Alouettes fall to Blue Bombers on Thursday night
The Montreal Alouettes will head into their second bye week reeling a little, as they dropped their fourth consecutive decision, 26-13, at home to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday night.
This was the Als’ second game in five days (they traveled back home from Vancouver early Sunday morning). They also continue to deal with a lengthy injury list, so this upcoming bye week comes at a perfect time.
Signature performance by Alex Hollins:
It was nice to see receiver Alex Hollins have his first big performance as an Alouette. The 28-year-old came into this game with 31 yards receiving in his first three games with his new team but exploded for 132 yards on five receptions on Thursday night.
You can’t help but feel good for him, as he suffered a major knee injury with the B.C. Lions last year before battling back to get to this point.
“It felt good to go out there and make plays for my team, but as a team we didn’t win,” Hollins said after the game. “We made some good plays, but we obviously didn’t make enough to win.
“I know I’m Alex Hollins and I know what I can do. I just had to go out there and show it. Tonight, I was able to show it to my teammates. They see it in practice every day. I’m earning that trust and respect from all my teammates. It was good to put (that performance) on tape tonight.”
Hollins’ best season came in 2023 when he was with the Lions when he finished 78 receptions for 1173 yards and nine touchdowns. He looked like that guy again tonight.
His biggest catch came on a beautiful pass from receiver Tyler Snead who launched the ball up the right sideline for Hollins for a gain of 44 yards.
Quiet second half offensively:
From an offensive standpoint, the team started the game well. They managed to get into the red zone on their first two possessions, and they came away with 10 points.
Quarterback James Morgan, who was making his first career CFL starts, 18-for-33 with 198 yards passing and one touchdown. Morgan made some impressive throws in tight windows, but the offence struggled to sustain drives. Give the Blue Bombers defence credit, as they allowed the Als to convert just seven of 19 second down attempts.
In the end, the Als scored just three points in the second 30 minutes of the contest.
“We generated some explosive plays in the first half, but I thought we had bits and pieces in the second half, but we couldn’t fully put it together,” Morgan said.
“In a game like this, the outcome isn’t what we want, but so what? Now what? What are you going to learn from it and what are you going to take from it? Are you going to sulk on it or are you going to pick up the pace and move forward? There definitely were some positives and there definitely were some negative things that we’re going to improve and do better.”
Up and down on defence:
In the Alouettes’ defence’s defence, they were second in the CFL in rushing yards allowed heading into this game. They had allowed just 79.4 rushing yards per game which ranked only behind Saskatchewan.
On Thursday, Bombers running back Brady Oliveira rushed for 136 yards on 16 carries. It was disappointing to see the Bombers be able to churn out so many yards on the ground, but it’s important to keep things in perspective too. Noel Thorpe’s unit has done a good job of limiting the damage on the ground, but they looked like they simply ran out of gas in that facet of the game against Winnipeg.
“It’s frustrating, but it’s about assignment-sound football,” middle linebacker Darnell Sankey, who finished the game with a team-high nine tackles, said. “We have a bye week, and we have to come back ready to go for the end of the season. We only have seven games left, so we have to go.”
What’s next?
The Alouettes will get some well-deserved time off, as they’ll hit their second of three bye weeks this season.
They’ll be hoping to welcome back some healthy bodies when they return to the field at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sep. 6.
Davis Alexander, Tyson Philpot, James Letcher Jr., Sean Thomas Erlington, Mustafa Johnson and Marc-Antoine Dequoy were all back on the field at practice this past week, so we’ll see what their status is for the next game. The team will resume practice on Tuesday, Sep. 2.
