Minas Panagiotakis/CFL.ca
TORONTO — The 2023 Montreal Alouettes were known for their fierce defensive play and a complementary offence that gelled just in time for a late season championship run.
The 2024 Alouettes are showing the world they are much more than that.
“I was in the locker room literally prepping for them and everything. You weren’t too worried about their offence. You just knew that this defence is going to play really well,” said Henoc Muamba to Marshall Ferguson in this week’s edition of The Waggle Podcast.
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The Als brought in linebacker Darnell Sankey midway through the season last year to join a unit that had names like Marc-Antoine Dequoy and Tyrice Beverette to form one of the strongest defences in the CFL.
On offence the team was guided by the recently arrived Cody Fajardo, who was still getting used to the ropes in Montreal despite being familiar with head coach Jason Maas’ system. The partnership grew stronger in the playoffs, especially in the Grey Cup where Fajardo was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, with receiver Tyson Philpot earning Most Valuable Canadian after catching the game-winning touchdown.
“Their offence has improved tremendously, in my opinion, especially at the beginning of the season,” added Muamba. “Cody Fajardo, one of the things that he really did very well last year was getting rid of the ball really quickly. This year, I thought he was taking great shots down the field. He was hitting his targets. You see the way Philpot started the season.”
The Alouettes are still firing on all cylinders despite losing Fajardo and Philpot to injuries. That’s due to the ascend of backup quarterback Davis Alexander and young receiver Charleston Rambo.
“And now that Davis Alexander came in, he fits so well into that offence. His success has a lot to do with the guys that are around him.”
Now, Montreal also gets back receiver Austin Mack, who rejoins the team after spending the off-season with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
“The receiving group is going to get even better, because the Mack attack is back, right? The rich just get richer,” said Ferguson.
The Alouettes have cruised to nine wins in their first 10 games with a balanced team that ranks second in net yards per game (360.0) and third in net yards allowed per game (340.7).
That’s due to a roster assembled by Maas and general manager Danny Maciocia that keeps producing talented players to replace starters that go down with an injury.
“Overused saying, next man up mentality. We hear that all the time, but these guys are living that on a day-to-day basis,” said Muamba. “It doesn’t matter who goes down. They have a guy that is ready, that is prepared, and as soon as he steps in, is making some noise.”
Montreal is going to look to continue making noise as they host the Edmonton Elks on Sunday, August 25, at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
