Alouettes de Montréal

[mtl51450]

Très bon début de saison, franchement impressioné par l'exécution et le talent au sein de cette équipe.

[Habsfan]

Ce qui me dérange des Alouettes, c'est qu'ils ont souvent un bon début de saison...mais plus que la saison avance, ils ont tendance de se laisser aller!

 

Et ils sont les Chokers par excellence de la LCF. I championnat de la Coupe Grey en 10 ans!!! Pas fort pour une équipe qui a dominé la conférence est depuis cette dernière décennie!

[ErickMontreal]

Des questions?

 

 

Samedi 18 juillet 2009

RDS.ca

Par Francis Paquin

 

Les semaines se suivent et se ressemblent pour les Alouettes et ce n’est sûrement pas l’entraîneur-chef Marc Trestman qui s’en plaindra.

 

L’unité défensive montréalaise a encore une fois connu un fort début de match en corrigeant les bourdes de l’attaque et les Alouettes ont pris la mesure des Roughriders de la Saskatchewan 43-10, samedi après-midi au Mosaic Stadium.

 

Les Alouettes ont ainsi enregistré une troisième victoire en autant de rencontres depuis le début de la saison pour demeurer la seule équipe invaincue depuis le début de la saison dans la Ligue canadienne de football. Ils ont également signé un troisième gain aux dépens d’un club de la division Ouest, égalant du même coup leur total de l’an dernier.

 

Anthony Calvillo a rejoint Ron Lancaster au deuxième rang de l’histoire de la Ligue canadienne de football en complétant sa 333e passe de touché en carrière, tandis que Bryan Chiu a établi un record d’équipe en disputant une 204e partie dans l’uniforme des Alouettes.

 

Le quart-arrière des Alouettes a complété 24 de ses 34 tentatives de passes pour des gains de 281 verges avec deux touchés. Il a d’abord lancé sa 332e à Kerry Carter avant de rejoindre Kerry Watkins dans la zone des buts pour un troisième match de suite.

 

Avon Cobourne a récolté 100 verges au sol pour la deuxième fois en trois rencontres et marqué deux majeurs. Il a terminé sa journée de travail avec des gains de 145 verges sur 25 courses.

 

Damon Duval a quant à lui réussi des placements de 40, 30, 21 et 40 verges en plus d’ajouter trois simples. Les Alouettes disputeront leur prochaine rencontre jeudi prochain, alors que les Tiger-Cats de Hamilton seront les visiteurs au Stade Percival-Molson.

 

La ligne défensive fait des siennes

 

Les hommes du coordonnateur défensif Tim Burke ont repris là où ils avaient laissé depuis le début de la saison en réussissant un sac du quart et une interception ainsi qu’en recouvrant trois échappés.

 

La défensive montréalaise a donné son seul touché au début du deuxième quart après que Watkins eut perdu le ballon aux mains de Keith Shologan à la ligne de quatre dans le territoire des Alouettes. Les autres points inscrits par les Roughriders ont été le résultat d’un simple et d’un touché de sûreté.

 

Les joueurs de la ligne défensive ont de nouveau été les grands responsables des succès des leurs, John Bowman effectuant un sac et recouvrant un échappé, Keron Williams ajoutant une interception.

 

Leurs coéquipiers des unités spéciales ont également eu leur mot à dire, puisque Dahrran Diedrick a bloqué un botté au début du premier quart, tandis que Diamond Ferri a recouvré un échappé sur le botté d’envoi suivant le touché de Carter.

[bart2312]

Nice win & nice uniform, remind me of the uniform of Nebraska.

[ProposMontréal]

l'an passé, ils avaient eux 30 points et plus dans 15 match sur 18.

Il semble que 40 est le nouveau 30.

[ErickMontreal]

AREAL ASSAULT

 

MONTREAL -- Anthony Calvillo tied a CFL playoff record with five touchdown passes as the Montreal Alouettes romped to a 56-18 victory over the B.C. Lions before 53,792 fans on Sunday afternoon to advance to the Grey Cup game.

 

The Alouettes will play in their seventh Grey Cup since 2000 next Sunday in Calgary against the West Division champion. It was a second year in a row they defeated a crossover team from the West in the East Division final, having beat Edmonton 36-26 last year.

 

Jamel Richardson and Brian Bratton, with two each, and Kerry Watkins had TD receptions while Richardson added another on a blocked punt return for Montreal. John Bowman added one more TD with a 41-yard interception return off backup Lions QB Travis Lulay, who replaced Casey Printers late in the game. Damon Duval added two field goals and a single. Calvillo equalled the league mark for post-season TD passes held by five other players.

