The Montreal Alouettes gave their all against the Argonauts, but they still came up short. The Torontonians signed a fourth victory in as many games, beating the Birds 35-27.
With 3:04 to go, the Argos offense (4-0) rushed for 61 yards on four plays in just 64 seconds. Chad Kelly (21 for 25, 351 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, 141.7 rushing yards) joined David Ungerer III, who completely lost coverage Kabion Ento on the play. The 37-yard pass allowed the receiver Argos to score his second touchdown of the game.
Ento, who was often targeted by Kelly, declined to meet with the media after the encounter.
The Alouettes (2-3) tried hard to come back in this game, but Cody Fajardo (26 for 36, 281 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, 99.4) notably suffered a fourth sack, causing him to lose seven precious yards. With a third down and 17 yards to go, his 11-yard pass was caught by Keion Julien-Grant, but he didn’t get past the chainers. Boris Bede then missed his third field goal attempt of the game, on 43 yards, still collecting a point. He had succeeded on 19 and 37 before.
For this first Friday featuring Quebec music, the 16,151 spectators gathered at the Percival-Molson stadium returned home with their “P’tit Bonheur”…
Kelly on a one-yard run, Damonte Coxie on a 25-yard pass scored the visitors’ other majors.
This defeat came to darken the performance of Tyler Snead. In his second career game, the rookie receiver caught three touchdown passes from Fajardo, but to no avail.
“It’s exciting, but it’s clear that I would have preferred that we win. I’m not here to achieve personal accomplishments, I’m here to add V’s to the win column, Snead said. We have to bounce back after the break. »
David Côté was equal to himself, succeeding on his two field goal attempts, on 47 and 27 yards.
Different vision
Despite the result obtained by their respective teams, the two coaches had a different analysis of the situation after this meeting.
“It was a wild game, which leaves more the feeling of a defeat, first said Ryan Dinwiddie, head coach of the Argos. I thought that as a team, we fought well, but some players put their interests before those of the rest of the group. We got several selfish penalties; I think we got more than 180 penalty yards. I’m not too infatuated with that. […] I’m still glad it’s happening at this point; guys will be able to learn from this. »
On Jason Maas’ side, the tone was different after holding an undefeated team in sight after a very short week and just one training session.
“I don’t know if I can get any good feelings from a loss, but I’m proud of what our guys have achieved. [vendredi], he said. I knew what kind of challenge we had to face against such a good team after such a short week, regardless of the outcome. I don’t think you can feel good after a defeat, but there is something to remember from this performance against a team of this level.
“Sometimes you lose to win. There are some things to learn about this. We have another very short week coming up and I’m glad the guys know they can take on anyone in any condition. »
Slow start
The Alouettes started the game rather dull, before picking up a bit of vigor late in the first half.
But from their first possession, the Argonauts’ offense made fun of the Alouettes’ defence. On eight plays in just over four minutes, she went for 75 yards to register a first major, on a short sneak from Kelly. It was already 7-0 with just five minutes to go.
The Alouettes’ offense finally produced an interesting series at the end of the second quarter. Posted at his 37 line, Fajardo orchestrated a 10-play push, crowned by an 18-yard pass to Snead — then the Alouettes’ longest play in the game — who scored his first touchdown in the Ambrosie circuit and the Birds returned to the locker room ahead 10-7.
The visitors, however, put the pressure on after the break, scoring in each of their first three streaks – two goals from Bede and the touchdown from Ungerer III – to build a 20-13 lead, Côté taking three points from his second placement of the match.
Fajardo and the Alouettes’ offense tied the game after a good streak. Julien-Grant notably broke up several tackles to turn a play that was going nowhere into a 12-yard play. Then, on a third down and five yards to go at the goal gate, Fajardo brilliantly dodged a sack before joining Snead for the touchdown. An inspired sequence for the Birds.
The Alouettes’ defense managed to stop the opposing attack on the following sequence, but the Toronto defense managed its third sack of the evening on Fajardo, forcing the hosts to clear. It was on the next series that Kelly made a spectacular 46-yard pass to DaVaris Daniels, before joining Coxie two plays later.
Ungerer will strike later in the game, the touchdown that will ultimately make the difference.
The Alouettes now have a week off to try to turn the page on this series of three losses. They will host the Calgary Stampeders on July 30.