Kevin Glenn and the Alouettes fall to Ticats, are in tough in postseason chase

Kevin Glenn probably isn't the biggest fan of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats these days. The former Hamilton quarterback lost 30-15 to the Ticats with Saskatchewan last week, then was traded to Montreal midweek and named their starter for Sunday's game. It was a similar story the second time around, with Hamilton beating Glenn and the Alouettes 23-11 and picking up their first win in Montreal in 13 years. That's a crucial loss for the Alouettes, and one that dims their playoff hopes. The loss wasn't all about Glenn, who carried the challenge of having to pick up a new playbook in less than a week, but he'll need to be much better if this team wants to keep their postseason dreams alive. 

Glenn really wasn't good in this one, throwing for just 226 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He completed just 26 of 44 pass attempts, a 59.1 per cent completion mark, which is well below his career 62.3 per cent mark and the 66.5 per cent mark he put up with the Roughriders this season.  (This was arguably a better showing than the 11 of 17 for 67 yards he posted before being pulled last week, though.) Of course, that's not all on Glenn, as his receivers didn't do much; top target S.J. Green struggled on the day, posting just three catches for 23 yards, and Montreal's leading receiver was running back Tyrell Sutton, who had 79 yards on six catches. Glenn's line gave him time, though (he wasn't sacked all day), and Sutton gave him a decent ground game, picking up 50 yards on 10 carries. Despite that, Glenn wasn't able to get the the Alouettes' passing offence working at all.

This was always going to be a tough situation for Glenn, starting just a few days after being traded to Montreal. That raises the question of why the Alouettes opted to start him so quickly, and perhaps indicates they don't have a lot of faith in their other options. Still, while both Anthony Boone and Tanner Marsh struggled last week (precipitating the decision to trade for Glenn), they're at least more comfortable in the system than Glenn is at this point, and going with them might have been a better call. It's notable that the other team that traded for a quarterback midseason this year (Winnipeg, with Matt Nichols) waited over a week before starting him, and got a big win as a result. We'll see if Glenn can improve by next week and return to his old form once he's more familiar with the offence.

Montreal's in a very tough spot now, though. They're fortunate that both Winnipeg and B.C. found ways to lose this week, keeping all three teams in contention for the last West playoff spot on five wins. The Alouettes now have no chance of going through the East thanks to Ottawa's win Friday, so that West spot is what they'll have to focus on, but they can only get the first East-to-West crossover in CFL history if they finish ahead of both B.C. and Winnipeg. The Lions and Alouettes are both 5-10 with three games left to play, while the Bombers are 5-11; Montreal has tough remaining games against 9-6 Toronto and 12-4 Edmonton before the season finale against 2-13 Saskatchewan, while B.C. faces 10-5 Hamilton, 9-6 Toronto and 12-4 Calgary and Winnipeg draws 9-6 Ottawa and 9-6 Toronto. The Alouettes will have to pick up one more win than both of those teams to make the postseason, and that doesn't look easy. If they're going to have any hope at all, they'll need Glenn to step up in a way he didn't Sunday.