Rick Moffat
CFL.ca
It’s one thing to get inside a team’s head. But to get inside its star player’s eye?
As former Alouette Dario Romero stood over Anthony Calvillo offering to help him up, the future Hall of Famer couldn’t see the helping hand.
The man with the on-field X-ray vision was only able to see out of one eye after taking a shot to the chest that slapped the right side of his head to the turf.
Thankfully, Calvillo didn’t suffer any post-game headaches or concussion symptoms.
Though AC’s vision was impaired, the rest of the country could clearly see that Rider Pride was back and was absolutely beaming at the thought of handing the Alouettes their first loss of the 2011 season.
Former head coach Don Matthews always said he preferred learning from victories, not losses.
Marc Trestman’s diagnosis: we need to suffer amnesia.
But win or lose, you break down the film and point to some positives as well as some negatives.
Here’s some of the signs and symptoms as well as some lessons to be learned from Sunday’s loss:
Trouble can easily be faulted to the experienced as well as the inexperienced.
While it was rookie Jeraill McCuller who was given the task of protecting Calvillo’s blindside, it was veteran centre Luc Brodeur-Jourdain who allowed Romero to burst through the middle to tackle the star quarterback.
Ironically, Romero was raving about Calvillo’s longevity to me before the game.
“When I left Montreal as a free agent I was thinking maybe AC was done,” recalls the likeable Romero.
Amnesia should not make us forget that Adrian McPherson is the best backup quarterback the Als have had since Anthony Calvillo. He may even be the team’s best backup ever.
He restores hope by running like a lion and throwing on the run.
On a night when even 270 games worth of battle scars couldn’t prevent Gene Makowsky from letting his blood boil over, the Als took far too many foolish penalties.
Yes, I’m talking to you, Dwight Anderson.
Good on the Als for yanking the defensive back for a play immediately after he landed a slap to the face of Weston Dressler, who yes, embellished for effect.
Eric Deslauriers will not have a steady progression to stardom following his milestone moment. After showing up on the radar screen for Calvillo’s 395th touchdown pass the week before, his only noticeable moment in Sunday’s game was taking an ill-timed penalty.
Kitwana Jones may be a one-man wrecking ball, but there are still too many holes on special team’s coverage.
Ryan Bomben isn’t the most agile player there is, but he certainly makes up for it with his soft hands. The sixth wheel on the Montreal offensive line has been thrown to three times so far this season, and has hauled in every single one. Rest assured he’ll have to pay his dues for the receivers’ annual end-of-season dinner.
Brandon Whitaker continues to prove his worth to the Alouettes offensive unit.
Whitaker is a slick all-purpose back who is proving to be a more effective blocker than expected. However, he’s been stuffed on numerous occasions on short-yardage situations.
The speedy back isn’t one to give up, evidence of which can be seen by him working out with Adrian McPherson this morning.
Short weeks never feel short when you’re anxious to get back to winning. Bring on Hamilton.
