Jason Halstead/CFL.ca
They did it.
They really did it.
A team from the much maligned CFL East Division found a way to not just win, or win on the road, or win on the road against the West, but to win on the road against the West and the undefeated Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Is this the death knell of the Bombers dynasty? Are they now permanently broken? A fragile organization with little to no ability to peel themselves off the ground?
Hardly. Sorry to disappoint any of you blue and gold haters out there, but Zach is still Zach, and O’Shea is still O’Shea. Until that changes, this team isn’t going more than a couple meters from the West Division’s best.
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I’ll give credit where credit is due though. Despite Winnipeg not looking like the typically invincible team you expect to have a zero in the loss column nearing mid-season, they were finding ways and closing teams out with assassin-like execution late in games.
Of course that all fell apart with a couple questionable calls and a pair of missed kicks, but it’s worth examining what – if anything – Montreal did that could be replicated by other teams such as Calgary or BC, who will need to topple the mighty Bombers come playoff time if they hope to hoist their own Grey Cup.
To my eye, the single biggest compliment I can pay the Alouettes from this upset was that they made Zach Collaros have to earn absolutely everything. Sometimes young, athletic quarterbacks will run back and forth from sideline to sideline making people miss as they scamper 50-yards to gain five.
Collaros did the mental equivalent of this on Thursday in the loss. With plenty of internal pressure, Montreal was able to move Zach off his spot, which usually isn’t a major issue considering his elite ability to reset and throw from difficult arm angles to complete unlikely passes.
The problem this time though was that internal pressure wasn’t the only hurdle to be crossed. After making the pocket uncomfortable, another wave of Alouettes defenders always appeared to be lurking, ready to lay a body on Zach just before or as he was releasing the football into small windows down the field, as Bombers receivers had to execute scramble rules at a higher level than any other game this season.
They did, and to Zach’s credit he battled through the challenge with great resolve and accuracy but to see Collaros forced to earn every inch of the field was unexpected and a great credit to Montreal’s team defence, not just their front four pass rushers.
The question does become though, how did Montreal get the win when Winnipeg’s right hand man threw no interceptions a week after tossing three turnovers in a game against the same defence that Montreal was unable to finish with a home win?
Did Trevor Harris has an outstanding statistical game? Did Jeshrun Antwi do his best William Stanback impersonation and completely overwhelm the Bombers linebackers with physical runs that wore them down in the fourth quarter? Did the special teams deliver the great X-factor in Canadian football with a score out of thin air as Janarion Grant punished Montreal in Week 9?
The answer to all of these is no. The Alouettes didn’t force action, they didn’t overhaul their playbook, use a previously hidden formation or personnel package or have an unheard of player emerge under the bright lights of IG Field.
They just played with great effort and found a way to finish while Winnipeg missed multiple opportunities to seal the deal.
What I learned from this upset was the Bombers are human. They’ve shown it all season until crunch time when they’ve found a different gear and pulled away. To see them fall at the hands of a Montreal team who have lost to the Argos, Riders, Elks and Ticats this season only adds fuel to the conversational fire that any give week a win is up for grabs in what has been a wildly entertaining CFL season.
Look closely at crowd shots in the final five minutes and overtime of Winnipeg-Montreal and you’ll see Bombers fans nervous, frustrated, but entertained and invested because they have no idea how the game was going to end.
That’s the beauty of the uphill climb to a Grey Cup. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve been to the mountain top, there is always a new challenger ready to take your crown. Winnipeg got a taste of that last week, setting the stage for a classic Canadian Football League second half of the schedule.
