Week 6 Gameday Match-up: Toronto Argonauts
When the Montreal Alouettes hosted the Toronto Argonauts a month ago, it was a battle to see which team would get its nose in front in the race atop the East Division. Now, the story is a little different.
Heading into week 6 the Alouettes and Argonauts both find themselves falling behind the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the divisional race, and both clubs are suffering losing streaks.
The Argos haven't won a game since losing to the Als in week 3. Aside from the 40-17 blowout loss to Montreal, however, the Argos have been in two highly-competitive tilts with the East-leading Bombers, and last week lost a heartbreaker to the CFL's only unbeaten squad, the Edmonton Eskimos, after holding a lead for most of the match.
And coming off two very frustrating losses to the Saskacthewan Roughriders and Hamilton Ticats, the Als have now dropped consecutive games for the first time since 2008.
Over the last two weeks, the Als have had a difficult time maintaining offensive consistency in the face of injuries along the offensive line and in the receiving corps. Montreal has also shown a propensity for giving up rashes of penalty yardage due to indiscipline and lack of focus.
Something has to give Friday night in the Rogers Centre. Barring a tie, one of these teams is set to get the season back on track.
To make sure it's their season getting back on track and not the Argos', one key for the Als will be controlling field position by collecting the hidden yards they've been giving away all year on special teams and via unnecessary penalties.
TILTING THE FIELD
If last week's hard-fought loss to the West-leading Eskimos drove any point home about the Toronto Argonauts, it was the simple fact that the Argos absolutely survive on field position.
In a game where the Argonauts generated only 156 yards through the air and had real difficulty generating explosive plays of any sort outside of some superb running by back-up running back Chad Kackert, field position from solid special teams play and opportunistic turnovers provided the points that kept the Argos ahead for most of the game against the Esks.
More than any other team in the CFL, Toronto builds its strategy around playing clean, conservative games in or near their opponents' territory, putting pressure on the other offences to make long, sustained drives against their defence, and counting on teams to commit costly penalties and turnovers to serve up points on a platter to the Argos' offence by surrendering short fields.
Some of that field position is generated by the CFL's most relentless ground game behind running backs Cory Boyd and his fill-in Kackert. When you consider the fact that Cleo Lemon averages just over seven yards per attempt, it's clear the Argos depend on their run game to pound defences.
Most of that field position, though, is generated by Toronto's special teams units. Whether it's the sure tackling of some of the CFL's best special teams tacklers in Bryan Crawford, Ejiro Kuale, and Jeremy Unertl, or the spectacular returns provided by the league's leader in punt return, kickoff return, and missed field goal yardage, Chad Owens, the Argonauts tilt the field their own way by limiting the return games of their opponents and by biting off large chunks of the field via Owens' legs.
Heading into week 6, Owens leads the CFL in combined yardage (795). He is also atop the league's leader board for combined return yardage (614). Clearly, Owens provides Toronto with the majority of its field position via big returns. And he's a threat to take the ball to the house any time it's in his hands.
In tandem with Owens' return yardage, the deep kickoffs of Grant Shaw and the tackling of Crawford and company stack hidden field position yards for the Argos in almost every kicking situation by ensuring longer playing field for opposing offences.
THE BEST DEFENCE IS GOOD DEFENCE
Some of the onus for forcing Cleo Lemon and the Argos' offence into uncomfortable territory falls squarely on the Als' defence. Much more than simply shutting down the Argos' run game, Montreal has to keep Toronto's offence in untenable down and distance situations by limiting first-down production.
With the Alouettes' ability to pressure the passer and Lemon's deficiencies in completion percentage, the Argos will have serious trouble converting second and long with any consistency given their offensive tendencies. This means locking down the run on first down to keep the Argos playing uphill.
The more punts the Als force, the more points Anthony Calvillo will put on the board. Simple formula.
SOMETIMES IT'S A GOOD OFFENCE, THOUGH
Most importantly, and most obviously, however, the Alouettes need to score points early and often in the Rogers Centre. Last year's East Final against the Argos serves as a perfect example of how lighting up the score board in the first half negates field position concerns and eliminates the threat of a solid rushing attack.
By the time teams head into their seventh showdown in two seasons, like the Als and Argos do this weekend, very few mysteries remain. Both teams are well aware of the challenges they'll face Friday. Now it's up to the Alouettes to use that knowledge to beat Toronto to get back into the win column. And, more importantly, back into the hunt for another East Division title.
MAKE IT OR BREAK IT MATCH-UP
The match-up I'll be keeping a sharp eye on from the opening kick off this Friday night is how successful the Als can collect hidden yards on special teams by placing kicks effectively and by containing Owens to eliminate long returns and rapid shifts in field position.
It may sound like a broken record considering the Argonauts have followed the same script since Jim Barker took over as head coach, but to beat Toronto, the Alouettes have to contain Owens in the return game.
Sean Whyte has to be absolutely on-point in the positioning and depth of his punts and kickoffs, and he has to be deadly accurate on his field goal attempts. Against the Argos, an inaccurate field goal is much more than three points lost; it's an immediate shift in field position more often than not.
To date, Whyte has not exactly lit the league on fire with his ability to send kickoffs deep or to punt with high net. Currently, Whyte sits dead last among the league's starting punters in net punting average (31.6) and is second-to-last in kickoff average (56.2). Combined, those shaky kicking averages cost the Alouettes five to seven yards on average in drive-starting field position every time the team kicks the ball.
Over the course of a game, that lost yardage piles up every bit as much as penalty yardage to shift the field towards opposing offences and makes it that much easier for the Als' opposition to mount scoring drives.
Of course, controlling Toronto's return yardage doesn't rest entirely upon the foot of Whyte. Luckily, the Alouettes line-up features three of the league's top 11 special teams tacklers in Kitwana Jones, Walter Spencer, and Chip Cox. Defending Owens, those players need to be absolutely disciplined in their coverage lanes, and they have to get Owens corralled and on the ground quickly on every return.
There's also the matter of the Als' own return game for the Argos to contend with. Als' returner Tim Maypray has the ability to bite off huge returns, as he's shown on missed field goals twice this season. And LB Diamond Ferri is no chopped liver when returning kicks when teams choose to kick away from Maypray.
Both Ferri and Maypray must focus on getting positive yards and maintaining ball security on every return to win some of those field-position yards back for the Alouettes..
All in all, if the Als win those battles on special teams, it will force the game to be played on the Argos' side of the field. And that means Calvillo and company will be in business.
ROSTER NOTES
The Alouettes have confirmed that Etienne Boulay will miss his second consecutive game recovering from concussion symptoms. Even though Boulay's condition improved significantly this week, the team will hold him out to be safe rather than sorry.
Jeff Hecht and Tad Crawford performed well in Boulay's absence against the Ticats, but they'll have to step up their game against the Argos this week. The Argos' passing game depends on big plays to gain chunks of yardage, so safety support in the Als' secondary will be paramount to stifling those big gains.
On the other side of the ball, look for receiver Kerry Watkins to play a larger role in the Als' passing attack. With his first game of the season under his belt now, Watkins should be primed and ready to take advantage of an Argos' defence that's played below its potential the last couple of weeks.
UP NEXT
Check back Friday for my breakdown of what went down in Toronto Friday night, including, as always, my five plays that swung the game.
