The Montreal Alouettes had a great opportunity to extend their lead in the CFL standings by receiving the struggling Tiger-Cats on Saturday night. They got the job done with a dominant performance on all fronts, notching a 33-23 victory.
Below are my thoughts on the game.
An explosive start (ft. Tiger-Cat mistakes)
The Als have struggled to start games on time lately but it wasn’t a problem on Saturday night. A circus of mistakes from the visitors mixed with a dominant defensive and special teams start allowed Montreal to take a 15-0 lead after the first quarter.
Darnell Sankey was clearly ready for kickoff as he created two turnovers on Hamilton’s first two possessions, a forced fumble and an interception. He has been close to making big plays recently, it was finally his night.
His first takeaway allowed the Als to score three points and his second took off some points that the Tabbies could have had. Sankey finished the night with 6 tackles.
James Letcher Jr. also participated in the early action with a great punt return that allowed the Als to add three points. Had the offence been more opportunistic, the game could have been over after the first fifteen minutes.
I will let my colleague Troy Durell elaborate on the visitors’ mistakes, but when you fumble, get intercepted, allow a safety, and hit the post on a field goal in the same quarter against the best team in the CFL, it is hard to leave the stadium with the win.
A little bit of everything from Alexander
In his second CFL start, Davis Alexander did enough to add a win to the Alouettes’ record. We saw a little bit of everything from him, as he finished 17-of-24 for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
Like last week, he struggled to gain rhythm early on as he missed a couple of throws that could’ve led to touchdowns.
However, Alexander then showed why he is considered by many to be the future of the franchise. He kept his cool, delivered throws on time, and used his legs to extend drives. His first touchdown pass to Charleston Rambo was a brilliant demonstration of his toolbox and he showed some confidence after the play by trash-talking with defensive back Richard Leonard.
Overall, we saw some inconsistency from the young quarterback, but when it was time to seal the victory, he delivered. He led the offence to two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with some beautiful throws along the way.
Charleston keeps partying
At the beginning of the season, I selected Charleston Rambo as my prediction for breakout player in the CFL based on what he showed during training camp. His explosiveness caused a lot of issues for the defensive backs facing him.
That pick looked terrible after six weeks but since then, we’ve seen the player that forced Danny Maciocia and Jason Maas to release Tevin Jones. His speed is matched by his quarterback’s arm strength, which allows the Als to stretch the field.
Saturday night, Rambo was by far the best receiver on the field with 124 yards on six catches with two touchdowns. His first one was a complete demonstration of what makes him so dangerous, as he blew past former Alouette Kordell Rodgers.
A banged-up team that keeps delivering
Since the beginning of the season, the Alouettes have faced a lot of adversity injury-wise. On offence, they have played without Cody Fajardo, Tyler Snead and Kaion Julien-Grant.
You can now add Tyson Philpot’s name to the infirmary list. He got injured in the first quarter after a tackle by Leonard. He was seen after the game with a walking boot, although Jason Maas told the media it was more precautionary as the team is awaiting test results.
Defensively, Najee Murray suffered an injury during warm-ups and couldn’t play in the game. Bryce Cosby moved to his spot as Geoffrey Cantin-Arku saw more action.
With that said, the Als are still finding ways to win games. It is not always in the prettiest way, but it’s effective. It is hard to win eight out of nine games in any league.
A silent domination
If you didn’t watch the game, don’t let the score fool you. The Tiger-Cats were trailing 26-9 with 10 minutes to go when they scored their first touchdown and their second came in the dying minutes.
It won’t make the headlines but it was another defensive domination by the Als. They limited James Butler to just 40 yards on the ground, along with creating a pair of turnovers.
However, the defensive players weren’t satisfied with that performance, especially with the ending. Safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy pointed out after the game that the team was able to start strong but needed to finish strong as well. The unit allowed Taylor Powell and his offence to convert a second-and-16 and a third-and-16 on two consecutive drives, which kept Hamilton’s slight hopes alive.
A party in Montreal
Montreal is not an easy market for sports teams but when they perform, fans answer the bell. 22 137 fans made their way to Percival-Molson for the game, which was a party from start to finish.
Alouettes fans deserve this period of success after all the miserable years they faced. They have now watched their team have its best start since 2004 –when they began the year 12-1.
What’s next?
The Alouettes (8-1) will face the Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-3-1) next Friday night in Regina. The kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT.
