Jack B. Bedell
MontrealAlouettes.com
Eastern Final: Toronto Argonauts
Montreal – If last week’s hard-fought Eastern Division Semi-Final playoff victory drove any point home about the Toronto Argonauts, it was the simple fact that the Argos absolutely survive on field position.
In a game where the Argonauts generated only 270 yards of offence (134 passing, 140 rushing), and had real difficulty generating explosive plays of any sort, field position from solid special teams play and opportunistic turnovers provided the narrow margin of victory in their 16-13 win over the Hamilton Ticats.
More than any other team in the CFL, Toronto builds its strategy around playing clean, conservative games in or near their opponents’ territory, putting pressure on the other offences to make long, sustained drives against their defence, and counting on teams to commit costly penalties and turnovers to serve up points on a platter to the Argos’ offence by surrendering short fields.
Some of that field position is generated by the CFL’s most relentless ground game behind running back Cory Boyd. At season’s end, Boyd led the league in yards from scrimmage (1722), rushing for six yards per attempt and receiving passes at a gaudy 9.6 yards per reception. When you consider the fact that Cleo Lemon averages just over seven yards per attempt, it’s clear the Argos depend on Boyd to pound defences.
Most of that field position, though, is generated by Toronto’s special teams units. Whether it’s the sure tackling of the CFL’s leader in special teams tackles, Bryan Crawford, or the spectacular returns provided by the league’s leader in punt return, kickoff return, and missed field goal yardage, Chad Owens, the Argonauts tilt the field their own way by limiting the return games of their opponents and by biting off large chunks of the field via Owens’ legs.
It may sound like a broken record considering the Argonauts have followed the same script all season long, but to beat Toronto, the Alouettes have to contain Owens in the return game.
Damon Duval has to be absolutely on-point in the positioning and depth of his punts and kickoffs, and he has to be deadly accurate on his field goal attempts. Against the Argos, an inaccurate field goal is much more than three points lost; it’s an immediate shift in field position more often than not.
Also, the onus for forcing Cleo Lemon and the Argos’ offence into uncomfortable territory falls squarely on the Als’ defence. Much more than simply shutting down Boyd and the Argos’ run game, Montreal has to keep Toronto’s offence in untenable down and distance situations by limiting first-down production. With the Alouettes’ ability to pressure the passer, the Argos will have serious trouble converting second and long with any consistency given their offensive tendencies.
Most importantly, and most obviously, however, the Alouettes need to score points early and often in Olympic Stadium this Sunday to advance to their third consecutive Grey Cup. Last year’s East Final against the B.C. Lions serves as a perfect example of how lighting up the score board in the first half negates field position concerns and eliminates the threat of a solid rushing attack.
By the time teams head into their fifth showdown of the season, like the Als and Argos do this weekend, very few mysteries remain. Both teams are well aware of the challenges they’ll face Sunday. Now it’s up to the Alouettes to use that knowledge to get past Toronto to earn the chance to compete for a back-to-back Grey Cup championship.
The Alouettes will face the Toronto Argonauts this Sunday, Nov. 21 at Olympic Stadium at 1pm. EST (RDSHD,TSNHD, NRJ, CJAD)
