This season’s collapse is hard to watch
“With the first overall choice in the 2018 Canadian college draft, the Montreal Alouettes are pleased to announce the selection of ...”
Those are roughly the words Canadian Football League commissioner Randy Ambrosie will say next May when the Als, who appear well on their way to becoming the league’s worst team, get the top choice — unless general manager Kavis Reed, or whomever else is in charge by that time, trades the pick away.
You see, there are some rewards to being lousy.
The nightmare that will define the 2017 Als continued Saturday night, when the team lost its sixth consecutive game 33-19 to the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field. Montreal, now 3-10, might remain mathematically alive for a playoff berth in the weak East Division, but this team’s kidding itself if it believes it will play another game beyond Nov. 3, when it concludes the regular season in Hamilton.
Instead, the Als are suffering a slow, lingering death that’s difficult to watch.
Those Tiger-Cats won for the third time in four games Friday night at Vancouver. While both teams have six points, Hamilton also enjoys a game in hand and has reason for some optimism.
The Als? They trail first-place Toronto by six points, Ottawa by five. Both teams already have captured the season series against Montreal, which appears to be playing out the string.
“We’re still going to fight. This is our job. This is our life. We’re not going to give up. We’ll keep playing hard and hope for the best. There’s no quit in this team,” vowed quarterback Darian Durant.
“It’s tough. It’s like a snowball effect. When things are going bad, they seem to continue to go bad. We’re doing the best we can even though it’s not enough.”
Durant completed 25 of 38 passes for 231 yards, but also was intercepted three times. He now has a league-leading 14 interceptions, along with 14 touchdowns, but wasn’t solely responsible on this night.
While he overthrew B.J. Cunningham on the first turnover, both Cunningham and Tiquan Underwood were in the same vicinity. One clearly didn’t know where he was supposed to be. The ball was intercepted by Alden Darby, who returned it 75 yards for a touchdown.
The other two were intended for Ernest Jackson and intercepted by former Alouette Mitchell White, playing his first game for Toronto. The first bounced off Jackson’s shoulder pads and should have been caught. On the second, in the end zone, Jackson appeared to give up on the play.
For the sixth consecutive game, the Als failed to produce a point in the opening quarter. Montreal trailed 26-0 at halftime. When the teams met here on Aug. 19, the Argos held a 35-0 cushion at the intermission. During their losing skid, the Als have been outscored 132-17 in the first halves.
Montreal hasn’t lost six consecutive games since early in 2014, but rebounded from a 1-7 start that season to finish 9-9. In 2001, under head coach Rod Rust, the team started 9-2 only to lose their final seven games. The Als haven’t produced a threewin season since 1981, under Joe Scannella, when 16 games were played. Five years later, Montreal was 4-14 under Gary Durchik.
“I’m going down swinging. I don’t care what nobody says. I don’t care if Hamilton’s tied with us. We still have five more games and the East Division sucks,” said tailback Tyrell Sutton, who gained 105 yards on 15 carries and scored on an eight-yard run. “The odds aren’t good, but we put ourselves in this position. We have to sleep in our own bed.
“Hamilton started 0-8 and look what happened.”
Seeking any possible moral victories, the Als will state they outscored Toronto 19-7 over the second half, overlooking the fact the Argos likely lost much of their intensity during the intermission break.
And, when Montreal narrowed the deficit to 26-11 and appeared to have some momentum, the Argos immediately delivered the finishing salvo — James Wilder running 85 yards off-tackle for a touchdown. It was the longest rushing play by a Toronto player in 41 years.
The Als simply had no answer for the 6-foot-2, 232-pound Wilder. A week after he ran for 190 yards against Edmonton, the CFL rookie gained 141 yards on 10 carries against Montreal. He also caught six passes for 77 yards.
When the Als fired head coach Jacques Chapdelaine and defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe almost two weeks ago, general manager Kavis Reed proclaimed his team to have a “good but not elite defence.” Since then, Montreal has surrendered 62 points in two games.
The Als are winless in two games since Reed replaced Chapdelaine.
“If it was going to be easy, anyone could do it,” Reed said. “We knew it was going to be a tough challenge to get our culture to winning, understanding what it takes to win. We’re not a good enough team to spot someone 26 points.
“I stopped thinking about the playoffs weeks ago, and it’s not about us throwing in the towel,” Reed added. “It’s about us winning a game before we can start having those conversations.”
With the Als headed to Calgary on Friday, playing arguably the league’s strongest team, ending the losing streak will be a tall order. And Montreal might be without slotback Nik Lewis, who appeared to suffer a serious injury to his knee or ankle, and offensive-tackle Jovan Olafioye (hand).