 

Paris Jackson caught a TD throw from Printers, Ryan Grice-Mullen scored on a record 106-yard punt return and Paul McCallum had a field goal for B.C., which was attempting to be the first crossover team to reach the Grey Cup. They beat Hamilton in overtime in the East semifinal last week.

 

Montreal had a dominant 15-3 season while B.C. was only 8-10, but the East final was seen as a toss-up because of the strong form Printers showed after joining the Lions in September and because the Alouettes have a history of struggles against their rival from Vancouver. Even with the loss, the Lions are 11-5 against Montreal since Wally Buono became coach in 2003.

 

But this was no contest. The near-sellout crowd roared while the Montreal defence shut down Printers and running back Martell Mallett, who had gained 213 yards in a win over the Alouettes this season but fumbled twice in this one. The offence shredded B.C. for long gains.

 

The Lions started strong with a drive that led to McCallum's 35-yard field goal, but Duval answered right back with a 47-yard effort.

 

Then Montreal took over as Mallett fumbled and Shea Emry recovered on the B.C. 22. On the next play, Calvillo hit Richardson alone in the end zone.

 

Billy Parker picked off a Printers pass and returned it 45 yards to the Lions' 18 and five plays later, Watkins caught a four-yard TD toss.

 

On their next possession, Watkins broke a LaVar Glover tackle and romped 91 yards to the B.C seven, and Richardson caught his second TD pass 4:22 into the second quarter.

 

Larry Taylor fumbled a punt to give the Lions the ball on the Montreal 14 and, on the next play, Printers found Jackson at the back of the end zone to cut the score to 24-10.

 

But Calvillo hit back with a 45-yard TD pass to Bratton before the Lions closed out the half with a McCallum single for a 20-point deficit.

 

Momentum could have switched again 4:54 into the third quarter as Grice-Mullen raced around the left side for a 106-yard punt return TD, beating a league playoff record 103-yard return by Henry (Gizmo) Wiliams of Edmonton in 1992.

 

But Montreal marched back for Bratton's 14-yard TD catch and Cory Huclack blocked a punt and Richardson ran it in at 11:20. Duval added a field goal early in the fourth for a 30-point lead.

 

Duval added a point on a missed field goal to give the Alouettes a team-record 49 points, one more than they scored in a playoff game against Hamilton in 1956.

 

Notes: The Lions lost cornerback Dante March to an injury early in the first quarter. . . The last QB with five TD tosses in a playoff game was Dany Barrett in 1991. . .Richardson tied a team record shared by three others with three TDs in a playoff game.. . It was Montreal's first game at the Big O since a loss to Calgary in last year's Grey Cup game.

[ErickMontreal]

A LOOK AHEAD: ALS AND RIDERS MEET FOR GREY CUP FOR FIRST TIME

 

 

The 97th Grey Cup will be a historic one.

 

For the first time in the game's illustrious history, the Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders will meet to decide the '09 CFL championship at McMahon Stadium on Sunday.

 

Coverage of the Grey Cup game begins on TSN and TSN HD at 1pm et/10 am pt.

 

Montreal advanced to the title game Sunday with a lopsided 56-18 win over the B.C. Lions in the East Division final behind a record-tying five touchdown passes by Anthony Calvillo. The Roughriders kept pace with a thrilling 27-17 home victory over the Calgary Stampeders thanks to two second-half touchdown passes from Darian Durant to snap a 10-10 half-time tie with the defending Grey Cup champions.

 

Calgary was attempting to become the first team since the '96-'97 Toronto Argonauts to successfully defend a Grey Cup title and the first squad since the '94 B.C. Lions to win the title as the host squad. Last year, the Stampeders prevented Montreal from doing so, downing the Alouettes 22-14 at Olympic Stadium.

 

The win will earn Saskatchewan its eighth Grey Cup appearance since 1948, when the Regina Roughriders became a provincially owned and operated club. Saskatchewan will get its second title shot in three years (the Riders beat Winnipeg in the '07 title game) and its first-ever championship meeting with Montreal. The Alouettes find themselves in the CFL championship game for the seventh time since 2000 but they're looking for just their second victory over that span.

 

Saskatchewan's Grey Cup berth will be the first for cornerback Omarr Morgan, in his 10th CFL season. Morgan has spent nine of those years with the Riders but missed the club's '07 title run after spending that season with the Edmonton Eskimos. Earning Morgan a championship ring was a rallying cry by some Riders players last week during practice.

