The Montreal Alouettes had a prime opportunity to return to the Grey Cup, facing the Toronto Argonauts at home in the East Final. They controlled the game’s tempo but failed when it mattered the most in a 30-28 loss.
Below are my thoughts on the game.
Too many gifts
“You can’t turn the ball over that many times in a playoff game and expect to win.”
Those were quarterback Cody Fajardo’s words after the game to describe the loss. The Alouettes gave Toronto the ball six times — two interceptions and four fumbles — and the location of those turnovers made them even worse for the locals.
All the fumbles occurred in scoring position for the Als, taking at least 12 more possible points off the board. The first interception was a pick-six, while the second came on a game-deciding two-point conversion attempt. All told, the giveaways amounted to at least a 21-point swing in a two-point loss — it can’t get worse than that.
The first lesson you’re taught when you start playing the game is to protect the football. The Als failed badly in that department and it cost them the win, it’s as simple as that.
It should have been enough
Disregarding those turnovers, the Alouettes came ready to play. They didn’t have an ideal end to the regular season, but it didn’t matter because both offence and defence made the necessary adjustments to beat the Argos.
Over the last two seasons, Montreal has had difficulties offensively against the Argos. Saturday afternoon, the offensive line held its own, Cody Fajardo was able to find his receivers, and the running game worked. That type of performance should have been enough to win.
Defensively, the Als didn’t dominate this season like last year — especially towards the end of it — but Noel Thorpe kept his best strategies for the Argos offence. Chad Kelly was confused and except for a couple of explosive plays, he never found his rhythm. That type of performance should have been enough to win.
A wasted opportunity
When you do so many good things in the same game and lose, you have no choice but to look at it as a missed opportunity.
The Als had the team to win back-to-back championships, but it didn’t click as it should have at the end of the season.
“It’s extremely difficult to deal with that right now,” said defensive back Marc-Antoine Dequoy. “I definitely feel we gave them the game with those five turnovers.”
This game provided more proof that football, especially CFL football, is a matter of momentum heading into the playoffs. Regardless of the record, the Argos were the hottest team in the league and found a way to make big plays when it mattered.
A lot of credit should go to backup quarterback Nick Arbuckle, who had the whole stadium against him and delivered timely throws in the game’s dying minutes. The Als couldn’t get the critical stop they needed and it was game over.
Cody Fajardo, the leader
The Alouettes will have tough decisions to make at quarterback this offseason but if this game was Cody Fajardo’s last start with the Als, he battled through adversity like the true leader he is one more time.
It wasn’t perfect, especially in the first half, but he fought until the end and gave his team a chance to tie the game. Fajardo used his legs when he needed to, in addition to completing 27 of his 42 passes for 330 yards and three touchdowns. Yes, he had two interceptions, but the first one was a Walter Fletcher drop that was shovelled into the arms of Benjie Franklin and the second was on a two-point convert.
The only thing that will haunt him this offseason is his inability to complete long throws. On the first interception he threw, he had Austin Mack deep but hesitated and ended up throwing the ball to Fletcher. He later had Charleston Rambo one-on-one against DaShaun Amos, but couldn’t connect.
Two critical plays
Head coach Jason Maas talked all week about the six plays that usually decide a football game, but there were more than six in this one. Two such critical moments didn’t go Als’ way after head-scratching decisions.
With 1:50 remaining in the first half, the Als were leading 16-7 and facing a second-and-two in their zone. They had full control of the game and Toronto had no life. The running game was working but the Als called play-action. Fajardo couldn’t connect with Charleston Rambo and the following play resulted in a touchdown as Janarion Grant returned Joseph Zema’s mishit punt for a touchdown.
The second play came with 1:43 remaining in the game. The Argos were facing a second-and-eight and Noel Thorpe dialled up a three-man rush. Arbuckle had all the time he needed to find David Ungerer III for a first down. In that situation, why didn’t Thorpe choose more pressure? Especially since the Argos needed eight yards for a first down.
The crowd
The Als hosted the Eastern Final for the first time in 12 years and fans answered the call. The sell-out crowd was absolutely electric and it was the loudest atmosphere I’ve ever heard at Percival-Molson.
Attendance-wise, 2024 has been a great year for the Als. Fans have returned to the stadium and shown support throughout the season. Let’s see what 2025 holds.
The Chad Kelly situation
The story of this game was the devastating injury to Argos’ starting quarterback Chad Kelly at the end of the third quarter. It will have serious ramifications for their Grey Cup hopes and dominated the discussion last night, including Nick Arbuckle criticizing Montreal fans for their response to the injury.
First and foremost, you never want to see an injury like that on the field. It was absolutely horrific to watch Kelly go down and try to hold together his broken tibia. But the fans in attendance didn’t understand the gravity of the situation when it happened. I had a privileged angle from the press box to see what was happening with Kelly; most of the fans didn’t realize, hence the noise Arbuckle complained about after the game.
When the paramedics came into the field, it was complete silence, along with some prayers from the crowd. There wasn’t any “cheering” as the backup QB alleged.
Fans around the league have targeted Kelly with chants and jeers since his nine-game suspension for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy. That didn’t seem to be the case this time.
What’s next?
The Alouettes will hold their end-of-year press conferences on Monday and Tuesday before clearing out the locker room. After failing to make good on the CFL’s best regular-season record, they will face some tough questions this offseason about how to get back up the mountain.
