ALS SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS
QB carousel on display in loss to Argos
It has been more than two years now since Anthony Calvillo was concussed at Mosaic Stadium. Two-plus years the Als have had to move on. And yet, they haven’t. Or can’t.
Troy Smith, Alex Brink, Jonathan Crompton, Dan LeFevour, Tanner Marsh, Brandon Bridge, Rakeem Cato, Anthony Boone ... Does it really matter any longer? The Canadian Football League is quarterback-driven, and yet the Als remain unsettled at the position all these months later. They made their bed, and now it seems this franchise is years away from getting a restful night’s sleep.
Other teams — British Columbia and Hamilton — have won with rookie quarterbacks. Why has it become so difficult for Montreal to do so on a consistent basis? And why do we believe the Als’ best option at quarterback remains the guy on the sidelines, wearing a headset and calling the plays? Even at age 43.
The quarterback carousel seems certain to begin again, after Cato departed Monday afternoon’s game against Toronto, just before halftime, with a concussion. The Als were leading 9-7 at the time but went on to lose, 25-17 to the Argonauts in a game they had to win, on an unseasonably-warm, sun-drenched day at Molson Stadium.
And if this was the last nice day of the season, one last splash of summer-like conditions, it seems certain to be a long, cold winter for this franchise, whether the Als make the playoffs or not.
Cato was demolished by Argos linebacker Thomas Miles. Lefttackle Josh Bourke appeared to block one player, tailback Tyrell Sutton another. But nobody was left to impede Miles.
At the time of his injury, Cato had completed 75 per cent of his passes, connecting on nine of 12 throws. But he generated only 72 yards, putting him on pace for 144. That passing yardage generally doesn’t win games in this league.
Cato was replaced by Anthony Boone, another rookie. Boone might have won more games at Duke University than any other college quarterback in school history. He might have passed for 147 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against Ottawa this month — Montreal merely trailing 37-3 at the time — but these circumstances were different.
The game actually was still on the line.
Boone completed six of 12 for 51 yards. With the Als dinking and dunking, Boone throwing short, high-percentage throws, they decided to take a shot downfield — with the ball in field-goal range. Boone’s pass over the middle for Fred Stamps was badly underthrown and easily intercepted, eventually turned into a Toronto field goal.
“I knew the read. It was bad ball placement,” Boone explained. "My eyes popped open, big, and I tried to throw it real hard and the DB undercut me. With that defence, they’re real patient in their zone. You have to keep everything underneath.
“We took a shot. That’s all that was.”
It was undoubtedly a poor throw, but Boone’s merely running the plays that are called for him.
Midway through the fourth quarter, after Toronto had taken a 17-10 lead, it was Tanner Marsh’s turn to draw the short straw, forced to play with this offence. Marsh has the most experience of the crew but has been passed over, once again, kicked to the curb in favour of Boone — perhaps because he has a propensity for turning the ball over.
And so Marsh, playing his first significant minutes since early September, fumbled on his opening series. And then he was intercepted on the next possession. Both turnovers led to points by the visitors.
And then Marsh settled down — or perhaps the Argos relaxed, leading by two touchdowns with less than three minutes remaining — and nearly pulled it out. He passed to newcomer B.J. Cunningham for a touchdown. Kyries Hebert recovered an onside kick and the Als had one last crack from the Toronto 25.
On the game’s final play, Marsh completed a short pass to Nik Lewis, who lateralled to Sutton. But he came up seven yards short of the end zone.
“I feel mad. We could have won. We should have won. I just got to finish in the end zone,” said Marsh, who completed nine of 14 passes for 119 yards. “There’s not much else to say. Finish in the end zone and at least tie it up.”
Cato, for his part, was complaining of a throbbing headache — somewhat predictably — while addressing the media. It seems highly unlikely he would be cleared to play by Sunday afternoon, when the Als entertain Hamilton.
Minutes following the Als’ third consecutive defeat, dropping their record to 5-9, was no time for Jim Popp to speculate on whom might start at quarterback against the Tiger-Cats. And, at this point, does it really matter?
“We’ll have to go back and review the film, watch how guys performed today and what they saw. And our gut feeling. How guys have been practising,” said the general manager and head coach, now 2-4 since replacing Tom Higgins, who was 3-5. "If someone gets a lot of reps, will they do better in a game?
One wonders whether the Als, in one last bold attempt to salvage their season, would trade for a veteran quarterback — Saskatchewan’s Kevin Glenn, for example — knowing the franchise has qualified for the playoffs 19 consecutive seasons. At this point, do they really have anything to lose?