Should Als A-Team Play Saturday?

Saturday afternoon will be a tough day of decisions for head coach Marc Trestman. How much does he play his A-Team? How Much does he play his most valued possessions: the veterans. The names that stick out when you think veterans and Montreal Alouettes are Anthony Calvillo, Ben Cahoon, Anwar Stewart, Davis Sanchez, Brian Chiu, Scott Flory and Paul Lambert. However you can't forget Avon Cobourne, Chip Cox, John Bowman, all leaders at their positions.

There are four games this weekend and only one has no bearing on any playoff positioning in the CFL, Montreal in Toronto. A game between a team with nothing to lose and another that has nothing to gain. There is nothing for the Alouettes to gain by playing any of their A-Team for more than a quarter. Does Calvillo really need to work on timing with Cahoon? Do Lambert, Flory and Chiu really need to work on their communication between the tackles? Does Bowman really need the sack title? the Answer is no to all questions.

-Calvillo has been in the league long enough that two weeks off can only help not hinder his play, Calvillo showed last week that he's hitting his stride heading into the playoffs, Give him a quarter to give the team a 2 score lead.

-Cahoon went two weeks with only 2 receptions in 2 games against BC in September and still is leading the league in receptions, keep his reception streak going and get him out.

-Watkins and Richardson have both reached their 1000yard marks. Let them play the half, but no crossing routes, keep them away form big hit potential.

-Cobourne is the one I would play, full game. After the bye week and after he was injured and missed the October 12th game against Calgary he struggled for two weeks to get his groove, only running for over fifty yards right after the bye with 93, but 43 of those yards came on one run, which was his longest of the season. Cobourne is a guy that needs his touches he feeds off of them. The goal of the game in Toronto should be to have him touch the ball at least 20 times.

-Offensive line, Rotate in some of the younger guys, but never to the extent that the QB, Calvillo or McPherson is ever in danger.

-Anwar Stewart, Give him the day off, he's earned it.

-John Bowman, Keron Williams, have them start and then start sending the young guys and see what they can do one on one.

-Davis Sanchez, dress him and play him for a half, he missed two weeks ago and could use a little game action, however it's not like Toronto has any threats at the WR position.

-Chip Cox, Rest him, just like Stewart, it's earned by the teams leading tackler.

As far as anyone else, that's up to Trestman and his coaching staff to decide, but the only question to ask after Saturday's game win or lose is: Who's banged up? That'll be your post game press conference. The problem Trestman faces is that he has 42 roster spots not nearly enough for a meaningless game this weekend. The Als are hoping to get shutout on the injury list, that's the only victory to be had.

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.