Photo courtesy: Graham Hughes/CFL.ca
The Montreal Alouettes hosted the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Thursday night before their second bye week of the season. It was an interesting fight in the first half, but the visitors pulled away and won 26-13. Below are my thoughts on the game.
Morgan did what he could
Fourth-stringer James Morgan made his first CFL start amidst all the injuries the Als are facing at the quarterback position. He didn’t look out of place, as he finished 18-of-33 for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Like he did in B.C. last week, Morgan looked comfortable and poised in the pocket. He was able to escape when needed and completed his fair share of throws. He started the game with a beautiful pass to Alexander Hollins for a 45-yard gain. The placement of the ball was perfect.
From then on, he just wasn’t consistent enough to sustain drives for his team. After only one practice session this week with the starters, that was understandable. Jordan Younger, Winnipeg’s defensive coordinator, made things more complicated for Morgan in the second half. The quarterback would only produce 3 points in the last 30 minutes.
“I think we all know we can be better; it’s about finding the solutions now,” Morgan told 3DownNation post-game.
Defensive self-inflicted wounds
The Als’ defence has spent too much time on the field over the last two games. Part of it has been because of the offence’s inability to sustain drives, but Noel Thorpe’s unit must help itself as well. The defence hasn’t been able to force two-and-outs often enough, instead allowing long drives to opponents without much resistance.
Like Nathan Rourke last week, Zach Collaros managed to drive down the field pretty easily for most of the game. The Bombers stopped themselves most of the time; otherwise, it could have been game over early on.
The Als had multiple chances to stop Collaros on second down early in drives, but just couldn’t do it. Darnell Sankey had an opportunity for a hit on the quarterback, but missed, and Collaros managed to connect with Brady Oliveira for a first down. On a later drive, Tyrice Beverette also had a chance for a sack, but took the wrong angle, which allowed Collaros to find Nick Demski for a significant gain and a first down.
Winnipeg even faced a first-and-20 deep in their own zone, but was still able to get out of it fairly easily. The only good thing defensively about the first half was the number of times Collaros got hit; that’s about it.
Asked about the defensive performance after the game, defensive lineman Lwal Uguak expressed his frustration.
“We just gotta make plays, that’s what it comes down to. I don’t think we did enough of that today,” he said. “We need to go back to the drawing board. It’s definitely frustrating, but we got a bye week to get people healthy.”
The killing drive
The Als had limited firepower on offence in this ball game and couldn’t afford trailing by more than a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the visitors took a commanding lead at the beginning of the final frame.
After another long drive, Brady Oliveira finished the job on a drive he dominated from the beginning. Although everybody in the stadium was aware a run was coming, Oliveira just couldn’t be stopped and put an exclamation point on his performance.
The Als’ defence just couldn’t allow this drive, which virtually killed all possible hope of a comeback for the team. At this point, a ten-point deficit seemed too much, and it was.
Much-needed creativity
When a team struggles offensively like the Als have over the last few weeks without Davis Alexander, you need to get creative with the play-calling. Jason Maas finally shook things up on Thursday after two bland games, and it paid off early on.
When Morgan connected with Alexander Hollins for a 45-yard pass with maximum protection, it was the first successful 20+ yard pass since the franchise quarterback went down with an injury for a second time this season.
It didn’t take long before the fans gathered at Percival-Molson Stadium saw another one. Maas reached into his bag of tricks as receiver Tyler Snead connected with Hollins for a 44-yard pass on an end-around.
That’s the type of play the Als badly needed offensively. It put them in a good position in the first half.
Hollins and Snead deliver
Tyler Snead has been the most consistent receiver for the Als since the beginning of the season. He is used in all types of situations, and he finds ways to be productive. Thursday, in addition to moving the chains on second down when needed, he showed his arm strength with the pass to Hollins.
Speaking of Hollins, he had his best night as an Alouette with five catches for 132 yards. The stats are highly skewed by the deep shots he caught, but regardless, it was some positive in a tough night for the home team’s offence.
A lot of credit to Oliveira
Brady Oliveira is starting to pick up a lot of rhythm as we get deeper into the 2025 season. Thursday night, he stole the show in Montreal as a running back, as well as out of the backfield. He was everywhere for his team and saved Collaros on multiple occasions.
The most impressive aspect of his performance was his ability to get big yardage on runs in the second half. With Jerreth Sterns and Nic Demski out with injuries and backup quarterback Chris Streveler forced to play receiver, everybody in the stadium knew the runs were coming, but he still managed to get first downs and drive the field.
If the Bombers want to play a sixth straight Grey Cup, Oliveira will need to be the X-factor once again. He can take control of a game by himself.
What’s next?
The Als have their second bye week of the season. They will return to action on Saturday, September 6 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. EDT.