The Montreal Alouettes have defied expectations to begin the 2023 season, flying out the gates with a 2-0 start. However, not every pundit is buying their success after wins over the struggling Ottawa Redblacks and hapless Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Strength of schedule will no longer be a critique if they can upset the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday, but that doesn’t concern head coach Jason Maas in the slightest.
“People say that quite a bit; records, records, records. Well, I’ve been in the league long enough to know that those records can be thrown out the window every single week,” Maas told the Montreal media in an impassioned rant on Friday. “Does not matter who you play, you have to play well to beat teams in this league. Every game is very difficult, so you can throw out the records.”
“We focus all the time on ourselves; on how we work, how we prepare, how we do that, so that no matter who you show up against, your expectation is that you do set out to beat them and win the game. Throw all the records out.”
The Alouettes were projected by many to be CFL basement dwellers after an offseason that saw them undergo a difficult ownership transition. Hamstrung by financial issues, they lost franchise quarterback Trevor Harris and superstar receiver Eugene Lewis in the process.
That has hardly looked like an issue thus far, as rookie pass catcher Austin Mack quickly established himself as a rising star with nine catches for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Saskatchewan cast-off Cody Fajardo has looked rejuvenated under centre, completing 73.3 percent of his passes for 553 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for two more scores. Meanwhile, their defence has allowed the second-fewest yards per game (290.5) and points per game (12), all while surrendering zero offensive touchdowns.
Still, some considered a 19-12 squeaker against the Redblacks to be an underwhelming start, and a 38-12 bludgeoning of a bad Ticats team missing their starting quarterback was only to be expected.
With those teams sitting at a combined 1-5, not everyone took the wins at face value. Maas feels differently.
“As far as comparing ourselves to anybody, all we care about in this building is each week coming out with a ‘W’ and that means one more point than the other team. However that happens, it happens,” he stressed.
“It’s all three phases, it’s every play, it’s all those things, but to focus on records or to focus on standards or to focus on rankings, that does not apply to this club or to the guys when we speak to them in our locker room. It’s about competing every day in practice, to a level of expectation that when you go out on that field, you can beat anybody. That’s the belief and that’s what we intend to do every week.”
Nevertheless, it is difficult to deny that a matchup with the Blue Bombers provides a different calibre of test. Though Winnipeg is coming off a stunning upset loss to the B.C. Lions last week, they are still considered to be the class of the CFL and are favoured by [metabet_core_dynamic_odds market=”spread-home” query=”531018″ site_id=”3downnation”] points on the road.
Even Maas couldn’t deny that the Bombers’ record of dominance since 2019 provides a slight exception to his stated rules.
“Trust me, it has been said in our team and our locker room that they have been to the last three Grey Cups, they’ve won two of the last three Grey Cups. Not to say the standard of what they have played, it’s that they’ve been a model of consistency and in order to achieve what we want to achieve, that’s the type of model we want,” the coach admitted.
“We want to play a certain way but the only way I know how to do that, the only way we preach how to do that, is by working every day, not worrying about that team. You can look at that team and say this is what they’ve been great at, but for us, this is our focus.”
The Alouettes were the first team to beat Winnipeg during their 15-3 run a year ago, pulling off a 20-17 overtime win in Week 10. However, that came when general manager Danny Maciocia was still on the sidelines and Maas was employed by the Roughriders.
The latest clash between the two franchises will carry a different level of importance for the new regime, no matter how much the man in charge attempts to send the opposite message.
“When we do play against a team like that, not to say it’s a measuring stick, but, yeah, you do get up for games like that,” Maas acknowledged. “I’m not gonna say that you don’t, but it’s not something we preach because what we’ve talked about is it’s hard to win in this league. No matter what the records are. Every day you show up, you better play up to your ability and your standard to ensure victory.”
The Alouettes (2-0) will kick off against the Bombers (2-1) at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Canada Day.
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J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league's Global initiative.
