Defensive and special teams takeover (ft. the spark)<\/p>\n
3DownNation Newsletter<\/p>\n
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\t\tBy signing up you agree to receive daily emails from 3DownNation, as well as our Everybody around the league is aware of the potential explosiveness of the Alouettes\u2019 offence. Davis Alexander and Tyson Philpot have been rolling over opposing defences, but in this one, neither needed to be the hero.<\/p>\n That honour went to the defence and special teams. The two units combined for five turnovers and completely shut down Ottawa\u2019s hopes of staying competitive in this game.<\/p>\n It all started with a Nate Beauchemin interception in the front corner of the end zone, which prevented a 14-0 deficit and provided the spark Montreal needed down seven.<\/p>\n The special teams followed with a turnover on a Redblacks field goal attempt. The defence then added a fumble recovery and two more interceptions, including a pick-six. Even DeVonte Dedmon contributed with several explosive returns against his former team.<\/p>\n \u201cA performance like this answers the questions people may have been asking,\u201d linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku said after the game. \u201cSome people say we\u2019re too fast, too good, but at the end of the day, every week we show up, and we\u2019re better than the week before.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the last three games, there were legitimate questions surrounding the defence and special teams. Since then, both units have answered the call with a series of impressive performances.<\/p>\n Davis Alexander\u2019s quiet but effective night<\/p>\n On his bobblehead night, Davis Alexander didn\u2019t need to be extraordinary to win the game, but his efficiency was outstanding, especially after turnovers.<\/p>\n He may have missed his first pass of the evening, but he was nearly flawless afterward, finishing 20-of-22 for 260 yards and two touchdowns in just over three quarters of action. He was even able to get some rest, as Dustin Crum took over in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our organization, we think it\u2019s best-on-best,\u201d Alexander told reporters after the game. \u201cOur best offence is our best defence, and that\u2019s what the Montreal Alouettes are about. We\u2019re starting to click.\u201d<\/p>\n Even after a 30-point victory, Alexander was not completely satisfied with his team\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n \u201cThe standards were not met tonight,\u201d he said. \u201cWay too many penalties. We know it, and it\u2019ll be talked about. We still have a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Costly mistakes<\/p>\n Speaking of penalties, if there was one negative takeaway from this win, it was the number of them Montreal took. The Als finished the night with 12 infractions for 120 yards. That\u2019s simply too much.<\/p>\n It was a heated game from the start. There was plenty of trash talk before kickoff, so some fireworks were to be expected. However, the Als need to remain calmer in those situations and avoid taking unnecessary penalties.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re aggressive; it\u2019s what makes us so special. We\u2019ve got the most forced fumbles in the league, so it\u2019s give and take. But obviously we can\u2019t have five or six personal fouls,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n Head coach Jason Maas was pleased with the result, noting how difficult it is to win in the CFL. However, he agreed with his quarterback regarding the biggest concern coming out of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to take any penalties, let alone emotional ones,\u201d Maas said. \u201cURs are URs. They\u2019re called unnecessary for a reason. They don\u2019t need to happen, and we need to be better. There\u2019s a saying in our building: \u2018Nothing they say, nothing they do can get you a 15-yard penalty.’\u201d<\/p>\n The Redblacks scored two touchdowns following unnecessary penalties, making this a topic that will need to be addressed. It has not been a trend for Montreal, but with their sights now set on securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, these are precisely the types of details they must clean up.<\/p>\n The Als are playing with swagger right now; a perfect blend of confidence and arrogance. The challenge will be ensuring it remains that way and doesn\u2019t drift too far towards the latter, which can become dangerous over the long run.<\/p>\n A one-off<\/p>\n The typical rust associated with a bye week was evident during Ottawa\u2019s opening drive. For the first time in a long time, the Alouettes simply didn\u2019t seem ready for kickoff.<\/p>\n The Redblacks took advantage immediately, marching down the field for a touchdown on their first possession.<\/p>\n Noel Thorpe\u2019s defence appeared out of sync early. There was very little pressure on Jake Maier, allowing him to progress through his reads comfortably and find open receivers against mostly zone coverage.<\/p>\n The drive eventually reached the one-yard line, and after three unsuccessful short-yardage attempts, Bryson Barnes finally crossed the goal line.<\/p>\n The response wasn\u2019t much better. Davis Alexander underthrew an open Tyler Snead, and even the ensuing punt was illegally kicked out of bounds.<\/p>\n Fortunately for Montreal, that was about all the adversity they faced before waking up and taking complete control of the game.<\/p>\n From bad to horrible<\/p>\n I honestly don\u2019t know what to say about the Ottawa Redblacks anymore. This is a team that keeps finding ways to lose week after week.<\/p>\n More often than not, they\u2019re competitive until one mistake completely derails them. On Thursday night, it was Maier\u2019s interception.<\/p>\n From there, Noah Gettman fumbled the snap on a field goal attempt before Maier added a pick-six to cap off a nightmare evening in La Belle Province. In the blink of an eye, it was 22-7 for Montreal, and the mountain became far too steep to climb.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the difference between a good team and a bad one. Bad teams allow one mistake to snowball into several others. Good teams stay composed and wait for opportunities to get back into the game.<\/p>\n The Redblacks don\u2019t have a terrible roster on paper, but there seems to be a lack of cohesion throughout the organization. When one unit makes a mistake, another unit has to step up and stop the bleeding. Ottawa has not been able to do that, and it\u2019s been the story of their season.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n The Alouettes will travel to Winnipeg next Friday to take on the Blue Bombers. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defensive and special teams takeover (ft. the spark) 3DownNation Newsletter Today\u2019s CFL news in your inbox every day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,350,1192,351,352,17170,354,35488,5296,37928,355,50,32794,24560,61,17176],"class_list":["post-176748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-alouettes","tag-canadian","tag-cfl","tag-davis-alexander","tag-football","tag-geoffrey-cantin-arku","tag-jason-maas","tag-kabion-ento","tag-league","tag-montreal","tag-najee-murray","tag-nate-beauchemin","tag-ottawa","tag-tyson-philpot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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