Mistakes, missed field goals make the difference in Alouettes’ 27-24 loss to Tiger-Cats

The Montreal Alouettes' 27-24 road loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats Saturday may be remembered as the one that got away. The Alouettes stormed out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and were up 16-3 at the half, but collapsed down the stretch thanks to missed field goals, coaching mistakes, bad penalties and more. That led to their loss, which may prove critical in the postseason; Hamilton's victory means the Tiger-Cats have clinched second place in the East Division and a home playoff game, and they'll host Montreal in the first round two weeks from now. The Alouettes did a lot of things well here and even outplayed Hamilton in several aspects of the game, but mistakes came back to bite them and ended their chances of hosting a playoff game. This was a winnable one that they didn't win, and if they come up short again on the road in two weeks, this loss might be a crucial part of the story of their season.

It was the late-game execution that really doomed Montreal. One play in particular loomed large, with Sean Whyte missing a field goal from 42 yards that fell well short, right into the arms of Hamilton returner Brandon Banks. Banks hauled it in, received some good blocks and raced the length of the field for a touchdown, creating a ten-point swing that gave the Tiger-Cats a 27-23 lead. Whyte then had a chance to atone for his mistake later and put the Alouettes within one, but missed short again from 41; that one did bounce into the end zone, giving Montreal a rouge and drawing them within three points, but it was still a bad miss.

Even beyond that, though, the Alouettes had chances to win that they threw away; they stopped Hamilton on one drive and were set to force a third down, but defensive back Geoff Tisdale made too much contact with receiver Dave Stala downfield and was flagged. After that, Montreal again forced a third down, but head coach/general manager Jim Popp oddly elected to take a penalty instead of declining it and getting the ball back on a punt; the Alouettes did make another second-down stop, but lost about 10 seconds in the process, time which could have been crucial for setting up a late field goal drive to tie. When they did get the ball, there were less than 20 seconds left, and they weren't able to do anything productive.

The Alouettes did do a lot of things right on the day, and those are worth noting. Quarterback Troy Smith continued to look pretty comfortable and solid in just his second CFL start, throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, there were things to work on, as he only completed 23 of 39 passes (59.0 per cent) and threw two interceptions as well, but he's showing that Montreal may not be doomed in the playoffs with him under centre instead of injured starter Anthony Calvillo. The Alouettes also received solid offensive production from the likes of Tyrell Sutton (16 carries for 101 yards, an average of 6.3 yards per carry, plus five catches for 49 further yards), Duron Carter (six catches, 121 yards and a touchdown) and S.J. Green (six catches, 101 yards and a touchdown), and their defence did well, holding Henry Burris to 163 yards with no touchdowns and an interception (albeit with a 69.6 per cent completion rate) and largely containing Hamilton's ground game.

Still, in the end, Montreal's late-game mistakes proved too much to overcome, and that's going to ensure that they're on the road in the playoffs. There are enough promising pieces here (and there have been enough recent struggles from the Tiger-Cats) that the Alouettes may still have a chance in their return to Guelph in two weeks, but they're going to have to improve how they play late in games. This was a winnable one that they threw away, and it cost them home-field advantage. If they throw another game away in the playoffs, it's going to spell the end of their season.