Should be Fun

The Bombers are in Montreal Today. They are the last team to beat The Alouettes with Anthony Calvillo under centre at home. Will it happen again?
I don't think so, however don't expect this game to be a walk for the Als.

The Blue Bombers are coming off an emotional victory over the Lions last monday and Stephen Jyles knows he has the support of his teammates behind hm as the starter. The Alouettes are one victory away form clinching the East and they still have Hamilton and a pair against Toronto left, so The division is in the bag.

The Als injuries may show more this week compared to last. Look for Paul LAPolice to line up Doug Brown up against Luc Brodeur-Jourdain and Andrew Woodruff, It should be an interesting match-up.

We've already seen the Bombers get to AC this year (see rib injury).

If the Als do run away with this one, that means Avon Cobourne will be running early and often and well.

I suspect the with October in full swing and November around the corner, Cobourne will be playing a bigger role for the Als.

Can't go against the Als at home, however it'll be tight and a fun gam eto watch
Als 38-36 over the Bombers

AC Cools Down Bombers

The Montreal Alouettes put to rest any idea that they were in a slump. The Als disposed of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 48-13 during the second leg of their home and home. The Als also improve their record to a perfect 9-0 at Percival Molson Stadium for the 2009 season. Only one more home date remains and that will be the East Final on November 22nd at the Big O.

On to the game at hand, this game was never in doubt. Actually I guess after Larry Taylor fumbled the opening kick-off, there was a smidgen of doubt but it did not last long. Taylor used his flub to propel him to an incredible game which included 7 punt returns for 73 yards, 5 kickoff returns for 147 yards, oh yeah and 1 MISSED FIELD GOAL for 115 yards and a touchdown. All in all 13 touches for 335 yards. He will be your special teams Player of the week in the CFL. Taylor said after the game that he wanted to be a player that made a difference on the team and this week he set up Anthony Calvillo and his offence on numerous short fields.

Calvillo returned to the helm of the offense that was run by Adrian Mcpherson for the past 5 plus quarters. Calvillo did not miss a beat by going 27/38 for 305 yards and a pair of touchdowns. As much as this teams players and coaching staff will say that they have the upmost confidence in McPherson behind centre in the absence of Calvillo, this offense is a different beast with Calvillo running the show. From snap counts , to checkdowns, to pocket presence Calvillo has something that McPherson doesn't have and that's the experience. After the game Avon Cobourne felt that comparing the two is just not fair because Calvillo is a sure fire hall of famer and McPherson has only played two seasons. Not that McPherson couldn't have gotten the job done against Winnipeg on this day, because for one thing Montreal's defense finally woke up which stalemated the Blue Bombers attack.

Only one touchdown against, which came on the first play from scrimmage of the second half, a 65 yard TD pass from Michael Bishop to Titus Ryan. Other than that one play Bishop struggled going 7/20 for 80 yards. Fred Reid was held to only 37 yards. The Montreal defense that Als fans have been seeing all year finally showed up. The Als welcomed back Shea Emry, Diamond Ferri and Davis Sanchez back into the line-up and it showed. Both Ferri and Sanchez felt it was tough to watch from the sidelines and wanted to get back in and make a difference.

Only one more meaningless game left for the Als, next Saturday against the already eliminated Toronto Argonauts. However with Winnipeg's loss the playoff picture just got that more interesting in the CFL, we'll tackle playoff scenerio's tomorrow.

The Santos Factor

When Ricky Santos was traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, I had to think about it for a second or two. Why would the Blue Bombers trade two roster players for one of the Alouettes non-Roster Practice players? Yes I do understand, The Bombers QB situation at the time was a tad uneasy however it did make me think there was a little more to this trade than just the players involved.

The Alouettes acquired Riall Johnson and Shawn Mayne on September 21st for Santos. Both those players have dressed for the Als since and Santos never got that chance other than exhibition games. I think Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly saw an extra edge he could gain by adding Santos to his roster.

Ricky Santos practiced with the Als for the last year and a half under Marc Trestman. Santos has had first hand knowledge on how Coach Trestman wants his quarterbacks to play. Did it seem odd that The Winnipeg Blue Bombers seemed to read Adrian McPherson on most plays, I think so. I'm sure Mr Santos and Mr. Kelly have had a few conversations over the past few weeks in preparation for the home and home that the two teams are in the midst of.

I'm not saying that there's ill will but surely no one could have missed the extra sauce on the touchdown spike Santos had on his 1 yard plunge. He ran with something to prove for a 3rd string QB accumulating 20 yards on 5 carries all on sneaks.

Talking to Anothony Calvillo about it, he said that the play names have stayed the same, even though Santops is on the other side. Well a 41-24 loss to a division rival could easily change that.