The great comedian, Jacky Gleason , used to have a saying-" How Sweet It Is". I bet this is what Bellefeuille is now saying to himself following the Ti Cat's defeat of the Als. Bellefeuille has shown a positive influence on the Ti Cats in his role as head coach. It was apparent in The Ti Cats last game before meeting the Als, that Bellefeuille was very supportine to his team. His words with Quinten Porter after his mishap in the final minutes of this game were positive and this is contributing to mold the Ti Cats into a united group. This has to be of merit to the Ti Cat's whose recently fired coach appeared to have lost confidence in his team. Bellefeuille deserves much credit for the defeat of the Allouettes. "How Sweet It is".
With respect to the Als they remain a mighty force. Calvillo is super in his passing including those instances where he is rushed towards the sidelines. He retains his vision downfield while running and, is super in picking up secondary receivers while picking up good yardage. Montreal's reveivers stood out in this game. Richardson, Calvillo and, the emerging Bratton are formidable ! The receiving was exceptional even without Kerry Watkins. I thought Proulx played a good game while out of position at defensive halfback. He put a solid rush on Porter and showed some heavy hitting.
This was an exciting game. The Als offense is superlative. What goes, however , woth the defense?
Yeah...I'm sure he's happy that he defeated the Als but it's not uncommon for a team to play 'inspired' football under a new head coach. The real test is will it last long term into next season? Personally, I highly doubt it.
As for our defense against the Ti-Cats, what can you say? It was just plain awful. Estelle was so INCREDIBLY outmatched it was ridiculous. I like Proulx as well but there is one thing that stood out for me Saturday: He can't cover for his teammates mistakes as well as Boulay can.
It only took him 4 weeks to get 1 win...he's now 1-3...wow...start the parade route in HAM..but it's still better than "THE DON" who is 0-4 since his comeback.
We had the Belle-Fool experiment in 2006 (receiver coach) & 2007 (OC) and this is what I think:
I have to agree.
Sure he won a game and Im sure he feels good about it, but he was not going to lose every game either.....Maybe the Als were to slack maybe not, but I really dont credit this win to Bellefeuille. I do however congratulate them
I'll say one thing for Marcel, he appears calm and collected. His demeanor is impressive and although we from the outside really do not know as not having the personal contact or can see him in action on the field or in the dressing room, I for one am starting to think he may or should be named as the permanent coach.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Hamilton wasn't going to lose every single game this season. They were due for a breakout and what better time than against our crap-tastic defense whose defensive coordinator has no idea how to stop the pass on second and bazillion?
Estelle got torched, plain and simple, but who left him in man coverage against a man twice his size for the entire 60 minutes, even after it became clear at the half that Rodriguez was going to have his way with Estelle one on one? A good coordinator makes adjustments. Burke is not a good defensive coordinator.
If we're lucky, we might make it to the Grey Cup final, but we will get murdered by whoever we face, because we have no D.
And don't even get me started on Scott Squires and the retarded special teams.
[i]That ‘not allowing a TD in two games’ thing was a complete anomaly. Over the course of the season, take a look at you’ll see that our defense is near the bottom of the league in most significant categories: average yards allowed per game (5th, only better than the rest of the east division); average gain per pass (7th, only better than Hamilton); average yards passing per game, fewest net yards passing, and lowest % of passes completed (7th, only better than Hamilton).
Our run defense is great, but our pass defense is total crap, and the CFL is a passing league. Our opponents average 8.8 yards per pass against us. When you consistently allow the other team to convert on 2nd and 10 or greater, you can’t stop the pass.[/i]
To that, I’ll add that good defenses – as in, defenses good enough to win championships – don’t get blown out once every three games. We got bombed by Burris, pounded by Pierce, and pummeled by Porter (I likes me some alliteration!). We squandered substantial leads against the Lions and the Riders, leading to losses. Good defenses are consistent. We are not consistent. And like I said, we are flat-out terrible against the pass. The fact that we do well enough on first down but completely fail to stop the pass on second and 10+ tells me that it’s a scheme problem. I honestly think we have the personnel; with our small, nimble linebacking corps, there is no reason why we should be this bad against the pass.
Seven times we had the Cats in second and long, and seven times they converted. Our defense never once gave us a stop when we needed it, against one of the worst teams in the league starting a rookie QB with their most veteran receiver (Miles) and best running back (Lumsden) out of the lineup and an offensive line that has given up 50+ sacks on the year. I don’t mind losing to Hamilton at all; they played well and deserved to win. I mind that we can’t go 3 games without giving up 40+ points. Our offense, as much as they shot themselves in the foot at times and turned the ball over, put up 38 points AND WE LOST. In the clutch, the offense delivered. They marched down the field, scored the TD, and got the two-point convert. In the clutch, defense and special teams failed all night.
Completely deceiving. Look at this defense on a game-by-game basis and you’ll get a better picture, not the total points category, which is vastly overrated and can be skewed by one good game.
Perhaps points are overrated but the last time I checked, it’s that stat that determines who won the game. Besides, when Toronto was doing the same thing (giving up yards but not many points) a few years ago, everyone called them a great defense that would 'bend but not break". The Als defense looks a lot like that.
It takes a bit more than a few games to skew the number…14 games into the season and the Als have the fewest points scored against them…Furthermore, one bad game can equally affect it as well
But we’re not just talking about one bad game, ro. That’s my whole point. Hamilton put up 44 points on us. Burris embarrassed us. Pierce moved the ball on us at will for 500 total yards of offense and the Lions only lost that game because the defense finally woke up at the goal line – to make up for letting the Lions drive down the field with impunity. The inability to stop teams on second and 10+ has been a big problem for us all season long. It’s absolutely unacceptable to consistently let teams off the hook on second and long, but we do it all the time. It’s pitch and catch for the receiver ripping off a 15-yard gain when there are no defenders in sight because they’re all playing soft zones and giving receivers too much cushion off the ball.
The only team in the league whose defense gives up a bigger average gain via the pass is Hamilton. Yay. We are not a good pass-defense team, and this is a passing league. Try as you might to sugar-coat it, our defense is not good enough to win us a championship, which is a travesty and a shame considering how well our offense is doing this season. If our D had made even ONE key stop last week, we’d have won the game, despite the turnovers and the fumbles.
Ro, believe me, I will be happy, nay, ecstatic, to be proven wrong. But with only four games left to play, I don’t think we can make excuses for our D any longer. If they haven’t figured out how to stop the pass by now, I’m not sure they will, at least as long as they’re under Tim Burke.