Alouettes overcome sloppy start in comeback win over Stampeders (& seven other thoughts)

Photo courtesy: Montreal Alouettes

Who is going to stop the Montreal Alouettes?

After a rough first half, they found another way to win, beating the Calgary Stampeders 30-26 to move their record to 5-0. Eighteen unanswered points in the second half led the Als to a comeback in front of a loud Percival-Molson Stadium crowd.

Below are my thoughts on the game.

A champion’s confidence

At halftime, the visitors were in total control of the game. Led by some daring play-calling on short yardage and an aggressive defence, the Stamps took an 11-point lead. That momentum lasted until the middle of the third quarter when Montreal finally started playing “Alouette football” again — which can be translated to complementary football.

Although the Stamps piled up points early, it never seemed out of reach. No one panicked.

“I don’t think one guy in that locker room doesn’t believe until that clock hits zero and we’re not in the lead that we can’t win a ball game,” said head coach Jason Maas after the game.

Tyson Philpot described the same sentiment and mentioned that halftime speeches changed how the team came out for the second half.

It started with Cody Fajardo escaping an almost-sure sack and running for the first down. This woke up the whole offence, which started producing more. Although they got only three points off that drive, it was the first of the 18 straight they would score to win the game. Fajardo finished the night having completed 35 of his 42 throws for 374 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.

The final series, which began at their own 20-yard line, almost felt like last year’s Grey Cup game-winning drive, where Philpot and Cole Spieker were heavily involved. The defence sealed the win with a timely interception by Dionte’ Ruffin. Although it was a bad throw by Stampeders quarterback Jake Maier, the Als’ defensive back deserves a lot of credit on that play.

There is something special about this team. No matter the score, they find ways to play their best football when the game is on the line. Thursday night, they finished with a dominant display.

The comfort zone

The Als were in trouble halfway through the game because they went into cruise control mode too quickly.

After Cody Fajardo led the offence on a long drive to open the scoring, the script seemed to be the same as the previous games where the Als took control of the game and never looked back. However, they soon gave life to a Calgary team that was desperate for it.

Backup quarterback Tommy Stevens was the big star for the visitors. He scored two touchdowns on QB sneaks and had two big plays on third down, running for 39 yards to set up one major before dropping a pass to 24-yard pass to Marken Michel several drives later.

Both plays caught the Alouettes’ defence uncharacteristically off-guard, a testament to how much the team was napping early.

Beaten by their own design

The most interesting aspect of Calgary’s first-half dominance is that they used the Alouettes’ family recipe to their advantage. Plenty of screen passes, two forced turnovers, and a dash of trick plays proved Dave Dickenson came out ready to cook.

On the other hand, Montreal couldn’t answer, especially on defence. They were especially beaten on the ground and on the aforementioned short screen, which is unusual for Noel Thorpe’s unit.

They answered back in the second half, allowing only three points and generating the interception to seal the win.

Walter Fletcher, the hero

The Stamps played a lot of zone coverage during the game to prevent the Als from getting big chunks of yardage. Fajardo took what the defence gave him, and, in that spirit, running back Walter Fletcher was heavily involved.

He gained 56 yards with five carries on the ground and scored the game-winning touchdown on a beautiful run where he completely froze veteran DB Tre Roberson in space.

Fletcher also added 104 receiving yards on nine catches. The Stamps gave him a lot of space when he came out of the backfield and they paid for it. He used his speed and agility to beat his coverage and rattle off big gains.

More injuries

Since Tyler Snead and Reggie Stubblefield got hurt during the first game of the season, the Als have been able to avoid injuries to key players. Thursday night, the story was different as they lost some soldiers before the game even began.

During the warmup, long snapper Louis-Philippe Bourassa and kicker David Cote both pulled up lame. Cote appeared to injure his right quad on a practice kick and his exit forced an emergency replacement.

Jose Maltos, the team’s Global kicker, never imagined he would play. The 32-year-old Mexican national had to go to the locker room quickly and put his pads on, before delivering three field goals on three attempts, all snapped by linebacker Alexandre Gagne.

“As a professional, my job was to be ready for anything that could happen,” he told 3DownNation after the game. “I was happy and excited by the opportunity.”

Fajardo praised his teammate’s mental strength in that situation but not every injury had a feel-good story attached. The biggest loss occurred in the second quarter when starting safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy tackled running back B.J. Emmons and his right shoulder took the brunt of the collision.

Dequoy went to a local hospital but was seen after the game without a brace. He told the media walking by that he was going to be fine, but we don’t know the extent of the all-star’s injury.

The highs and lows of the crowd

It was great to see another big crowd at Percival-Molson Stadium. 20 652 fans were in attendance and were loud all game long, especially in the fourth quarter.

They complicated Jake Maier’s rhythm and gave a lot of energy to the defence, which answered perfectly. However, the crowd also showed some football misunderstanding at times.

For example, they started a wave along with some screaming when the offence was on the field down 14. I was told that the messages to quiet the crowd during offensive possessions haven’t been as present as the previous years, and that will be fixed before the next home game.

Regardless, it was not a good look, and Fajardo acknowledged it himself after the game. He still praised the noise at the end of the game.

“It’s something I’ve never seen before,” he told the media.

What’s next?

The Alouettes will have a short week before they face the Toronto Argonauts next Thursday at Percival-Molson Stadium. The kickoff should be around 7:30 p.m. EDT.