Kyle Myers
Ticats.ca
The Montreal Alouettes possess what is without a doubt the most dominant defence in the CFL’s East Division. The group, which boasts five East Division All-Stars, operates with a “rush first, cover later” mentality, bringing relentless pressure to the opponent’s quarterback.
This much the Tiger-Cats know well.
Having squared off twice in the past three weeks, Hamilton has become well-acquainted with Chip Cox and the Alouettes defence. Offensive lineman Brian Simmons believes that the challenge for the Tiger-Cats this weekend will be in how they adjust their gameplan to nullify the extra pressure.
“A defence like Montreal, they blitz like 85% of the time,” said Simmons, who returned to action last week after a month’s absence. “When a team is blitzing you that many times they’re saying ‘this who we are, and we’re coming,’ and you have to figure out the way to deal with that.”
Easier said than done to be sure, though Hamilton’s recent track record against the Alouettes provides some promise.
Simmons cites the back-to-back against Montreal in October as an example of the Ticats coaching staff successfully adjusting their game plan to a blitz-heavy team like the Als, and he believes they can do it again this weekend.
“We just need to have trust in our coaches to put us in the position to make plays,” he said. “I feel very confident with the game plan. You can see the coaches know what to do to make something happen. That first game in Montreal compared to the game we played in Guelph, that was like night and day.”
After allowing five sacks to the Alouettes in a 36–5 defeat in Montreal, the Ticats coaching staff went back to the drawing board, and came out with a game plan which featured three different quarterbacks and new formations for the rematch.
The changes resulted in allowing only two sacks against the team that leads the East Division in that category, and a 27–24 victory to boot. While the wrinkles are set to be different this time around, there is no question that the Ticats understand what needs to be done to win against Montreal.
“You have to be aware of where the blitz is coming from,” said quarterback Henry Burris. “Making sure you know where to go with the ball, making sure you know your progressions. You’ve got to get the ball out of your hands because if not there’ll be two or three guys pouncing on you.”
But the effect of Montreal’s blitzkrieg-style defence doesn’t stop in the backfield. More defenders in the box means fewer in the secondary, a weakness which is overcome by equally aggressive play by the Alouettes’ defensive backs.
“They really help elongate the quarterback’s time in the pocket, which is good for the guys up front,” said Burris.
Unlike his always-jovial quarterback, receiver Bakari Grant was slightly more direct in his assessment of Montreal’s defensive style.
“They’re a clutch and grab team,” said Grant. “It’s like that throughout this league, but with Montreal it’s a little bit more obvious because they blitz so much they put themselves in those situations.”
According to Grant, who led all Tiger-Cats with 947 receiving yards in 2013, the way to attack an aggressive secondary is through simple, fundamental football.
“In this offence they gave us a lot of leeway for the receiver to work with the quarterback and come back to the ball,” said Grant. “That’s been huge for us against Montreal. Another thing is being physical, not letting them get our hands on us.”
Despite the obvious challenges that lay ahead, you’re hard pressed to find a player on the Tiger-Cats offence who isn’t confident heading into’s Sunday semi-final.
“We’ve seen it now three or four times,” said Burris. “We knew it was going to be come down to this at some point if we wanted to get to Toronto, we’re up for this challenge.”
“We know who we’re up against, so let’s go get this job done.”
