggestion the Alouettes will have difficulty maintaining focus as they cast a sidelong glance at their remaining regular-season schedule invites a swift rebuff.
“We understand that we’re not functioning at 100 per cent, we know there’s plenty of room for improvement, and we have to do the job, starting this week,” Chiu said.
That’s an unsettling prospect for the rest of the CFL.