 

Montreal and Saskatchewan finished the regular season atop their respective divisions. The Alouettes posted a CFL-best 15-3 record while Saskatchewan finished tied with Calgary atop the West Division with 10-7-1 records, but the Riders got top spot based on beating the Stampeders 2-0-1 in head-to-head meetings.

 

And that was indeed significant as it secured Saskatchewan first place for the first time since '76 and earned it home-field advantage for the rematch with Calgary. So not only did the Stampeders have to overcome the Riders, but also more than 30,000 of their rabid football fans.

 

Montreal swept the season series with Saskatchewan 2-0, downing the Riders at Mosaic Stadium 43-10 on July 18 before earning a 34-25 home victory on Aug. 21.

 

The Alouettes were dominant against West Division rivals in 2009, posting a 6-2 record. And they were also good on the road with a CFL-best 6-3 mark away from Molson Stadium.

 

That's in stark contrast to last season when Montreal was 3-5 versus Western Conference clubs and finished the season 0-3 against Calgary.

 

While the Riders lost both times against Montreal, they were an impressive 5-3 overall against East Division teams.

 

Calvillo, the CFL's outstanding player last season who's the East nominee for the award this year, threw for just 451 yards in the two games against Saskatchewan. But he completed 43-of-63 attempts (68 per cent) and had four touchdowns against no interceptions.

 

Calvillo finished the season third overall in passing with 4,639 yards despite not playing in Montreal's regular-season finale. The 16-year CFL veteran completed 72 per cent of his passes and threw a league-high 26 TD strikes while surrendering just six interceptions.

 

With Calvillo under centre, Montreal led the CFL in scoring (33.3 points per game), touchdowns (50), TD passes (33) and time of possession (33 minutes 18 seconds). But the Alouettes also finished first in field goals (50) as kicker Damon Duval scored a league-record 242 points.

 

The Alouettes also countered with a defence that led in 21 of the league's 25 categories, including fewest points allowed (18 per game).

 

Saskatchewan's offence was tied with Calgary for second in scoring (28.6 points per game) despite being ranked fifth in both passing and rushing. Defensively, the Riders were fourth in yards allowed (353.4 per game) but seventh against the run (123.8 per game), something an Alouettes offence that was second in rushing (119.9 yards per game) could look to exploit.

 

Not surprisingly, Montreal's offensive star against Saskatchewan was running back Avon Cobourne. He surpassed the 100-yard rushing plateau in both games, running for a combined 247 yards and scoring twice. On the season, Cobourne finished with 1,214 yards rushing, averaging a stellar 5.4 yards per attempt, which scoring a league-high 13 TDs on the ground.

 

Montreal also boasted three 1,000-yard receivers in Kerry Watkins (81 catches, 1,243 yards, eight TDs), Jamel Richardson (85 catches, 1,055 yards, nine TDs) and Ben Cahoon (89 catches, 1,031 yards, two TDs). Cobourne was also a valuable contributor to the passing game with 56 catches for 458 yards and two TDs.

 

To no one's surprise, Montreal will be well represented at the CFL awards banquet this week in Calgary, with five nominees in the six categories. Joining Calvillo will be defensive end Anwar Stewart (top defensive player), offensive lineman Scott Flory (top lineman), Cahoon (top Canadian) and kick-returner Larry Taylor (top special-teams player). Saskatchewan will have one representative, that being defensive lineman John Chick.

 

Durant, though, had trouble with Montreal's stout defence. Durant was 29-of-51 passing (56.8 per cent) for 438 yards with two touchdowns but surrendered four interceptions.

 

Overall, Durant was fourth in CFL passing with 4,348 yards and was named a West Division all-star. He had 24 TD strikes but also 21 interceptions.

 

Weston Dressler finished as Saskatchewan's leading receiver with 62 catches for 941 yards and four touchdowns. But it was the unit's Canadian content proved to be its backbone.

 

Andy Fantuz of Chatham, Ont., Rob Bagg of Kingston, Ont., and Regina's Chris Getzlaf combined for 167 catches for 2,220 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, with Fantuz and Bagg both recording clutch TD grabs to anchor the Riders' second-half success against Calgary.

Modifié 23 novembre 2009 par ErickMontreal

[Habsfan]

Nice win by the Als, but we all know that the game that matters in the one next sunday. Let's hope our boys don't choke again. This will be the 7th time the Als go to the Grey Cup since 2000, and we only have one win (2002).

Modifié 23 novembre 2009 par Habsfan

[jesseps]

Als always choke, when its the Grey Cup.

[Ornello Mastrocola]

Not this time. They are by far superior than any other team in the CFL let alone the SASK Rough Riders. Als by 17 points!