The Montreal Alouettes dropped a 26-9 decision to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Percival Molson Stadium on Saturday afternoon. This was the Als’ fifth consecutive loss. The defeat also clinched the season series for Hamilton.
What led to the Alouettes’ loss on Saturday? Let’s take a look.
Offensive struggles:
The offence simply looked out of sync all afternoon. Give the Ticats defence credit because they were coming off an emotional loss on Monday, and they managed to come away with a road win.
The Als put up 220 yards of net offence while the Ticats had 419.
In his second consecutive start and third straight appearance, quarterback James Morgan finished the game 17-for-27 for 138 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Morgan said after the game. “It’s obviously not at all what we expected. We’re going to go back to the drawing board and looking at – starting with myself – looking at what I could have done better, because there is a lot I could’ve done better. It’s unfortunate because I thought we had a great week of practice. For whatever reason, it didn’t show up [in the game].”
Rookie running back Travis Theis was one of the few bright spots on the offensive side of the ball for the Als. He finished the night with nine carries for 70 yards, and he added two receptions for 16 yards.
Defence keeps team in game:
The defensive performance could best be described as ‘up and down’. On a positive note, the team forced a pair of turnovers, and they held the Tiger-Cats to 16 points until there was about six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Lorenzo Burns had a strong night, as he recovered a Greg Bell fumble before intercepting a Bo Levi Mitchell pass intended for Kenny Lawler.
Where they struggled was stopping the Tiger-Cats’ run game. Ticats running back Greg Bell rushed for 156 yards on 20 carries while their entire team accumulated 234 yards on the ground.
That allowed Hamilton to control the clock and keep the Als’ offence on the sideline for long periods of time.
“We need to play better, it’s not a secret,” middle linebacker Darnell Sankey said of the defensive performance. “We just need get back to playing winning football and doing what we used to do. We all have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure it out. We can’t keep losing. It sucks.”
Big return for James Letcher Jr.
Returner James Letcher Jr. returned to the lineup after missing five games with an arm injury. He didn’t look rusty one bit.
The 26-year-old gave the Alouettes terrific field position most of the night, and he did what he could to try to spark his teammates.
His most important return came in the dying seconds of the first half, when he broke free on a kick-off to put the Als in position to attempt a late field goal.
“I think I did good, but it isn’t about me,” he said. “It’s a team sport and we just need to come together and find a way to win. It’s hard losing and it’s hard losing five straight. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we’ll have to watch the film, look in the mirror, see what we can get better at and go from there.”
What’s next?
The Alouettes will embark on a two-game road trip starting next week. They’ll travel to Regina to take on the Roughriders next Saturday before facing the Argonauts in Toronto the following Friday.