Jul 12 Montreal Alouettes: At 2-1, It Is Too Soon To Panic!

When the Montreal Alouettes were up 2-0 in their start to the season, averaging just over 35 points per game, all pundits and fans were optimistic, pleasantly surprised and cautiously hopeful that the streak, be it a short and early one, would continue. When the Alouettes recently lost to the Calgary Stampeders last Thursday, suddenly many were quick to jump off the bandwagon and point out all and any offensive flaws and defensive shortcomings of this team based on this one loss. Ah, to be a sports team in Montreal...

The season is still early folks and there is lots of football to be played. Having said that, the Alouettes, I'm sure, will admit that their play on Friday was lacking on conviction and some fine tuning will be necessary in order for the team to bounce back on Saturday July 19th against the 3-0 Saskatchewan Roughriders.

While the Alouettes looked en route to repeat their their previous 2 exploits by taking an early and large enough lead in order to coast to victory, the Stampeders had a game plan of their own: work for 4 quarters, never give up and limit the opponents chances. They came back from an 11 point deficit and never looked back as the 2nd half was all Calgary, all the time. But this is history. Are the Alouettes able to take this loss, build on it and bounce back?

Had this been 2 years ago under coach Don Matthews, or last season under coach/GM Jim Popp, I would be very cautious answering in the affirmative as many many factors would have to be considered first. The impression with Matthews at the helm was that this was a country club rather than a football club while Matthews, the eternal motivator, could not motivate his team to show up for every game. With Popp, where do you start? Did he have the room? Did he have all the veterans behind him? could he motivate the rookies to thrive under adversity? While he professed to having done "a hell of a job" last year, not many would agree.

The 2008-2009 season, however, belongs to coach Mark Trestman. Trestman, 51, has served on the staffs of eight NFL teams over 17 years, including four stints as an offensive co-ordinator. While he is new to the CFL, he is not new to football at a professional level, nor, would it seem he is he new to knowing his role and making sure others on the team know theirs.

Just ask QB Anthony Calvillo, who, before this season, was accustomed to calling his own plays. This is now coach Trestman's domain and it seems to be working for the most part. As far as the team being mentally or physically ready, anyone following the team during pre-season would have heard on more than one occasion and from more than source that this was the first camp in a really long time that they were worked hard, but with no complaints as they seemed to appreciate this "new" work ethic and passion towards preparation that coach Trestman brought with him.

Coach Trestman and his coaching staff will no doubt be looking at tape and trying to figure out why his team was held to just 1 point in each of the last 2 halves against Calgary, while they were able to score a combined 13 in that same time span to take the lead and the game. He will surely start with offence as it is his second nature to do so. The Alouettes will also have 3 practices this week in order to cure what had ailed them last Thursday before they fly out to Saskatchewan to meet the Roughriders

This is why the Alouettes will right their ship. This is why they should bounce back although they will be facing a 3-0 team on Saturday. This is why, for the time being, we should give them a break.

Tags: cfl \ Marc Trestman \ Montreal Alouettes