When Jim Popp was the Alouettes’ general manager he often stated CFL teams need to score 30 points per game to succeed.
Popp never was much of a head coach, but was prescient and knew of what he spoke.
Here are the points his former team has scored since mid-August:
Twenty-seven against Saskatchewan; 21 against Edmonton; 23 against B.C.; 19 against Calgary and 24 against Ottawa on Saturday afternoon.
Nonetheless, Montreal’s record over that span is 3-1-1. Go figure.
The Alouettes are again in full control of the East Division following their 24-12 victory over the Redblacks before a near-capacity crowd of 23,530 at TD Place.
While there might have been a small margin of concern after the Als had gone two games without a victory — an eternity for the defending Grey Cup champions — those fears have been temporarily assuaged, but only thanks to a wonderful performance by Montreal’s defence.
Offensively? The Alouettes aren’t good enough. Period. Will that eventually catch up to them? Time will tell, although defence wins championships and Montreal rode a stellar defence to last season’s title.
The victory improved their division-leading record to 11-2-1, while increasing its road undefeated streak to 10 games dating back to last season.
The Alouettes are already guaranteed a home playoff game, but should have little difficulty finishing first and hosting the division final following an opening-round post-season bye. That’s a scenario that hasn’t always worked, as the 2023 Toronto Argonauts can attest.
Montreal has 23 points, six ahead of the Redblacks (8-5-1), who now have lost two consecutive division games. And given the spate of Ottawa’s injuries, this team appears to be in some trouble heading into the season’s stretch run. In handing the Redblacks their first defeat at home this season, the Alouettes now also have captured the season series against Ottawa.
“Obviously, this one meant a lot for where we are in the standings,” Alouettes head coach Jason Maas told reporters in Ottawa post-game. “We worked hard for this victory. To come in here to this place where it has been tough for anybody to win this year, to go out and do that, it’s a big win.”
The Als are far from a well-oiled machine, but are getting things done, mostly, on defence and special teams. Two of football’s three phases might be enough to propel Montreal to another Grey Cup appearance.
Montreal held the Redblacks to one touchdown — and that didn’t come until the third quarter, 38 minutes into the contest. They also made life miserable for starting quarterback Dru Brown, intercepting the inexperienced pivot twice in the first quarter.
One, less than five minutes following the opening kickoff, was returned 79 yards for a touchdown by Dionté Ruffin to open the scoring. Brown was throwing to Andre Miller, who slipped on the play, providing Ruffin with an easy turnover.
“That’s what we’ve been preaching all season, start fast and finish fast,” Ruffin said during a televised halftime interview. “That’s what we want.”
On the Redblacks’ next offensive possession, Brown’s pass over the middle was intercepted by linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku. Selected ninth overall by Montreal in this year’s Canadian college draft, it was his first career interception.
Brown left the game with an ankle injury in the second quarter after completing eight of 16 passes for 68 yards. Ottawa was trailing 17-3. Brown was replaced by veteran Jeremiah Masoli for the second consecutive week and, while the change proved to be an upgrade, it was far from sufficient.
Masoli completed 17 of 26 passes for 218 yards and a 25-yard touchdown strike to Justin Hardy, narrowing the Redblacks’ deficit to 21-12 following a failed two-point convert attempt.
While the Alouettes pilfered two passes, they easily could have come up with four more. So many defensive players stood out. Mustafa Johnson knocked down two passes and had a sack; Tyrice Beverette had two tackles for losses, while Wesley Sutton nearly pilfered two balls and had a sack. Beverette led Montreal with seven defensive tackles.
“The defence was tremendous,” Maas said. “I mean they’ve been tremendous all year, but tonight they took away the ball. They kept them out of the end zone for the majority of the night. They were tenacious.”
Offensively, it wasn’t good enough. Again. And it was another slow start. The Alouettes were held to one first down in the opening quarter and generated only 20 net yards, their time of possession less than five minutes. Montreal struggled in the second half as well, held to four points.
Quarterback Cody Fajardo was able to take some shots downfield, given Montreal was leading, while completing 16 of 27 passes for 226 yards. He scored the Als’ only touchdown on a one-yard run midway through the second quarter to cap a seven-play, 84-yard drive.
Despite suffering what appeared to be a nagging injury to his right side, Maas inexplicably had Fajardo carry seven times for 29 yards, even leaving him on the field for third-down gambles. Fajardo also was sacked three times as the offensive line continues to struggle.
Montreal was held to 15 first downs and 285 yards’ net offence while running 52 plays.
“We’re not quite a finished product,” Maas admitted. “We have to shore some things up. We’re not playing (offensively) at a super-high level right now. We’ve got to be better.”
Jose Maltos kicked three field goals for the Alouettes to run his consecutive streak to 21.