Saddle sores

For the first five minutes, Thursday nights CFL game between the Stampeders and the Als looked like it may be an entertaining affair.  The Stamps put together an impressive drive in the early stages of the game, culminating in a touchdown pass to  Denis Montana after 3 minutes, staking a 7-0 lead for the Stamps and that was the last good thing they might remember.
 
What followed was a collection of Stampeder miscues and Alouette dominance that turned the game quickly into a clinic to the power of Don Matthews football. Fumbles and interceptions, bungled kick offs and defensive mistakes gave Montreal more than enough ammunition to load up with a 42-23 victory leaving them 5 and 0 on the season so far.
 
Marcus Crandell once again bore the brunt of most of the Alouette defense, far too many times he was finding Defensive rushers pouring through the Stamp front lines, resulting in hurried passes and 4 interceptions, setting up Alouette drives time and time again. Far too often he was scrambling for his life, desperately tossing shuffle passes off to try to avoid the attacking hordes of Alouettes. The same crushing defence from last week against Ottawa was in place for the Stamps with much of the same results. This Alouette defence is an awesome thing to watch as they swarm and block lanes causing nothing but confusion in the offensive zone.
 
Anthony Calvillo once again looked sharp as the Alouette field general, throwing for 349 yards and tossing three Touchdown passes, new Alouette running sensation Autry Denson ran one other in for a TD and Matt Kellet rounded out the scoring with four field goals.  A truly enjoyable night for the assembled crowd at the usual sold out Molson Stadium.
 
For Calgary the night proved to be a disappointment, coach Matt Dunigan had given his QB Crandell a vote of confidence during the week of practices, but rather than votes Crandell might wish for a little help. Add some time to his execution and he might be successful, but as the Thursday night game would prove it's hard to score when you're on the ground picking your butt up off the field. There still is much work and possibly some change to come in Calgary.  
 
With the win, the Als continue along their path of CFL dominance, marking their fifth win in a row. For  57 minutes they looked for all intents and purposes to be a team with no weakness, strong in every segment of the game. Slowly the East is beginning to find a bit of separation between the strong and the eager. 
 
The Als by far are the strongest of the entire league let alone the Eastern division.  With Hamilton next on the agenda and then a game in Saskatchewan, the winning streak may carry on for a while yet. August 12th may bring a much anticipated match up when the suddenly rejuvenated Argonauts will be in town. Get past that one and we may start hearing more than whispers about an undefeated season!