By Jack B. Bedell,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Week 4: Hamilton Ticats
Statistically speaking, nothing jump starts offensive productivity quite like good field position. And for the past several years, the Alouettes’ offence has been the beneficiary of some of the best starting field position in the CFL.
Some of the credit for that prime real estate has to go to the Als’ traditionally stingy defence. Some would have to go to the kicking of Damon Duval, whose net punting and yards-per-kickoff averages have placed him at or near the top of the league’s stats lists for the bulk of his career. Some would undoubtedly have to go to quality coaching and overall team speed in coverage.
But the bulk of the credit for the Alouettes’ excellent starting position year in and year out goes to an exceptional list of kick and punt returners, including the likes of Keith Stokes, Ezra Landry, and Larry Taylor.
No player on the field has the ability to tilt the field quicker than an elite return man. And this week’s home opener against the Hamilton Ticats features two of the CFL’s current best in Montreal’s Tim Maypray and Hamilton’s Marcus Thigpen.
Heading into week 4, Thigpen leads the league in punt return average at 12.5 yards per return while Maypray is tied for the third spot at 9 yards per return. On kick returns, Maypray holds fourth place with a 25.3 yard average with Thigpen right behind him in fifth place with a 23.4 yard average per return.
Maypray also holds the edge in missed field goal return average, leading the league with a gaudy 125 yard average earned on his return for a major against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on opening day. And while Thigpen “only” has a 77.5 yard average on his two field goal returns, he brought one of those back 118 yards for a TD.
More than just producing numbers for stats hounds like myself, or keeping fans in their seats on third downs in lieu of heading for refreshments, Maypray and Thigpen are virtual locks to provide points and/or short fields to operate for two of the most efficient pivots in the CFL, Anthony Calvillo and Kevin Glenn.
Only three games into the 2010 season, Thigpen has managed the rare feat of scoring TDs in all three return categories. Maypray has that field goal return TD on his resume, and he’s looked like a threat to score every other time he’s touched the ball.
So what do the Alouettes’ special teams have to do to make sure it’s Maypray making headlines Thursday night and not Thigpen?
It’s virtually impossible to kick away from a returner an entire game via directional kicks and squibs, both of which shave too many valuable yards off net kicking averages anyway. So the onus for controlling Thigpen’s production is going to be on a combination of kick placement and sure kick coverage.
The Als’ kick coverage teams are well-stocked with fast, sure-tackling players like Walter Spencer, who is currently tied for second place on the CFL’s Special Teams Tackles list. It’ll be paramount for the those coverage teams to maintain great discipline in their lanes and to rally to the ball in numbers to make sure they get Thigpen on the ground quickly before he can make any magic happen.
On the other side of the ball, keeping holding and illegal blocking penalties to a minimum will give Maypray a nice shot at doing some damage himself.
Any way you slice it, Thursday night’s game is sure to be chock full of excitement. Two of the East’s best teams jockeying for early-season positioning, two of the league’s most talented rosters battling it out, and two of the CFL’s most riveting kick returners itching to break loose. I don’t want to miss a second of the action!
