THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON – Quarterback Anthony Calvillo believes the Montreal Alouettes offence is better than the inconsistent group it has been through the first 11 weeks of the CFL season.
The 39-year-old future Hall of Famer is the league’s leading passer and has rushing leader Brandon Whitaker and receiving leader Jamel Richardson in his arsenal of weapons on the CFL’s highest scoring team.
Yet their 6-5 record suggests that the two-time defending Grey Cup champions have fired their share of blanks.
”With the veteran group we have, we should be moving the ball,” Calvillo said this week. ”We have done that, but we’ve been shooting ourselves in the foot.”
”We’ve been stressing that in this locker room. It’s time to be accountable, each and every guy. We can’t afford any more mental mistakes and we have to finish drives.”
The Alouettes get a chance to put Calvillo’s words into action when they face the 7-4 Eskimos in Edmonton on Friday night.
The Eskimos are tied with the Calgary Stampeders for first place in the West Division, while Montreal dropped to four points behind East-leading Winnipeg with a 25-23 loss at home to the Blue Bombers on Sunday.
It was a defeat that underlined the things that have plagued the Alouettes while losing five of their last eight games – giving up big plays on defence and settling for field goals over touchdowns on attack.
”The frustrating thing is we know we’re capable of playing at a high level,” added Calvillo. ”We’ve shown that.”
”It’s been like two different teams. Our mental battle is to be consistent.”
Once in awhile, the Alouettes have show their old form with a dominant performance. One of them was on August 11 at home when they beat the Eskimos 27-4.
In that game, Edmonton tailback Jerome Messam ended the day with minus-3 yards on four carries. Messam ran rampant over the Tiger-Cats in a 38-23 win in Hamilton last weekend.
The Eskimos will also have slotback Jason Barnes back from a hip injury, giving quarterback Ricky Ray another target to go with star receiver Fred Stamps and the resurgent Adarius Bauman.
Edmonton began the season with five wins, then lost three in a row, so they have had much the same sort of Jekyll and Hyde season as Montreal. Indeed, like the entire CFL this season except perhaps 2-9 Toronto, who have been consistently Mr. Hyde.
The Alouettes expect to see a different opponent from their last meeting.
”They weren’t at full strength last time so that will be a difference,” said defensive back Billy Parker. ”They’ll be at full strength, but if we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be OK.
”The big thing last time was our defensive line really had their way with their front. That took pressure off the secondary. If we can get that same effort out of those guys everything will take care of itself on the back end.”
The Alouettes will be without middle linebacker Shea Emry who is out with a concussion for a third-straight week. Veteran receiver Kerry Watkins and defensive lineman Moton Hopkins are also sidelined.
But slotback S.J. Green, who left the Winnipeg game in the first quarter with a knee injury, is expected to suit up. Green is fourth in CFL receiving with 804 yards on 56 catches. Richardson leads at 69 for 1,080 yards.
