Montreal Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo is still feeling the effects of the seven sacks he took in the team’s Week 5 loss to the B.C. Lions.
“The flight didn’t help, I’ll tell you that much, when you’ve got to fly across the country,” Fajardo told the Montreal media on Wednesday. “On a short week, you get a couple things that linger a little bit longer than normal. But I’m walking today and I’m as healthy as I can be, so I’m thankful for that.”
The Alouettes will be back in action on Friday to take on the Toronto Argonauts, with much of the discussion still centring on the team’s pass protection failings. Montreal has now conceded a league-leading 22 sacks — six more than any other team — with Sunday’s unlucky seven playing a major factor in a 35-19 loss in Vancouver.
Head coach Jason Maas was already frustrated by the focus on his team’s offensive line heading into that game, going on an impassioned rant in front of reporters last week. A more subdued play-caller was begrudgingly forced to broach the subject yet again this week, trying to dispel a growing narrative of blocking incompetence.
“When you look at the number of sacks, I get it, that’s what everyone’s focused on right now. Four of those sacks; ones on a screen, ones on a movement, ones on this and that,” Maas explained. “At the end of the day, the full focus is on that so human nature is just to get so tight back there and that’s all you’re thinking about, rather than thinking about the other plays and all that other stuff. That kind of goes into the coaches’ minds, players’ minds, everything. We just gotta let it go.”
That may be difficult to do given Maas and Fajardo’s recent history with protection issues. When the pair served as offensive coordinator and quarterback of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2022, that team surrendered a record 77 sacks. They are now on pace to allow 99 this season.
The result of the situation in Saskatchewan was a nagging knee injury which derailed Fajardo’s season and the eventual firing of Maas, with the quarterback allowed to walk out of town in free agency soon after. Now reunited in Montreal, the deja vu is impossible to deny.
“I’ve lived this movie,” Fajardo admitted. “It’s just one of those things, but if you look around the league, sacks are up, I believe, somewhere around 12 or 13 percent. It just goes to show how much defenders are getting to the quarterback. I’ll say this every week, there’s a lot of very talented pass rushers in this league.”
Beyond just talented opponents, several explanations have been put forth for the cascade of sacks, including communication issues and the realities of playing from behind making an offence predictable. However, plenty of evidence suggests that the problem is not as drastic as it appears.
According to analytics firm Pro Football Focus (PFF), which recently partnered with the CFL, left tackle Nick Callender, left guard Pier-Olivier Lestage, right guard Kristian Matte, and right tackle Landon Rice are all the highest-graded players at their respective positions in the league this season. The company’s data also shows Montreal’s offensive line surrendering the lowest pressure rate of any team, with a disproportionate amount turning into sacks.
Against B.C., Fajardo found himself under pressure just nine times, but on seven occasions those defenders got home. Even Matte, who ripped his team’s effort post-game on RDS, admitted that initial impressions of the performance were deceiving.
“Football is an emotional sport. After a game like that, you haven’t seen the video, you haven’t seen everything that’s going on,” the 13-year CFL veteran acknowledged. “Obviously, I came out and I said it was disgusting on the offence’s part but honestly, when you watch the video, I mean you can look at all the stats you want and all these things but we’re not far off.”
Maas, too, feels the sack numbers have been inflated and that early season issues surrounding the communication up front have gotten better. It is simply difficult to express that reality in the media given the current climate around the team.
“I do see that improvement, but it’s hard for me to tell you that when the numbers are still what they were,” the coach shared. “I go back and I look at all the sack totals. I see (22) and I go back today and look at all of them, and think about all of them, and watch them, and dissect them. Man, it’s like, ‘Okay, if six of those didn’t happen, we’re only at 15. Is that big a deal to everybody?’ It would still be not very good.”
Of course, while the offensive line might not be fully at fault, there are still issues creating the sacks. William Stanback and the other running backs have been guilty of their share of blocking faux pas, while Fajardo himself is holding the ball for an average of over three seconds — joining Edmonton’s Taylor Cornelius and B.C.’s Vernon Adams Jr. on the list of the slowest throwers in the league.
Given recent history, some believe that Maas’ offensive system also shares part of the blame. Still expect no drastic changes to plays or personnel, despite the unattractive sack number contributing to the team scoring just five offensive touchdowns in four games.
“Going forward, I feel very confident in the guys we have, the schemes are just going to be the schemes, and we’re going to keep working with the guys,” Maas insisted. “At the end of the day, you expect the results but ultimately what I don’t want is everyone to get pressed and that’s what their biggest concern is. I want them just to do their jobs, coaches included, and focus on more of the positive and then the negative will take care of itself in my opinion.”
Meanwhile, his 31-year-old quarterback remains focused on taking care of his body through the pounding, hoping to avoid a repeat of last season.
“(There are) a couple of hits on my legs that I’ve been just kind of monitoring and on a short week, you’ve got to do everything you can to make sure you’re healthy enough to go and put your team in the best situation to win,” Fajardo said. “I’m doing everything I can and I’ll be ready to play.”
The Alouettes (2-2) will host the Argonauts (3-0) on Friday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
