A SEASON OF FUTILITY
Als’ efforts marred by injuries, trades and bad losses
It has been almost three months since the Alouettes, filled with promise and optimism, reported to training camp and embarked on the 2018 Canadian Football League season.
There was a new head coach, Mike Sherman, and general manager Kavis Reed was beginning his second season somewhat more experienced.
While there was uncertainty at quarterback, the defence was rebuilt through free agency and figured to be vastly improved enough to carry the team.
Instead, as the Als hit the halfway mark of the schedule Saturday night at Edmonton, virtually nothing has gone right for this team.
The defence is a shambles, the offence a joke. The special teams are marginal and the kicker is wildly inconsistent, especially when attempting field goals at the east end of Molson Stadium.
The club has been ravaged by injuries, forcing Reed to make a series of trades and discarding many of the pieces that seemed so highly coveted not long ago.
Montreal has gone through five starting quarterbacks already, while using six in total. Even the much-publicized arrival of Johnny Manziel was short-lived — two games before he was placed under the league’s concussion protocol. Management can only hope his absence lasts no longer than this weekend.
Co-owner and lead team governor Andrew Wetenhall boldly predicted two months ago he believed his team could make the playoffs. But with a 1-7 record, and the Als on a five-game losing skid — despite competing in the weak East Division — that appears nothing more than wishful thinking at this juncture.
Following eight games last season, the Als were still somewhat competitive at 3-5. But they were also one game into a season-ending 11-game losing streak. With a 3-15 record, it was the club’s worst record since 1986 when it went 4-14. The organization also suspended operations the following season before returning in 1996.
The Als haven’t won a home game since last Aug. 11 and are in danger of missing the playoffs a fourth consecutive season.
The longest playoff drought in CFL history is held by Saskatchewan, which somehow went 11 consecutive years (1977-87) without qualifying for post-season play. Should the Als not win another game this season, they would tie the record for futility held by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who went 1-17 in 2003.
It truthfully is mind-boggling a team can be this bad, but statistics don’t lie.
The Als have scored 120 points, but only 110 by the offence, for an average of 13.8. The team has only 10 offensive touchdowns. Its average net offence is 251.4 yards. Fifty-one times — a league high — the team has failed to generate a first down on a possession, while allowing 27 sacks.
Because the QBs frequently are under pressure, they’ve been intercepted nine times, yet another league high. And their average time of possession is just short of 26 minutes. No offence has the ball less frequently.
The Als are no better on defence.
They have allowed 266 points — 254 by the defence, for an average of 31.8 per game. They’ve allowed 26 touchdowns, including 19 through the air. The defence is on the field for an average of 63.4 plays per game. Little wonder they’ve allowed an average of nearly 450 yards per game.
Last Saturday in Ottawa, Montreal’s defence was on the field for slightly more than 36 minutes. Not surprisingly, the Als were outscored 13-0 in the final quarter and allowed a game-winning seven-play, 69-yard touchdown drive down the stretch.
The unit was exhausted by that point and lost 24-17.
If there has been an unsung offensive hero, it is veteran tailback Tyrell Sutton.
Sutton is fifth in the CFL in rushing yards, with 386 (five-yard average) and has become the Als’ leading receiver, with 33 catches for 335 yards. Sutton hasn’t quit on a play the entire season. Even when the team’s getting blown out of games — which has happened three times — he continues to play and run hard, pounding for every possible yard.
He’s also become the conscience of this team and has pointed out, with his usual candour, the Als don’t strike fear in any opponents.
Chris Williams was Montreal’s leading — and fastest — receiver, but he went to Hamilton as part of the Manziel trade, as did excellent rush-end Jamaal Westerman.
The Als moved down one position, to second overall, the day before the Canadian college draft and secured veteran guard Ryan Bomben in a trade with Hamilton. But Bomben was traded to Toronto recently for defensiveback T.J. Heath.
If it appears Reed is making some of these moves on the fly and plugs one hole by creating another, he should be commended for taking veteran receiver Adarius Bowman off Winnipeg ’s hands for a conditional eighthround draft choice.
Reed’s team, however, is also 4-22 since he became GM and, once again, appears to be the league’s worst outfit. The Als have three more games, including two on the road, before their second bye week in the schedule in early September.
In August 2015, head coach Tom Higgins was fired. In September 2016, GM Jim Popp resigned as head coach and was replaced by Jacques Chapdelaine. But Chapdelaine lasted only a year before getting fired along with defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe.
This isn’t to suggest something is about to happen, but it is the time of year the Wetenhall family seems to grow impatient. Then again, who would want any part of this mess?