Alouettes Game Wrap Week 6: Toronto Argonauts
For the past two weeks, the Alouettes have been taking it on the chin from all angles.
A couple of desperate teams threw the house at them to disrupt their offensive flow. Pundits noticed cracks starting to appear in the Als' perfection. And fans were grumbling over the team's lack of discipline.
Thursday night against the Toronto Argonauts, the Alouettes punched back. Hard.
From the opening drive on, Montreal performed at peak efficiency with Anthony Calvillo dialed in and throwing lasers, special teams locking down the league's most dangerous return man just enough to make field position a non-issue, and the defence playing a clean, error-free game of bend-but-don't-break to keep the Argos' offence in check.
More than the 36-23 margin of victory showed on the scoreboard, it was a dominating team victory for the Alouettes that served notice to anyone watching that they were still as dangerous as ever.
Nothing Like A.C. on a Summer Night
If one thing was clear in the build up to Thursday's game against the Argos, it was the fact that no one in the Alouettes' locker room was more eager to get the bad taste of dropping consecutive games out of his mouth than Anthony Calvillo.
By his own standards, Calvillo had fallen below the mark, hovering just over 50% passing in those losses. And he was more than ready to turn that trend around against Toronto.
From his first pass on, Calvillo was deadly accurate, threading balls into tight spots with great velocity and operating the Als' offence with so much tempo it put the Argos' defence on its back foot immediately.
It didn't matter whether the Argos played coverage with nine players flooding his passing lanes, or whether they rushed seven to get him off his mark. Calvillo pushed the ball upfield all game long.
By night's end, Calvillo had completed 30 of 36 passes for 349 yards and a TD. He also picked up the CFL's all-time record for completions with completion number 5,159 to Brandon London on his way to conducting another 60-minute master class in quarterbacking.
Run It Until They Stop It
It might just be the oldest piece of advice ever given to a play-caller in sports, but it was every bit as true against the Argonauts' defence last night as it was the first time it was uttered. When something works, run it until they stop it.
On the heels of week 3's performance that saw Brandon Whitaker stack up 214 yards of offence rushing and receiving against Toronto, the Alouettes continued to gash the Argos with Whitaker Thursday night to great success.
All totaled, Whitaker piled up another 182 yards last night, with 150 yards on 19 carries and 32 yards on five receptions.
Behind great blocking by the Als' o-line, Whitaker managed to break off consistent gains all game long, constantly providing favourable down and distance situations for Calvillo and company and offering plenty of balance to the Als' attack to keep the passing game ticking.
Five Plays that Swung the Game
1) The Als' Six-Play, 81-yard Opening Drive. (1st Quarter, :05-03:17)
Desperately needing to shake off two sub-par offensive performances, the Alouettes shot out of the gate against the Argos with a 42-yard bomb to Brian Bratton. Working from his own 29-yard line, Anthony Calvillo play-faked to Brandon Whitaker to freeze the Argos' front seven and to draw in Toronto's secondary for run support. When the play action worked, Calvillo rolled slightly to his right and hit Bratton behind the Argos' defence for a long gainer to get the Als' offence off on its front foot. A quick-hitter to Jamel Richardson followed for eight more yards. Then came three off-tackle runs by Brandon Whitaker for 12 yards and two more first downs. And finally, Calvillo hit S. J. Green on a hitch screen for a 17-yard TD to cap the drive. On the drive, Calvillo executed with precision and pace regardless of whether Toronto played coverage or rushed seven. More than anything, that opening drive showed Montreal's offence was back in business any way you parse it.
2) Billy Parker's INT. (2nd Quarter, 08:13)
On second and 10 from his own 37-yard line, Cleo Lemon threw high to Jeremaine Copeland on an in route. When the ball slipped through Copeland's hands, Billy Parker was there to snag it out of the air for a field-tilting turnover. Set up in plus territory at the Argos' 47-yard line, Anthony Calvillo mounted another six-play scoring drive to stake the Als to a 17-10 lead they would not relinquish.
3) Chad Kackert's Mental Fumble. (2nd Quarter, 15:00)
Down 20-13 with 16 seconds remaining in the first half, the Argos started a drive at midfield in an attempt to grab some points heading into the lock room for the half. Two plays and a first down later, head coach Jim Barker chose to run one more play to move the ball a little closer for kicker Grant Shaw. With six seconds left from the Als' 41-yard line, Barker called an off-tackle run to Chad Kackert who cut left just past the line of scrimmage into space along the near sideline. Instead of getting down quickly to stop the clock after he gained sufficient yardage, Kackert elected to break his run up the sideline until he was forced out by Mark Estelle at the Als' 24-yard line. Fortunately for the Alouettes, Kackert failed to run out of bounds before time expired, and the Argos lost a golden opportunity to start the third quarter down only four points. If you believe TSN analysts Duane Forde and Rod Black, Kackert's gaffe killed the last bit of fight the Argos had in them. And it led to Toronto sleepwalking their way through the third quarter.
4) Brandon Whitaker's 59-yard Scamper. (3rd Quarter, 03:00)
On second and two from his own 36-yard line, Brandon Whitaker shot through a hole between excellent blocks by Scott Flory and Jeff Perrett on the right side of Montreal's offensive line. With one move toward the sideline, Whitaker raced untouched up the boundary before being herded out at the Argos' 15-yard line. The play created instant field position for the Als, and two plays later, Dahrran Diedrick crashed over for his second TD of the game. At 27-13, the competitive phase of the game was officially over, thanks in large part to Whitaker's huge run.
5) Dahrran Diedrick's Hat-trick . (4th Quarter, 02:23)
Finishing another solid drive by the Alouettes' offence, Diedrick squirted in from the Argos' one-yard line for his third TD of the game. On the play, the right side of the Als' o-line collapsed Toronto's defensive front, and fullback Kerry Carter provided an excellent kick-out block to seal the edge allowing Diedrick room to find the goal line. Even though it came late in a game that was already decided by much more exciting displays of offensive firepower, Diedrick's run was an absolute kill shot on the Argos' defence. For proof of that, just look at DE Ricky Foley's face as he sat on the turf in the end zone with his back to the play watching the official signal touchdown.
Up Next
Be sure to check back Wednesday for my preview of the Als' pivotal home match against the Edmonton Eskimos. With the CFL's top two passers going head-to-head, I'll be taking a look at which gunslinger might have the upper hand.
I'll be in the press box at Percival Molson for the first time this season for Thursday night's game, and I can hardly wait to see how this battle of elite QBs shakes out.
Until then, take care. And be on the lookout for a Louisiana boy on the loose in Montreal.
