The second defeat of the season suffered by the Montreal Alouettes last Friday could prove to be very bad news for the Calgary Stampeders, who will host a group on a mission on Saturday.
“I think this group is very hungry. We’ve had two five-game streaks this season. There’s got to be something to do with that five,” quarterback Cody Fajardo said earlier this week. “It’s a big game against an opponent that still has a shot at a playoff spot in the West and we’re fired up after that loss.”
The Alouettes (10-2) will come to Calgary with the clear intention of not experiencing their first series of losses this season. And no one in the Montreal locker room believes that the Stampeders and their 4-8 record will be easy prey.
“They’re only three games out of the lead [in the West],” head coach Jason Maas noted this week, while noting that the Ottawa Redblacks are breathing down his team’s neck in the East. “Everybody wants to improve their position every week and a win can give you a boost.”
“We’re 10-2, but we’re not thinking about that. We know we’re an experienced team, but if we think about what we’ve accomplished, we’re not in the moment. Nobody’s out of the running yet and with six games to go, anything can happen. [The Stampeders] have also found themselves in 11 of their games with a very close score with a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. It only takes a play or two here and there and they could be 8-4.”
Defensively, the Alouettes will want to bounce back after allowing the most yards (472) this season to the BC Lions, who scored 37 points, also a 2024 high against the Birds.
“We learned about assignments and techniques. If you don’t line up right, miss your assignments and use the wrong technique, you can’t win,” Maas said. “You don’t give yourself a chance if you make those three mistakes. We missed some assignments on defense, we didn’t execute on offense. But what I like is that nobody in this group takes it personally and everybody works hard to correct those mistakes. We’re learning quickly.”
“They’re an explosive team. They’ve got a lot of talent at every position up front, they’ve got a talented quarterback and they don’t give up a lot of sacks,” Stampeders defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe said. “They’re in the thick of a run and they’re always giving us a hard time. But we’ve got to focus on what we need to do and get it done.”
After being interception five times last week, quarterback Logan Bonner will return to his role as a reserve, and Jake Maier will be back at the helm of the Stamps’ attack, who will try to end a four-game losing streak this Saturday.
“We know what to expect with Maier in there. But at the same time, there’s some uncertainty,” Maas said. “We expect them to play the same schemes because the play caller is the same. We just have to play the way we’re capable of and make our tackles. That’s a big part of it. If we can do that, no matter who’s playing quarterback, we’re in a good position.”
Bad habits
The Alouettes also want to “break” their habit of experiencing shaky starts to games. While the team is pleased with its success in the second half, it would prefer not to have to make up the deficit in the second half of the game.
“We have to start earlier and not put ourselves in a tough position where we want to come from behind late in games,” Fajardo said. “There were also a couple of big plays that I missed that could have changed the course of the game against the Lions.”
The quarterback was particularly angry with himself for the run fake followed by a long pass, the missed “flea-flicker” and the sack he was the victim of at the start of the second half.
“The fumble on the first play of the third quarter really changed the momentum. It’s a great play by them, but it changed the course of the game.”
The Alouettes will play the first of three games on opposing turf on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Montreal team will also try to extend its winning streak abroad to six this season, an active streak of eight road victories in a season by adding the last three acquired in 2023.
This is the second duel between the two teams this season. The Alouettes came out on top in the first 30-26, at Percival-Molson Stadium on July 6.
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