Stakes high for Alouettes as Bombers land at Molson Stadium
Team must ‘stop this snowball from turning to an avalanche,’ says Bowman
Like most quarterbacks, Darian Durant is more concerned by the Alouettes’ loss last weekend at Toronto than by his 93-yard passing performance. And truthfully, had Montreal somehow found a way to win that game, would anyone care how many yards Durant produced?
But they didn’t. And they do. “We’re hungry, not just for the standings but the showing we put out there,” Durant said on Wednesday. “We’re not satisfied with the way we played. We lacked energy and focus.
“It’s hard to pinpoint a reason. It happened. It should serve as a learning experience for guys who don’t know what it’s like to be in first place and have to hold it.”
The Als have their next opportunity on Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 690) to smooth out what can charitably be described as a roller-coaster ride this season, when they entertain the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Molson Stadium.
Montreal is trying to avoid its third two-game losing streak of the season as the team reaches the midpoint of the regular schedule. That it must be produced against a team riding a four-game winning streak only adds to the potential dilemma.
Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how not only the Als, but Durant for that matter, respond to their poorest showing this season. With so much potentially at stake against the Argonauts last Saturday, the team lacked intensity and focus during a 38-6 defeat — a game that spiralled out of control in the second quarter, when Toronto exploded for four touchdowns.
“We have to find a way to stop this snowball from turning to an avalanche,” veteran rush-end John Bowman said. “If you would have asked me if they would have beaten us 38-6, I would have said no way in hell.”
And Durant’s 93-yard effort was the worst of his 13-season Canadian Football League career, at least when he has played virtually the entire game. Last weekend, Durant was replaced by Drew Willy on the Als’ final possession, with two minutes remaining.
Things have changed considerably on the Als’ depth chart after last week’s trade of the still relatively inexperienced Vernon Adams to Saskatchewan. Willy, conversely, is in his sixth CFL season, and Montreal head coach Jacques Chapdelaine might be quicker to pull the trigger should Durant struggle a second consecutive game.
“He (Durant) needs to bounce back,” Chapdelaine said. “It’s important for us to get traction early on, get first downs and manufacture success. We need some productive plays. Our offence needs to be a lot more consistent early in the game. A lot of opportunities are still ahead of us. Winning this game would mean we’re still at least in contention for what we want to accomplish.”
This marks the teams’ first meeting since July 27, when the Als squandered a 12-point lead in the game’s final 100 seconds and lost 41-40. That would have improved Montreal’s record to 3-3, meaning it would be 4-4 today instead of 3-5. And that victory propelled the Bombers on their four-game winning streak.
The Als were pretty decent that night — at least for 58 minutes — producing a season-high points total. They even were successful running the ball down the stretch, trying to take time off the clock in the process, when everyone knew that was their strategy.
“You want them to remember what happened in the beginning and to learn from what happened at the end,” Chapdelaine said. “You don’t want to be emotionally tied to either side of that. That’s the lesson you have to take.”
The Bombers remain one of the league’s highest-scoring teams, but one that also appears vulnerable defensively. Of course, they also come into Montreal on an emotional high, a 6-2 team that has learned to win and play in every situation. Winnipeg became the first team to defeat Edmonton last week.
The Bombers have won six of their last eight games at the McGill University venue, dating back to 2011.
Als players, to a man, have claimed there’s no such thing as exacting revenge against a team. Having that mentality, they said, means a player isn’t concentrating on the task at hand.
“Every game’s special. If you need motivation to get up and play, you shouldn’t be playing,” Bowman said.
“There’s no added anything,” added slotback Nik Lewis. “It’s not like we got into a fight at the end of the game. There was nothing that would create animosity. People put it on the other people (officials) to make a call and it didn’t get made. Therefore, they got the touchdown (on the final play from Andrew Harris).”
If you believe in bad omens, the Als had a similar 3-5 record at this juncture last season before hosting Winnipeg, and losing. That started a four-game skid that ultimately cost former head coach Jim Popp his job. He was replaced by Chapdelaine, who won four of his last six.
Notes: Middle-linebacker Dominique Tovell, out with a concussion, has been placed on the sixgame injured list, primarily for salary-cap purposes . ... A thorough stats review has given Lewis an additional reception. He’s now at 1,021 in his career — nine away from surpassing Geroy Simon for the league lead in career catches.