You give Anthony Calvillo the benefit of the doubt because his track record of success is unparalleled.
You give the Montreal Alouettes offence the benefit of the doubt because this team is loaded with skill at every position.
I am not here to pronounce this is the end of the Golden Calvillo Era. That would be grossly premature and every time some tries that angle Calvillo just throws up another 5,000-yard season.
| Not panicking just yet |
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Win or lose, Dan Hawkins carries the same philosophy after Week 2 as he did in Week 1, especially when talking with his quarterback, Anthony Calvillo. |
So instead of a knee jerk reaction column, instead of me spouting off doom and gloom, please allow me to raise a curious eyebrow to what we have seen so far.
First let’s look at the raw numbers. Now remember, statistics tell as many lies as they do illuminate truths, but they are, at the very least … curious.
Yes Montreal scored 38 points in their Week 1 victory over Winnipeg. But the offence only generated two touchdowns and Calvillo was sacked four times. So coming into Week 2 you would expect adjustments from the Alouettes coaching staff.
You would expect an offensive line littered with All-Stars in Josh Bourke, Scott Flory, Luc Brodeur-Jourdain and Jeff Perrett to step up and keep their signal-caller clean.
And finally, you would naturally expect Calvillo to get to his reads quicker working within a game plan that would focus on pass protection. Considering I selected Calvillo as my starting quarterback for my “Cauz vs. Canada” Fantasy Showdown I also expected the Alouettes to rebound.
Well I got killed in Week 2 (Fantuz giveth and Fantuz taketh away) as did Montreal who gave up seven sacks as Calvillo managed 121 total yards. 121 yards? That is a quarter’s worth of production from this offence.
Again these are the numbers. You can wave it off as a two week blip; that it is too small of a sample size to overreact. Trust me many people would agree with you. I would as well, to a point.
But there are some bigger picture issues that should be addressed. You know the old time expression: “Behind every successful man, there is a woman” well the football version of that would read `Behind every successful quarterback, there is a coach`.
This is not to say that new coach Dan Hawkins is to blame. This is more of an issue of comfort. For the past five years Calvillo was fortunate enough to have Marc Trestman as his coach. The duo averaged 12 wins a season, went to three Grey Cups and won two of them.
On top of that; this past off-season saw Toronto sign away yet another member of the Alouettes coaching staff. This time it was offensive coordinator Marcus Brady. That is a substantial brain drain for any team.
It’s no wonder the offence does not look sharp or that Calvillo is clearly frustrated both on and off the field. There are growing pains going on within Montreal`s offence, that is easy to see. I don’t ever remember seeing Calvillo so flustered coming off the field after one of the teams 12 two-and-outs in their loss to Winnipeg or sounding so negative during the post game interviews. 
One final note about the coaching staff.
While I hesitate to condemn the work being done so early in the season it is unacceptable that an offensive line that only gave up 30 sacks for the entire 2012 season has already allowed 11 through two weeks.
Let’s wrap up this column with a curious quote. I’m betting I was not the only one that took notice to some of the talk coming from Winnipeg heading into Week 2.
Just read this quote from Bombers DT Bryant Turner that appeared in the Winnipeg Sun: “Calvillo doesn’t like being hit. He seems to get rid of the ball … chuck-and-duck is a good way to put it.”
I know, I know brash words originating from “Swaggerville” should not come as much of a surprise. But let’s face it Odell Willis isn’t on the team and how often do you hear opposing players chirping the gold standard that is Anthony Calvillo?
Of course Turner backed up his words terrorizing the entire Alouettes offensive line as he recorded three sacks in Winnipeg’s 19-11 win. But big picture it feels like players are starting to smell the blood in the water, maybe, just maybe the CFL juggernaut known as the Montreal Alouettes offence is finally showing its first real signs of decline.
It will be up to Coach Hawkins, Calvillo and the entire offence to correct these problems and do it quickly. Calvillo will be 42 in August I doubt his body can handle the sort of punishment it has already felt in the past two weeks.
