CFL Obituaries: Defence’s failure dooms Alouettes

Our next CFL Obituary focuses on the Montreal Alouettes, whose season ended with a 52-44 overtime loss to Hamilton Sunday.

The Montreal Alouettes' season, which initially held spectacular promise of an incredible three-peat as Grey Cup champions, died prematurely Sunday in Olympic Stadium. It was the first season to die at Olympic Stadium in the six semifinals played there, and it was only five months old. The cause of death was listed as a complete failure of their defensive systems.

The season passed away in overtime surrounded by a crowd of 33,501, with three million more tuning in from across the country. Its fate was sealed when running back Brandon Whitaker dropped a swing pass on a third-down conversion attempt, but the seeds of doom were present long before that. The Montreal defence struggled all day, allowing Hamilton to pick up over 150 rushing yards (97 from former Alouette Avon Cobourne) and over 300 passing yards. They allowed the Tiger-Cats to be successful on the ground and through the air, and that spelled the Alouettes' demise. Even superlative efforts from quarterback Anthony Calvillo (513 passing yards, 69.8 per cent completion rate and three touchdowns against one interception), Whitaker (79 rushing yards and a touchdown) and receivers Jamel Richardson and S.J. Green (237 combined yards) couldn't save the Montreal season.

Overall, it was a season marked by both triumph and despair. The Alouettes had some great moments, including Calvillo setting records for both CFL career touchdown passes and pro football career passing yards. Their season saw the continued dominance of Richardson, who likely deserved a Most Outstanding Player nomination he didn't get, and the emergence of rising stars like Whitaker and Sean Whyte. Montreal led the league with 515 points scored and fielded the CFL's most dynamic offence, which was thoroughly on display in triumphs like their Sept. 11 43-13 win over Hamilton. However, there were plenty of low points too, including a 43-1 thumping by the B.C. Lions in their final regular-season game that cost them first place in the East and a first-round bye. Many of those low points were largely attributable to a defence that allowed 468 points this year (fourth-best in the league) and generally looked far worse than the outfit that was crucial to the Alouettes' 2010 Grey Cup victory.

There were several key reasons for that defensive downturn. One easily-identifiable one is the absence of Canadian middle linebacker Shea Emry, who missed the rest of the season and Sunday's game after suffering a concussion Aug. 27 against Calgary. Emry has been one of the best defensive players in the league and was the crucial epicentre of the Alouettes' defensive system at MLB, providing the leadership and stability that made the rest of the defence work; having a player of his calibre with a Canadian passport also made the Alouettes' roster situation easier.

Montreal was also particularly weak in the secondary, something that had been an issue in previous seasons but one they thought they'd addressed with the addition of 2010 league all-star Dwight Anderson as a free agent. Anderson was largely ineffective and quite controversial while playing though, and he got hurt down the stretch and then was reportedly told to stay away from the team. There were other crucial injuries as well, including one to safety Etienne Boulay and one to Ramon Guzman, Emry's replacement at middle linebacker. That forced Montreal to start the relatively-unknown Bear Woods (seen above trying to bring down Bakari Grant Sunday) in the middle, who has far more hair than CFL experience. It wasn't just the personnel, though, as Montreal also lost defensive coordinator Tim Burke to Winnipeg in the offseason; the following improvement in the Bombers' defence was tangible, as was the decline in the Alouettes' defensive play.

Despite this ugly ending, the 2011 Montreal season should be survived by most of its key figures. General manager Jim Popp should be back, and head coach Marc Trestman likely will as well; the buzz about him for NCAA and NFL coaching jobs will likely be a little more muted this year thanks to the Alouettes' early exit. Calvillo is 39 and could always retire if he chooses, but there's no obvious reason why he'd do so, and he has a year left on his contract. He's said he wants to win more Grey Cups and he's playing some of the best football of his career, and Sunday's game was a masterpiece from him, so there's no real reason for him to leave at the moment unless he decides he can't take the physical punishment any more. Whitaker will be back, as will Richardson and Green (who turned down the NFL to sign a two-year-plus-option deal last offseason), so the Alouettes should be in very good shape to contend for another Grey Cup. The end to their 2011 season could spawn some extra motivation for 2012, too. It may be a disappointing time for Montreal fans at the moment, but their future looks quite bright.