It was a good defensive play by Chip Cox that prevented the BB from gaining a victory, in a game where the Als again did not perform well in the red zone. Colt David missed four field goals and, had one shanked punt. It would appear this will be his last game as an Alouette.Larry Taylor," We need you where ever you are". Colt David was under no significent WPG pressure but the lost FG attempts were of his own doing. Kick returning was another area of concern ,for the Alouette's Maypray was ineffective. Maypray is fast but he does not have the sterngth to blast through the opposition. Were I coach I might release Maypray and assign the position to Bratton. MaYpray lost significant yardage on his last run back and, at the time, I wondered if he was going to turn into negative net yardage on returns. Some individuals put in splended perfomatives, Avon Colbourne had some good runs and Kerry Carter played well. I perceived the offensive line performimg well - they were able to spring Cobourne for some good runs and, AC, mostly, had time to throw. The defensive line played well- Wilson had two QB sacks, Bekasiak one and both the offensive and defensive lines definitely came to play.THe Alouettes picked up only 22 points and the win, but if they are hungry for the Grey Cup, they must do better than 22 points and, must display more cohesion with each other. Flory was his usual strong play on the offensive line. Estelle and Boulay each had a pass interception. The team played enough to gain the win.
Richardson, with Watkins out, is now the prime receiver and, is leading the league in successful second down conversions. He now leads the league as the most successful player in making second down into first down plays. It was good to see the team use the direct snap [ to Proulx ] and, at last the Als showed something new on offense. It was not the most powerful game this team has displayed this year but, they did win first place in the east and, lets hope 50 000 show up at the Big O to show their support.
I loved the D-line play today but the secondary really worries me. Sometimes it seems like we go to sleep and our zone coverage is absolutely awful. Witness Winnipeg converting on 2nd and frickin 24 with ease: Cox passed off coverage to Proulx who was too deep to prevent Edwards from picking up the necessary yardage. Winnipeg went on to score a TD on that drive. I don't know how many times we have to get burned on second and long before Burke realizes that we're most effective in those situations when we stay aggressive and bring pressure. Other issue was the secondary letting Edwards get behind them on a deep ball for the second Bomber TD. Protecting a lead inside the three-minute warning, how do you get beaten that badly on the deep ball?
Bekasiak has turned into a good player in the interior of the line. Very nice surprise there.
Cox, what can you say? Game-breaker extraordinaire. When we need a big play, he delivers.
One other player deserving of mention is Jermaine McElveen. . . he’s quietly put together a very good season for us, alternating between DT and DE. Great job again today.
Maypray is kid out of some little school. He really should be on the practice roster but he was pressed into service because of the Owens situation. I think he has potential but he should not be a starter right now.
Agreed, MJ. It can’t be easy bouncing between tackle and end but McElveen has risen to the occasion. Dunigan really boosted Jermaine during today’s game and I can see why. He’s great in pursuit and his body type is a good tweener build: solid enough to let him generate pressure in the interior but quick enough so that he can chase down the quarterback. I honestly don’t think we’re missing Keron Williams anymore, and I was a huge Keron Williams fan. We’re now tied for the league lead in sacks.
If our secondary can just cover for more than a game at a time and Burke grows a pair and lets the boys make plays, our defense could be dominant again.
McElveen has certainly come into his own...while I liked him last year in the defensive end rotation...I'm liking him even more inside this year. He's obviously put in a lot of work.
The "problems' in the secondary really amount to about 2 plays: that second and 24 and the thoroughly boneheaded play late by Gerold Brown. The Alouettes defense played a pretty tight game overall and while Brown had that "brain-fart", the Alouettes ball-hawks were pretty dominant all game...limiting Jyles to a 57% percentage with 2 interceptions.
Now I know nobody wants to do more than tippy-toe around Calvillo...but after watching the game over, you have to wonder where he was going with a lot of those passes...and I don't really buy the "Great Bomber Defense" excuse for most of them. Among others...the ball to Hawkins in the endzone (as Dunigan pointed out) should have had some arc to it instead of being thrown on a line to Hawkins...almost picked off.
Richardson dropped a couple of key passes as well...rounding off the reasons why the Alouettes went (successfully) to the ground game...a good decision overall. Too bad we couldn't have got 1 more yard for little AC...but "c'est la vie". It also would have been nice to see that sweep more than once. Running the ball up the middle in obvious running situations made us waaaay too predictable when we might have surprised with Hawkins or Bratton heading for the sidelines. Also nice to see that pass to the flats play work for once...Hawkins broke 2 tackles for a 20+ gainer.
Lastly...and hopefully for the last time...someone please get Maypray off the field. I know people say he's fast and all...but even when he's obviously got the corner he seems simply devoid of speed. It's pretty crappy knowing that the Als have no return threat...but worse when Maypray let's the ball get past him once or twice per game and puts us in a field position hole. It's no exaggeration to say that Taylor was responsible for setting up our offense for a score at least 2-3 times/game...and that Maypray often does the exact opposite. If Larry Taylor doesn't return something will have to be done.
Well if we had a kicker for yesterday's game it might have been a different affair to rally up the moral for the guys.
When u see a guy miss 3 short attempts , it's piss's off a few.
Bekasiak and McElveen - much deserved kudos!!!
Now to Friday's game. I'm a Vann-fan. Can't wait to watch him!
Sorry Maypray is "disabled" but he and several others probably need to go back to college and play.
One player who hasn't received enough credit for the win is Proulx. I know he's had his issues this season, but in general he was solid at safety, and it was his second effort on the fake punt that gave us the first down and new life at a critical point in the game. Winnipeg actually had that play sniffed out and might have forced a turnover on downs if Proulx hadn't lowered his shoulder and rammed through his would-be tackler to move the chains.
Je suis d’accord qu’il faut souligner le travail de Proulx dans cette partie. Mathieu a travaillé fort pour revenir au meilleur de lui-même, et il est maintenant devenu le Proulx qu’on connaît bien, celui qui fait peu d’erreurs et rate rarement un plaqué. Le problème de Proulx est exactement celui de Boulay : ces deux gars-là sont fiables, travaillants, sympathiques, et leurs styles se ressemblent assez pour que les autres gars de la défensive n’aient pratiquement pas à s’ajuster selon celui qui est sur le terrain. Proulx est peut-être un peu plus technique et Boulay un peu plus émotif, mais les deux sont très bons et ça fait toujours de la peine de voir l’un ou l’autre sur le banc. Enfin, il semble que ce soit leur destin.