Defense wins championships Everybody has heard that saying at one time or another and the Alouettes will try to prove it once again this year. They start the playoffs by hosting the British Columbia Lions who got in the fall dance thanks to the crossover from the West division to the East division. The Lions arrive in Montreal with an offense that, on paper at least, has been better than the Alouettes offensive unit this season. That being said, Montreal can strike back with Noel Thorpes defense which seems way better than the unit that will visit the Percival-Molson Stadium this Sunday. With the special teams being practically identical, the Alouettes technically have the recipe to beat the Lions in the playoffs thanks to this unbelievable defense and the home field advantage of the Percival-Molson Stadium. The important home field advantage This home field advantage seems critical when the two teams at the opposite ends of the country match up. The last 8 games between the Lions and the Alouettes have been won by the home team. Furthermore, those wins werent even close. The average margin of victory was close to 20 points and the home team scored an average of more than 35 points in those matchups. This is what we call decisive wins. To put it in perspective, the last time a home team lost a Lions-Alouettes matchup, it was in September of 2010. The tendency is also pretty crazy in the playoffs where the Alouettes have never lost a game against the Lions in Montreal. The Als are currently 2-0 in this situation. Two jewels of the crown This streak is even more impressive when we look at the success of those two franchises in the last years. The Alouettes have made the playoffs in their last 19 seasons while the Lions streak currently sits at 18 years. Those are respectively the 2nd and the 3rd longest streak in CFL history. Those franchises have clearly been the best in the league for the last two decades and the fact that theyve been able to dominate each other at home like theyre currently doing shows the exceptional quality of the two organisations and their home field advantage, which is fueled by loud fans that impact the score year after year. The trenches One part of the game thats clearly affected by the fans is the battle of the trenches. The offensive line always need to communicate to make sure their quarterback stays on his feet and when the players dont hear each other, their jobs get way harder. This situation gives a great edge to the Alouettes. It gets even better because the Alouettes edge doesnt stop there. Montreal excelled in the trenches during the 2014 season. They only allowed 31 sacks during the season, which is 22 less than the British Columbia Lions. The Alouettes defense also did their part with 51 quarterbacks sacks, the 3rd best total in the league and more importantly, 5 more than the Lions. With Montreals loud crowd, the Alouettes defensive line could have a great edge versus the Lions offensive line that has seen better days. Creating turnovers Finally, creating turnovers is always helpful when you try to win football games and it should again be the case on Sunday. This is good for the Alouettes defense that has created 47 turnovers this year, a CFL best. Meanwhile, the Lions are cellar dwellers on that aspect with only 35 turnovers in 2014. That being said, the Lions protect their ball really well. They only allowed 30 turnovers in 2014. Thats 10 less than the Alouettes during the same period. The Lions are lucky to be careful with the ball because they need it to win. When they dont win the turnover battle, they have a 1-8 record this season. This should give a clue to the Alouettes about what they need to do to keep the Grey Cup dreams alive.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 15:19:33 +0000
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