The Montreal Alouettes defence has always been praised for the way they physically dominate their opponents and turn the momentum around in games. From the days when Etienne Boulay, Mathieu Proulx, Diamond Ferri, and Anwar Stewart would make key plays en route to back-to-back Grey Cups in 2009 and 2010, to now, when Winston Venable, John Bowman, Marc-Olivier Brouillette, and Alan-Michael Cash play a heavy pass-rushing game, the Alouettes defence has been feared.
This year, however, the defence has lost control of games at times, allowing big drives down the field and letting the opponents destroy the leads that Montreal’s offence built. Unlike last year, one key linebacker is on the sidelines. Is Bear Woods’ injury the cause of the Alouettes defence’s demise in 2015?
Most Valuable Defensive Player
Woods was Montreal’s most valuable defensive player in 2014 as he racked up a team-high 89 tackles and finished second in the league only to Solomon Elimimian, who had 143 and finished as the league’s M.O.P. Woods was rewarded by being named to the CFL All-Star team and the Alouettes awarded him a three-year contract.
Heading into this season, Woods was the man to take control of the Alouettes defence and lead them back to the swagger that they possessed at the end of last season. Sadly, the big man went down with a right pectoral injury in the third quarter of their second game and is likely to miss the remainder of the season. The Alouettes defence couldn’t have taken a bigger blow than they did when Woods’ season ended, after he made just 12 tackles in seven quarters of play.
Rotating Replacements
In his place, Kyler Elsworth and Nicolas Boulay have been rotating playing time, with Elsworth getting the majority of the share. Rookie national Nic Shortill has also been seeing some snaps but doesn’t have nearly as much as an impact as the other two. Chip Cox and Venable remain as the outside linebackers, but the back-ups are thin for their positions. Chris Ackie is the only other listed linebacker on the depth chart but the first-round choice in the 2015 CFL Draft is normally a defensive back and won’t help out as a linebacker in the pros.
The other leader in the linebacking core, Kyries Hebert, is on the six-game injured list with an ankle injury. That just leaves six linebackers on the depth chart to play three positions – and two of them are rookies coming out of the CIS.
Thinning Replacements
The thinning at the position was visible on Friday night when the Redblacks stomped all over the Alouettes with their no-huddle offence. Barely giving the defence a break, Henry “Smilin’ Hank” Burris led his troops down the field on multiple drives, scoring 19 points in the second half when the fatigue was the most visible for the linebackers.
Burris wasn’t intercepted nor did he get sacked by a linebacker; the only two times he kissed the turf was courtesy of a defensive lineman. It was the same story two weeks ago in Calgary when the Alouettes, as a defence, were held to only two sacks and no turnovers. In that game, the Alouettes defence also blew a lead, this time greater than the 12-7 advantage that Montreal held at halftime in Ottawa, as they let a 17-0 first quarter lead slip through their hands.
The absence of Woods’ leadership may be the cause for these blown leads and the lack of turnovers. Anybody watching the Alouettes in 2014 would agree that the charismatic Woods is a vocal leader on the defence and seemed to bring the defence together in the latter half of 2014.
Without Woods’ body on the field and his voice off the field, the Alouettes need to find some depth at the linebacker position before the veteran Cox and the 28-year-old Venable run out of gas. It is clear that the Bear Woods injury is having an effect in Montreal and the team needs to address their problems before they start losing more leads and more games.
