Alouettes show resilience in comeback win over Argos

Losing is never easy, but a defeat could serve as the ultimate teacher if you take it the right way. That couldn’t have been more apparent during Thursday’s 26-25 win over the Toronto Argonauts at Percival Molson Stadium.

The Alouettes were less than two weeks removed from dropping a tough decision against the B.C. Lions at home. It was a game that was decided in the final seconds on a field goal. The message from head coach Jason Maas was clear: The team must make sure they finish strong in every game.

The Alouettes, who found themselves down by 18 points halfway through the third quarter, continued to scratch and claw their way back into this game. They finished strong. The last 18 minutes were clearly their best of the night. There were many instances where they could’ve simply realized that that night wasn’t going to be their night, but they didn’t. They finished the job.

“It’s important,” Maas said of learning those lessons. “What’s important is sticking together. That’s what I’m proud of with our team. The two losses were two losses. The guys still worked hard during the week. They believe in each other, and they believe in what we are, which is a very connected group which works hard. The expectation is you win because of that stuff.”

Let’s look at four reasons the Alouettes won this game:

1 – The momentum shifter:

If you asked several people what the turning point of this game was, they’d likely come up with varying answers, but it appeared as though the big punt return by James Letcher Jr. near the end of the third quarter gave the Alouettes a spark.

With the Als trailing 25-7 with just over six minutes remaining in the third frame, Letcher Jr. fielded a punt inside his own 20-yard line and was able to bring across the Montreal 50. That seemed to spark the sideline and give the offence a jolt on the ensuing drive.

Starting quarterback Davis Alexander helped march the unit down the field and he connected with Cole Spieker to cut the deficit to 25-7.

2- Listening to your playmakers & your gut:

On the drive that followed the Letcher Jr. punt return, Maas was faced with an incredibly difficult decision moments before Spieker scored. The team was down by 18 points at that time, and they were in field goal range and facing third-down-and-four. A Jose Maltos kick would’ve made it a two-score game, but the offence stayed on the field.

Instead of taking the easy points, he decided to go for the major, and his offence rewarded him. After the game, Maas admitted that a big part of the reason he let his offence go the touchdown was because Alexander was visibly pushing for the offence to stay on the field.

“Obviously, when you’re thinking about it, you’re looking at (Alexander) and you’re looking at the score. You don’t have a lot of time to think about it,” Maas said. “I believe the game is played with your gut sometimes…ultimately you have to play with your gut sometimes. Just seeing Davis’ reaction about wanting to go for it, you knew he was going to give you everything he’s got.”

The decision paid off and the Als cut the deficit to 11 points.

3 – Alexander plays with heart:

If you followed this team last year, you probably already knew how much heart Alexander plays with on every snap. That was on full display again on Thursday night.

The 26-year-old, who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, was clearly gutting it out throughout the night. He made plays with his arms and legs when it mattered most, and it’s a big reason why the Alouettes are now 4-2-0.

After the defence forced a fumble of Argos quarterback Nick Arbuckle, Alexander managed to hobble into the end zone to give the Als a late lead. That proved to be the game-winning touchdown.

“It was a read-option designed for a pass,” Alexander said of the play that led to his rushing score. “I could’ve passed to the flat, but I don’t think it would’ve been a touchdown. I had space and kind of tried to cruise it in. I found a way to get in.”

Those gritty moments are the types of plays that make it easy for Alexander’s teammates to gravitate toward him.

“He’s an amazing guy with a huge heart,” Spieker said of his quarterback. “He comes to work every day. He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. He has all the confidence in the world, and he loves us and believes us, and we believe in him. He’s going to keep battling no matter what and we love to see him play. We love being out there with him.”

4 – A clutch defence:

Noel Thorpe’s defence prides itself on being able to take the ball away from opposing offences in critical moments. That’s exactly what they did in their second matchup of the season against the Argos.

The Als appeared to take the lead with under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when Alexander hit a wide-open Spieker for a huge gain. As the Als receiver got close to the Argos end zone, he was stripped of the ball at the Toronto one-yard line. The ball rolled into the end zone and was recovered by Toronto. No points for the Als, who still found themselves down 25-20. The Argos got the ball back with a chance to close out the game. The defence didn’t let that happen.

On second-and-10 from Toronto’s own 30-yard line, the Alouettes defensive line managed to get a strip-sack on Arbuckle, which Shawn Oakman recovered. The Als offence took over at the Toronto 21-yard line with 2:17 remaining. Two plays later, Alexander scored the game-winner with 1:46 left.

“We were talking about it on the bench, we just have to do what we do (as a defence),” Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund said. “It’s tough at times to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We were down by 18 pretty much going into the fourth quarter. It could be grim…It was just bend and don’t break. It worked in the end.”

With the Argos down by one point, Kabion Ento managed to pick off an Arbuckle pass that squashed his team’s chances of coming back to win. An assist goes to Marc-Antoine Dequoy on the play for bringing pressure off the edge which forced a bad throw.

What’s next?

The Alouettes will hit the road to take on the Calgary Stampeders next Thursday night. They’ll play five consecutive games against the West Division between now and Aug. 21.