The Eastern final between the Argonauts and the Alouettes will be presented Saturday at 3 p.m. with RDS and RDS.ca.
MONTREAL – The Alouettes knew that the task would be colossal in the Eastern final, but they measured the magnitude of it by seeing the Toronto Argonauts score 58 points in the Eastern semi-final. That said, the Ottawa Redblacks made mistakes that they do not intend to repeat.
Jason Maas’s troupe decided to gather to watch this intriguing duel between Toronto and Ottawa. We would have liked to see the faces of the defensive players and coaches while watching the Argos multiply the points so easily.
But marauder Marc-Antoine Dequoy did not beat around the bush when asked for his comments on this match. We thought we would restart him after the Rouge et Noir’s defensive blunders, but he was quicker than us.
“It doesn’t surprise me that much in a way. In the defensive system of Barron Miles (of the Red and Black), it requires a lot of communication and mistakes can happen, everyone has to be on the same wavelength. We saw it in the game, missed coverages led to explosive plays,” targeted Dequoy.
Indeed, the Rouge et Noir lacked cohesion against the aggressive attempts of the Argonauts. We think in particular of the touchdowns scored on 70 and 41 yards.
With offensive production at this level, it was a no-brainer that Alouettes defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe would be a popular man to answer journalists’ questions after Montreal practice.
Thorpe didn’t need to look for a very complex answer.
“I think we’re the team that allowed the fewest explosive plays so we’re going to rely on that, it’s our identity. We take a lot of pride in limiting these games,” he said.
Thorpe hasn’t exaggerated, his defense has only allowed 14 passes of 30 yards or more this season. It easily dominates the competition in the CFL while Toronto ranks last with 36.
However, the Argonauts’ approach may be quite different against the Birds. This season, in three games, the Argos have amassed 516 yards rushing against Montreal, an average of 172 per game.
We therefore assume that the Argonauts will want to test the effectiveness of Montreal’s defense against the ground game. The Alouettes will not have the choice to devote several resources to this chapter, which should impose pressure on the Alouettes’ secondary which will sometimes have less support to stop passes.
“Nothing against the Rouge et Noir players, but I believe we will be better prepared to counter their aerial play. We have often faced the Argonauts and we are familiar with their receivers, quarterback Chad Kelly and their offensive schemes. I am very confident for this duel, we want to deliver a good performance,” analyzed defensive back Wesley Sutton.
“They played a good game, they were supposed to score a lot of points,” Sutton added without being surprised.
On the coaching side, it was obvious that the playoffs were underway. Thorpe and head coach Jason Maas threw flowers at Toronto so as not to add fuel to the fire of this rivalry which will produce another chapter, Saturday, on the Montreal hill.
“I think they played well, they accomplished what they had to do. Obviously, they made some explosive plays that turned the tide in their favor. This is a good, talented team that can make long plays. They can run, they’re good in protection and their quarterback navigates the pocket and outside well. No doubt, they are a dangerous team,” described Thorpe.
“It was a close game for the majority of the game. They made some big plays, but we saw a hotly contested battle. I was impressed, that’s always the case when I look at Toronto, it’s a well-managed team,” said Maas, who is himself nominated for the title of coach of the year.
