Montreal Alouettes linebacker Tyrice Beverette had a banner year in 2023. The man was third in defensive plays, was named an East Division All-Star and won his first Grey Cup. The-28-year-old was properly rewarded with a two-year extension and will again be the centre piece of an excellent Alouettes defence.
I might be one of the only ones that think the Alouettes were extremely lucky (I use the word lucky deliberately here) to win the Grey Cup last year. I don’t think they will be a powerhouse this year. To Beverette, keep it cleaner this year, please.
I’m an Als fan. Tyrice please keep it a bit cleaner next year. To the question about powerhouse, they were NOT! To the question of being a Grey Cup Champion they were the best TEAM in the CFL by the end of the season Team, meaning a collection of skilled players fully depending on each teammate to go out and give it their all, each and every play. That’s exactly what Montreal did and the TEAM won without individual standouts. They were all outstanding.
The Als lucky?what a ridiculous statement to make. They were the best team in the league after Labour day,went 11 games without losing, that isn’t luck, . Meanwhile Winnipeg faced nobody to get to the GC, they had no decent competition in their division, the best they played was a rebuilding Lions team with a five foot tall quarterback. Winnipeg was lucky to be there, the Als also exposed how “old” and “slow” the Bombers roster is. How bout that!?
They added 2 major pieces down the stretch in Sankey & Lemon & were a different team in the 2nd half. Lucky for what reason? They beat the Argos by 3 TD’s. The Bombers? Got all the officiating breaks in the 1st half & led by 2 scores. The Als held the Bombers to 1 TD on offence in the 2nd half & scored 3 themselves.
The Bombers, for the 2nd year in a row, threw up a hairball in the last Qtr, blowing another big lead. They gave up successive plays of a 13 yd run, 31 yd completion on 3rd & 5, & a 19 yd TD pass - for the victory. If that isn’t dominance, then what is? The Als in the final half had their way with Wpg on both sides of the LOS. That’s not luck.
The Als were great down the stretch & clearly the better team in the final & semi-final. IMO a team that has won 29 games in the regular season & now lost 2 straight GC’s they were heavily favoured to win is the one who should be questioned - not the GC winners.
Won eight straight games to close out a championships season and beat the 2 best teams in the league in the process, but yeah, we were “lucky.” 
Sure.
Having said that, 2024 is a new season and nothing is promised to anyone. The Als have had some significant losses with Mack and Uguak heading to the NFL and Lemon retiring. We’ll have to see whether other players can step up and fill the gaps.
I’d probably rank Winnipeg and Toronto ahead of Montreal for 2024, at this point in time.
[quote=“TrueBlueFan, post:2, topic:91499”]
I might be one of the only ones that think the Alouettes were extremely lucky
[/quote]. Read what I said.
Bombers may have better offence but Als, even w/o Uguak, have a better D. Als added Wynn & a nice piece in Wiggins. Bombers look to be w/o Walker, Jeffcoat, Houston & Rose. Bighill hasn’t been great the last 2 years & is 36. As for Toronto they may have the scariest front 4 in the CFL & good front 7. Their offence is largely intact & that OL, the best in the league, is back &, if Carey’s healthy, may return to his form of 2 years ago.
I still like the Bombers but a lot depends on that OL which is not very deep & is missing the West MOP @ RT. Bryant is really long in the tooth. So IMO the Bombers have some questions on both sides of the trenches.
Deep draft class, half the teams in the USFL this year, there is going to be some talent coming up which can transform teams if you draft & scout well. 