MONTREAL — Welcome to the edge of the East Division playoff picture, 2016 edition.
The two will meet at McGill’s Stadium on this afternoon knowing that the loser’s playoff hopes will be dampened greatly.
A pair of losses in consecutive weeks has left the Toronto Argonauts adrift somewhere south of first in the East Division standings.
Scott Milanovich’s football team, now holding a 5-8 record entering the final stretch, will turn to quarterback Drew Willy in his first start as an Argo today.
“We played two games in a row pretty well, then last week…” Milanovich trailed off in conversation with Argonauts.ca. “We didn’t block well on the perimeter early in the game, didn’t throw the ball well (and) dropped a few balls. Having a stable guy in there calling signals helps, we haven’t had that this year.”
Milanovich says the plan is to get Willy acclimatized to the Argo offence slowly, beginning with his pre-existing strengths.
“When we get a new guy we try to keep it in his wheelhouse, (then) hopefully over the course of time we can grow his package,” said the Argo head coach. “Ideally I wish we had four more weeks (to prep Willy), but it’s not an ideal world. We’ve got to put him in a great spot to be successful.”
One key figure in the Toronto offence which could help make Willy’s life easier is running back Brandon Whitaker. The 31 year-old is on pace for his best season since 2011, and sits second in the league in rush yards (738).
“I’ll let everybody else talk about the (stats), my main concern is the win-loss column,” said Whitaker, who insists Argo heads remain high despite the team’s recent struggles. “Guys are still excited to come to work. When we go back and watch film, we know we’re beating ourselves. It’s little things we have to fix.”
As for his own longevity, the Baylor alumnus credits Toronto’s training staff.
“It’s a lot of massages, a lot of stretching (to get to 31),” laughed Whitaker. “The training staff and Coach Milanovich have kept me healthy through the year, and that’s the main thing for me: Numbers come when you’re healthy.”
The test this week for the Als comes in the form of the Toronto Argonauts, the team the Als are chasing for third in the East, at McGill’s Stadium.
“Toronto’s defence is led by a coordinator that has a lot of time in this league, (and) I have a tremendous amount of respect for Rich Stubler,” Als head coach Jacques Chapdelaine told MontrealAlouettes.com. “He gets his guys ready to play — they will put pressure at times, (and) it’s a defence that will bend slightly but not break.”
October football in the CFL comes down to execution: Teams are either ready to execute or they’re not.
“It will be up to us to be very, very disciplined,” continued Chapdelaine. “At this point in time we need to be sound in our protection and take our opportunities when they do come.”
Defensively, the Als will have to be sharp against a Toronto offence with its share of weapons.
“It all starts with Brandon Whitaker in the backfield and the amount of touches they get him,” Als defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe said. “He does a nice job protecting the quarterback, doing the gritty work that doesn’t show up on the boxscore.”
Montreal will have to be sharp on special teams if it wants to lay claim to just its second win on home turf in 2016 this weekend.
“They’ve blocked punts four weeks in a row, (and) they’re finding their returns by being aggressive,” said Als special-teams coordinator Kavis Reed. “They’re very aggressive and efficient — we have to be very diligent about covering our kicks.”
