Alouettes' defence crucial to 17-13 win over Ticats Thursday

While the CFL's improved offence has received plenty of praise this year, the defences have shone too, and Thursday night's game in Montreal was an example of that. The hometown Alouettes beat the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats 17-13 in the end, and their victory was largely thanks to their defence. That defence was particularly effective against Hamilton's vaunted passing game, but it also stopped the Tiger-Cats on the ground, and it let Montreal win despite a less-than-stellar offensive showing. If the Alouettes can maintain this kind of defensive performance, they may yet have a path to success even if their offence isn't producing bucketloads of points.

The first stat that really stands out about Montreal's defence was the three interceptions they recorded off Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros. Collaros is known for his accuracy, completing 65.8 per cent of his passes last year and 74.6 per cent this year heading into this game, but the Alouettes were able to pick him off three separate times. Collaros only threw nine interceptions all of last season, and he'd only thrown one through two games this year, but Montreal seemingly had him dialed in. Now, some of that was on Collaros making poor reads and decisions, but he did that because of the Alouettes' skill at covering his primary targets on any given play. Montreal held him in check beyond just the interceptions, too, sacking him three times and pressuring him countless other times, leading to him completing just 27 of 42 passes (64.3 per cent, not bad overall but well below his usual standards) on the night for 296 yards and a touchdown with the three picks.

The biggest standout for the Alouettes was well-travelled defensive back Jonathan Hefney, who recorded a game-high seven tackles as well as an interception. Linebacker Chip Cox and defensive tackle Alan-Michael Cash added picks of their own, though, and middle linebacker Kyler Ellsworth (filling in for the injured Bear Woods), defensive end Gabriel Knapton and defensive end John Bowman were all key to Montreal's pass rush, each recording a sack of Collaros and generating substantial pressure throughout the night. They also contained the run; the Tiger-Cats picked up just 85 rushing yards overall, with primary running back Ray Holley collecting 47 of those (on just 6 carries, though, which is impressive). Montreal defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe's unit looked as strong as it has at the best of times during the last couple of years, and that should give the Alouettes some hope going forward even if the offence isn't clicking.

It wasn't that Montreal's offence was altogether terrible Thursday. Rookie quarterback Rakeem Cato turned in another pretty solid outing overall, completing 23 of 34 passes (67.6 per cent) for 264 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, and veteran receiver Fred Stamps had a great game, hauling in seven catches for a game-high 119 yards. The ground game wasn't really there for the Alouettes, though, as primary running back Tyrell Sutton had just two net yards on six carries, and Cato's four scrambles for 30 yards were by far their best ground production on the night. Montreal also didn't do a great job of converting in the red zone, frequently having to settle for Boris Bede's field goals (and fortunately for them, he made all three of his field-goal attempts plus the only convert he tried). There still are obviously some questions for this offence to answer. If the defence keeps performing like this, though, the offence may not have to do too much. It wasn't a perfect game for the Alouettes, but against a strong opponent, and with this kind of defensive showing, it's definitely one they'll take, and one that could give them some hope for the future as well.