After beginning their season with three consecutive road games, the Montreal Alouettes finally get to play in front of the home fans Thursday when they host the Tiger-Cats.
Last season, all of the cards seemed to be falling into place for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes to meet in the Eastern Conference Final for the right to go to the Grey Cup. The BC Lions spoiled the dreams of the Tabbies though. Once again in 2010, the Als and Ti-Cats were expected to be the top two teams in this division.
However, as these two teams get ready to engage in CFL betting warfare at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, their records don't necessarily indicate those of champions.
The Alouettes started off the season with three straight road games against West Division foes. Surviving with a 2-1 record is nice, but many CFL pundits were expecting a 3-0 beginning. The Tabbies slumped to losses in their first two games of the year against Winnipeg and Calgary, but they finally got the bagel out of their win column with the best defensive showing of the year, a 28-7 win over the Blue Bombers at home.
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For the Tabbies, duplicating last week's intensity on defense is going to be the only path to victory against a high flying Montreal team. The Ti-Cats have allowed 79 points in three games this season, ranking them first in the East Division and third in the CFL overall. Not only could the Blue Bombers not figure out how to score on the Hamilton defense last week, but they couldn't move the pigskin either. Winnipeg mustered just 282 yards of offense, and if not for a few big gainers by RB Fred Reid, it would have probably been shutout.
Offensively, the play of QB Kevin Glenn is improving from his opening week dud against those same Blue Bombers. Hamilton's signal caller threw for 336 yards and three TDs last week against the team he led to the Grey Cup just three seasons ago. Glenn is the second highest rated passer in the CFL at 110.0, and he has the best completion percentage in the league at 70.0 percent. Throwing for 889 yards is good for third in the league.
The rushing game has been a huge problem, though. Expectations were high this season for DeAndra Cobb, but they just haven't panned out at all. Cobb only has 112 rushing yards and one score on the season, making him one of the few backs in this league that has failed to rush for at least 60 yards in a game on the season.
In comparison to the rest of the teams in the East, Montreal should be in a league of its own, particularly on offense. Though the 100 points scored on the season is the second best mark in the league behind Saskatchewan, scoring just 49 points over the last two weeks isn't all that impressive for an offense that is used to dropping 30+ points on virtually all of its foes.
Quarterback Anthony Calvillo is up to his old tricks once again. He has 902 passing yards on the season and is well on his way to another 5,000+ yard year. He is second in the league in TD passes with six and has only committed two blunders all season long. No one has more pass attempts (119) or completions (77) this year in the CFL than the veteran Calvillo.
Though you won't find a Montreal receiver in the Top 10 in the league in receptions, there is a remarkable consistency amongst the top six receivers for this team. All six, one of which is RB Avon Cobourne, have between 11 and 13 receptions, and all six have somewhere between 109 and 192 receiving yards on the season.
Last season, it was the road team that got the best of the CFL betting festivities between these two teams. Montreal did win all three games outright, but Hamilton covered CFL lines of plus 13 and plus 14.5 in two games at Molson Stadium in 41-38 and 21-8 defeats respectively. Two of the three clashes stayed 'under' the 'total'.
In the first meeting of the season between these two teams, the Alouettes opened up as nine-point favorites. However, in their home opener, they have dropped as low as minus seven. The 'total' currently posted is 53.