Preview: Als, Ticats renew hostilities on #TNF

CFL.ca Staff
#TNF

MONTREAL — It’s hard to put a finger on where exactly the Montreal Alouettes stand this early in the 2015 CFL season, but on Thursday night we might get a better idea.

The Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats kick off Week 4 with a battle for control of the East Division, each hoping to get an early edge in the standings after last season matching up in the Eastern Final. Yet two points in the win column aren’t all at stake at Montreal’s Percival-Molson Stadium.

One of the league’s greatest enigmas through three weeks of the season, the Alouettes have a chance to make a bold statement on Thursday Night Football against one of the league’s hottest teams – one that’s flourished on both sides of the ball and is coming off a bye week.

“We’re going to face a pretty good football team on Thursday that’ll be well-rested and we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Head Coach Tom Higgins told MontrealAlouettes.com.

The tale of the tape reveals that this might be Week 4’s marquee matchup, one that features two offences that are moving the ball and defences that are arguably the most talented in the CFL right now. While the Ticats’ emergence as a CFL powerhouse is well-documented, the Alouettes show the peripherals of a team teetering on the status of elite, 1-2 record this season aside.

A season-opening loss to Ottawa was marred by quarterbacks one and two on the depth chart going down with injuries and missing most of the second half, while a convincing win over the defending Grey Cup Champion Calgary Stampeders a week later showed the Als can beat anyone on the right day.

Last weekend’s narrow 25-23 loss to Winnipeg, meanwhile, was defined by a touchdown each on special teams and defence by the Bombers. So far only avoidable miscues stand in the Alouettes’ way of being undefeated in 2015.

“A loss is a loss, we lost by two points,” conceded Higgins, adding that one miscue too many cost his football team. “The lesson we learned is you can’t beat yourself. They did what they had to do to win the football game, but even in the end we had a chance.”

“We have the makings of what we’d like to be but we’re not there right now,” he continued. “We just have to keep working to improve.”

If the Alouettes can avoid such mistakes, they could be as good as anyone. As a team, the Als own the CFL’s number one run defence and have only allowed a single passing touchdown. They also boast the league’s leading receiver (S.J. Green), rusher (Tyrell Sutton), sacks leader (John Bowman) and combined yards leader (Stefan Logan).

Rakeem Cato, just 23 years old, has the Alouettes sitting second in the CFL with 31.5 yards per possession behind only the Saskatchewan Roughriders after only two career starts – but he has to clean up the turnovers after committing two costly ones against Winnipeg.

“I understand the mistakes I made and I have to better myself,” agreed Cato. “My head is not down – that wasn’t my first interception and it wasn’t my first loss. I know how to deal with it.”

“I just have to continue to go hard and continue to get better as a player and as a man.”

To highlight the importance of ball security, the Alouettes have allowed 26 points off their six turnovers this season. On the Als’ other 32 defensive possessions they’ve allowed only 30 points, an average of 0.94 points per opposing drive.

Consider Montreal’s opponent on Thursday and protecting the football is even more important. If the Alouettes boast the stingiest defence in the CFL (Ottawa’s is also in the running early on), the Ticats have the best playmaking defence. Of Hamilton’s six interceptions in two games, three have been returned for touchdowns, including two in a blowout win over the Bombers entering last week’s bye.

The Ticats are excited to hit the field after some time off – you always want to go into a week off on a winning note, but the Ticats played so well in their previous game that the bye week may have come at the wrong time.

“I think everybody was kind of itching to get back,” quarterback Zach Collaros told Ticats.ca, asked about the tempo of practice coming off the bye. “We were flying around out there, I think everybody’s just excited to get back to playing the game of football.”

Hamilton undoubtedly justified itself as a top Grey Cup contender in its first two games, falling just short of a season-opening win in Calgary and then dismantling the Bombers in Winnipeg. The Ticats will set a record for consecutive road games to open a season with four straight and won’t play their first home game until Aug. 3, but early on they’ve proven themselves up to the task.

Improvements can always be made, of course, and these next two games will be vital. Starting in August, the Ticats have a stretch of eight out of 10 games at home – a place they seldom lose.

“We got better from Week 1 to Week 2, I thought quite a bit better,” said Head Coach and General Manager Kent Austin. “But we still have a long way to go and we made a lot of mistakes, too many penalties still.”

“Our execution was better but we need to get back on the field,” he continued. “You really can only get better as a team and as individual players by playing in real games so it’s important for us to get back and start competing again.”

The Ticats will look to take advantage against a young Montreal quarterback that’s proven he can make big plays but also rookie mistakes. But they’ll have to do it without two key defenders, as Courtney Stephen didn’t practice this week and will sit out while Johnny Sears Jr. has been placed on the six-game injured list.

Offensively, the Ticats will continue to lean on Ray Holley at running back two days after releasing Nic Grigsby, as the team awaits the return of C.J. Gable from injury.

The Alouettes, meanwhile, continue life on defence without Bear Woods, out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Kyler Elsworth took his place and was stout in his first start, recording 11 tackles in last week’s loss in Winnipeg.

– With files from MontrealAlouettes.com/Ticats.ca

Game Notes:

– The Als’ two defeats have each been by four points or less and by a total of only six points (defeats by four points and two points).

– The Als own the league’s number one red zone defence, holding opponents to only three touchdowns on nine opportunities.

– Montreal has yet to score a two-point convert in 2015 and is 0-for-1 to date.

– The Alouettes have two of the CFL’s three opening-drive touchdowns scored thus far in 2015, as starting hot has been a strength for Montreal.

– Among nine teams, the Als’ three active QBs have the fewest career starts to date with only two, both belonging to Cato. Under Cato, however, the Als’ offence ranks second in yards per possession at 31.5.

– The Ticats were 1-1 coming off a bye week in 2014. Last season teams were 12-6 overall off the bye week.

– Hamilton is second in the CFL with a conversion rate of 57 per cent on second down. Defensively the Ticats are also ranked second, stopping 44 per cent of tries by the opposition.

– While the Ticats’ offence has been productive, it’s been the league’s most unbalanced. Of their 795 total yards, only 12 per cent have come from just 32 rushing attempts. They’ve thrown the ball 73 times.

– Brandon Banks currently owns the only two kick return touchdowns in the CFL in 2015, both on punts. He leads the CFL with an average of 22.3 yards per return.