Tuesday Morning QB (CFL Week 15)
All hope was lost at the start of the season for the Alouettes as the team was a bit of a mess like they had been for years.
With no real star QB and a coaching staff that changed just before the season began it wasn’t looking great.
Then things began to turn around as Khari Jones turned out to be the right coach at the right time and Vernon Adams Jr. emerged as a true QB1.
The Alouettes began playing good football and were competing in the east for the first time in years.
Now with the Argos continuing to struggle and the REDBLACKS falling apart as the season ends the Als are now in the running for the playoffs.
Hamilton officially grabbed the first eastern spot this week and the Alouettes are now sitting in a position to take the second.
If they can continue to win they will have a shot at the Grey Cup even if it is going to be a difficult road to Calgary.
The most impressive part of this run though is the way they are winning games as they aren’t necessarily dominating but they are showing something even better.
The Alouettes are struggling in games especially in their games against Calgary and this week against Winnipeg.
Both Calgary and Winnipeg are among the two best teams in the league this year and the Alouettes would typically put up a bad performance against both.
In Week 10 the Als took on the Stampeders and as expected they went down early to a team that seemed better overall.
The Als went into halftime losing 14-6 only managing two field goals in the entire first half of the game.
Montreal then woke up as they began marching and putting up points and they tied the game.
In overtime, they kept up with the Stamps going back and forth until the final overtime period of the game.
On their final play, the Stamps looked to the back of the endzone but couldn’t match the touchdown as Eric Rogers stepped out of bounds.
It gave the Als the win over a very good opponent and set the tone for the rest of the season.
This week the Alouettes were at it again as they took on the best team in the league, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Bombers came out firing as they went ahead 34-10 just before halftime seemingly having the Als on the ropes.
Just as halftime approached the Als were able to find some momentum scoring just before half and that momentum carried through into the second half.
The Als came back in the second half and took home the win eliminating the 24-point deficit and finishing their epic comeback.
Those two games have shown more about the Als than anything else this season as they are a team that is never out of a game.
Against two of the best teams in the league, the Alouettes looked like they were completely out of it but fought to get back.
That is a valuable thing to have as it is about a lot more than just talent and it can lead to a lot of success in the playoffs.
It is hard to teach that fight for teams as it is hard to learn to continue that fighting spirit when everything looks lost.
When teams get down early in a game it can be a slippery slope towards a team giving up and struggling to bring the intensity that helps win games.
Doubt can be the worst thing for a team while belief can be powerful especially in the playoffs where everything is on the line.
The Alouettes seem to be built to deal with that doubt as they have proven to themselves that they can overcome.
If they are to make the playoffs there is no time that the Als won’t believe that they can win a game.
They’ve already shown that they can make big comebacks against the best teams in the league so they can do it in the most important games.
It has been an impressive run for the Als as they continue to show that they might just have what it takes to make a serious run through the playoffs.
Fourth Down
A Setback
The Alouettes had a spectacular comeback in Week 15 highlighted by Vernon Adams Jr. helping the team march down the field in the second half. For some though he never should have been able to lead the comeback. This after he was seen in a scrum with Adam Bighill where he grabbed the facemask of the linebacker. The bigger problem came near the end of their fight when Adams took Bighill’s helmet off and seemed to swing it at the linebacker missing only because a lineman was in the way. It was a dangerous play and to some warranted an ejection but Adams only got a 15-yard penalty for the facemask. This week after looking at the play again, Adams was suspended for the next game due to the dangerous play.
Changing it Up
The Toronto Argonauts have had issues at quarterback all year with nobody being able to really showcase their talents. This week McLeod Bethel-Thompson continued to struggle under centre leading to a rough start for the Argos against the Stampeders. The offence began to pick up later in the game when the Argos took Bethel-Thompson out of the game and replaced him with James Franklin. As the offence moved the Argos began finding their way back into the game and although they still took the loss. The impressive showing has given Franklin his starting job back as he will lead the offence against Saskatchewan in Week 16.
The Sport Addiction 