Don’t worry, there will be no mention of Marie Denise Pelletier’s moving play in this article. Instead, it will be about an evening during which just about everything went wrong for the Montreal Alouettes. An evening that Jason Maas’ troupe does not hope to relive anytime soon.
Between a sound system that explodes, a rescue cart that arrives late and rain that falls in the form of strange particles, the Montreal Alouettes delivered their worst performance of the season on Thursday in a 37-18 defeat against the Toronto Argonauts.
If the fireworks at Parc Jean-Drapeau seen southeast of Percival-Molson Stadium at the end of the fourth quarter could also have celebrated the 14the The defending Grey Cup champions’ back-to-back triumphs were the only attraction in the otherwise uneventful game.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Alouettes quarterback Cody Fajardo throws a pass to Tyson Philpot
The Montreal Alouettes suffered their first loss in six games this season. While no one in the Alouettes camp felt like making excuses at the end of the game to explain this poor performance, it is clear that the number of injured players has undermined the morale, momentum and rhythm of this team that seemed unshakeable.
“We didn’t do enough tonight to win,” the head coach explained after the game. “I know that and the players know that too. I don’t want to make excuses. It would just be a distraction.” […] We tore it out on all three units, it’s as simple as that.”
Deprived of the services of marauder Marc-Antoine Dequoy and receiver Kaion Julian-Grant before the start of the game, the Alouettes saw several of their soldiers fall in combat during the match.
Cody Fajardo was the home team’s biggest loss. He retreated to the locker room after throwing only six passes. Everything suggests a leg injury. No one on the Alouettes has confirmed the diagnosis, but based on Maas’ tone and especially his facial expression as he faced the media music, the smartest will have guessed that this injury is probably not trivial. Fajardo did not address the media after the game as he usually does, but his body language in the locker room and the many teammates who leaned over his shoulder to whisper words of encouragement suggested the worst.
“He didn’t finish the game, so that should be a good indicator,” Maas said of the severity of his quarterback’s injury. “I hope he comes back sooner rather than later.”
Caleb Evans came on in relief and his first highlight was an interception he was the victim of in his own zone. Wynton McManis brought the theft back into the end zone to score the first major of the game. Evans finished the game with a success rate on his passes of barely 50%, 127 air yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The massacre
In the meantime, Geoffrey Cantin-Arku was lying down for a long time in the second quarter on the synthetic turf of the Montreal stadium. An opponent’s helmet hit his right knee head-on. He nevertheless finished the game. “It’s hard to take, but these things happen. I’m just happy not to suffer from a permanent injury. It’s the first time I’ve injured my knee and it could have been much worse. I’m lucky to have finished the game,” he assured.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Argonauts players celebrate after a touchdown.
His temporary absence, however, opened the door for the Argonauts on special teams. The loss of the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Quebecer provided an opening for returner Janarion Grant. The Argos player ran through the middle of the Alouettes’ coverage to score a 103-yard touchdown at the very end of the first half. Usually, Cantin-Arku’s presence at the center of the special teams formation discourages opposing players from venturing there.
But on Thursday night, Montreal’s special teams let the Argos do pretty much whatever they wanted. Grant racked up 242 rushing yards.
Later, it was center Justin Lawrence who called for medical attention. In the third quarter, KD Davis did the same. The Alouettes will now enjoy a week off. A rest that comes after a short five-day week. Maas, to avoid being fined by the CFL, preferred to remain polite about the issues related to such a busy schedule leaving players with little rest time. The implication being that if players had more time between games, perhaps there would be fewer health problems. But he instead politely stated this: “I don’t think football is played in a five-day week, that’s my opinion. But we have to do it. So we prepare accordingly.”
The end of a beautiful sequence
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Pier-Olivier Lestage
The Alouettes were trying to win a sixth victory in as many games this season. A 14e straight away including last season’s games.
Now that the hopes of a perfect season have flown away, the birds will be able to move on. The team’s record is damaged and that’s not a bad thing, believes Tyson Philpot, author of the Alouettes’ second touchdown. “The perfect season was more of a media thing. We took it game by game. With this group, I have no worries about the rest of the season.”
Moreover, with his 38-yard reception, Philpot has already reached the 600-yard mark. He leads the Canadian League receivers in this regard.
Rookie wide receiver Charleston Rambo threw his first career touchdown late in the second quarter.
The team’s top receiver, however, was Cole Spieker with six receptions and 70 yards.
But the fact remains that no statistic mattered to the Alouettes players after this game in which they were never really in the game. None of them would want to change their lives, because the team still sits atop the East Division with a 5-1 record, but for one night only, the Sparrows were manhandled in their nest. And Jason Maas promises, it shouldn’t happen again anytime soon. “Every time we lose, we learn. Usually, it works out pretty well.”