The numbers behind the skid are positively gruesome and date all the way back to last August.
The Montreal Alouettes have dropped 12 straight games heading into Friday’s date against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers and have been crushed in virtually all of them, with an average margin of defeat a whopping 23.4 points.
The exception? The streak includes a 34-31 overtime loss to Winnipeg, the same team that also rallied from 12 points down to knock off the Alouettes 41-40 in the Miracle on Chancellor Matheson last July.
The Alouettes losing streak:
2017
1. August 19: Toronto 38 Montreal 6
2. August 24: Winnipeg 34 Montreal 31 (OT)
3. August 31: Ottawa 32 Montreal 4
4. September 8: B.C. 41 Montreal 18
5. September 17: Ottawa 29 Montreal 11
6. September 23: Toronto 33 Montreal 19
7. September 29: Calgary 59 Montreal 11
8. October 9: Edmonton 42 Montreal 24
9. October 22: Hamilton 43 Montreal 16
10. October 27: Saskatchewan 37 Montreal 12
11. November 3: Hamilton 33 Montreal 0
2018
12. June 16: B.C. 22 Montreal 10
The point here? If it’s true – as they say in boxing – that styles make fights, then the Alouettes figure to be a tough opponent for the Bombers Friday in Quebec, regardless of what the tale of the tape might suggest.
In fact, this matchup already has a couple of Canadian Football League pundits calling for an upset special and an Als win.
“Early in the season you can’t take any team too lightly,” said Bombers running back Andrew Harris after the team’s final practice of the week on Wednesday. “Defensively, that team has changed a lot. They have a lot of new pieces and with a leader like Jamaal Westerman and the way he plays, any team is going to be good with him in the mix.”
Harris speaks the truth here and it’s the byproduct of the Alouettes nightmarish 3-15 campaign a year ago. There’s a new coach in Mike Sherman, new coordinators – including Khari Jones on offence and Rich Stubler on defence – and several experienced pieces have been added in Westerman, cornerback Tommie Campbell, linebacker Henoc Muamba, receiver Chris Williams, cornerback Mitchell White and offensive lineman Ryan Bomben, among others.
And so, again, as much as it might be human nature to take this one for granted, the Bombers are doing and saying all the right things about not falling into that line of thinking.
“It’s the same deal… it has to always be about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and what we do,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “It has to be about the effort the players are going to choose to bring on game night. It has to be about our team and our teammates, and really, little to do with the opponent except for the planning.”
And even that planning isn’t cut and dried. Consider the dilemma for Bombers centre Matthias Goossen when it came time to studying the Als defensive front in preparation for Friday.
“I was watching film of Montreal from last year and I think out of their front six only one of them is playing in his original spot,” said Goossen. “I could watch six different games… I could watch Westerman with Winnipeg last year, Henoc from Sask… it’s just so hard to watch film that way. That’s why it’s difficult in the early part of the season because you don’t have a lot of film to study.”
All that said, the Bombers are familiar with the man who will line up behind centre Friday in quarterback Drew Willy. This will be Willy’s first start against the Bombers since he was traded to Toronto in September of 2016.
Willy was decent in the Als season-opening loss to the B.C. Lions, completing 25 of 35 for 281 yards with one TD and one interception. But while Montreal led 10-7 after the first quarter, the offence went dry after that as Willy threw for only 98 yards in the second half and threw a critical pick in the fourth quarter with Montreal trailing 15-10.
“Drew has been in this league for a while and he’s got a lot of experience,” said linebacker Adam Bighill. “He’s a savvy guy and you can’t just telegraph things to him. He’s a guy that, for the most part, makes a lot of great decisions and has the ability to throw the ball deep – we saw that Week 1. Even if he gets some pressure he can get his eyes back downfield and find some open guys.
“A guy like that, we’ve got to finish him in the pocket. When we have opportunities, we have to finish him and not let him extend plays because he has the capability to come back and make plays if you do not get him down.”
BOMBER REPORT | June 20, 2018
The Bombers completed their final full practice today before heading to Montreal Thursday morning in advance of Friday’s date against the Alouettes. Here are some tidbits from today’s session…
TBD:
Bombers linebacker/defensive back Maurice Leggett continued to get more work at practice on Wednesday, but head coach Mike O’Shea would not yet confirm whether he would be added to the active roster.
Leggett continued to work with the second team defence, but was busy returning kicks on Wednesday along with Kevin Fogg.
“We’re going to make sure we’re cautious with Moe and we have been,” said O’Shea. “Physically, we believe he’s ready. But we also have to make sure he’s sharp in terms of catching up from all the training camp he missed.”
Meanwhile, the Bombers welcomed back to practice OL Sukh Chungh, DE Craig Roh, LB Adam Bighill and WR Kenbrell Thompkins, all of whom had been limited in the days previous. LB Ian Wild was also busy working occasionally with the starting D.
RESPECT FOR DREW:
Here’s O’Shea when assessing former Bombers starting QB Drew Willy:
“He did well for us here for a time. If you look at our team now compared to the team Drew Willy was leading, we’re a better football team now. Drew worked extremely hard, did well and got us off to a helluva good start – 5-1 and 6-3 (in 2014) and then sometimes everything just sort of catches up with you.
“But some of the things we liked about Drew, and the reason we brought him here in the first place, are the things that he’s going to show again. He’s going to throw accurate footballs. He’s going to be able to push the ball down the field. He can get out of a jam with his legs, he’ll choose to run the ball a couple of times a game and run an offence as he’s coached to do.”
