Landry: 3 ways that Cody Fajardo can lead the Als to a win

11/06/2024 01:00 PM

Last season, quarterback Cody Fajardo and the Montreal Alouettes walked into Toronto for the Eastern Final and shocked the Toronto Argonauts by a score of 38-17.

Outside of playing scorching-hot football at the time, the Alouettes were able to take apart an overconfident Toronto Argonauts team on the way to the Grey Cup.

"That was some front-runner bulls**t" one of the Alouettes said to a couple of us about the Argos, during Grey Cup Week in Hamilton.

2024 CFL PLAYOFFS
» Matchups Set: Division Finals head to Montreal and Winnipeg
» O’Leary: 3 storylines to watch in the Eastern Final
»6 matchups to watch in the Eastern Final
» Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally

A year later, the Alouettes will not get to come in with any kind of stealth. The second-place Argos will not be packing any front-runner BS this time around. Nor will the Alouettes, you can be sure of that. First of all, the defending champs know exactly what part overconfidence can play in a favourite being upended because they saw that play out one year ago.

Secondly, the Argos defeated the Als two out of three during the regular season, so there's that.

This game should be quite a bit different than last year's Eastern Final. With that in mind, here are three things that Fajardo and the Alouettes' offence should value when they meet Toronto on Saturday.

KEEP "THE ANSWER" TOP OF MIND AT ALL TIMES

Will the Argos' blitz a lot? If they do, nothing like a good ol' screen or three to get an opposing defence to cool it a bit. Will they play a whole bunch of zone coverage instead? The Alouettes have an antidote to that as well and it's the same guy. And Cody Fajardo knows it.

Walter Fletcher is the key. The Montreal tailback is the 2024 King of YAC in the CFL, piling up 626 yards after catches this season, averaging 9.6 yards per on a total of 71 receptions. All but 56 of Fletcher’s receiving yards came after the catch.

Earlier this year, Fajardo said it himself, after a win over the Calgary Stampeders in Week 5. The Stamps played mucho zone-o that night, and Fajardo and Fletcher made them pay. Fletcher had nine receptions in that game, on nine targets, for 104 yards. One hundred of those yards were YAC.

"If team's wanna keep playing us in zone coverage," Fajardo told TSN after that game, "he's the answer. When you can throw it underneath to a guy who makes a lot of people miss and gets yards after catch, it makes my job easy."

ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THEIR No. 48 IS. ALSO YOUR No. 17

Toronto linebacker Wynton McManis was a raging force in last week's Eastern Semi-Final win over Ottawa, with 10 tackles on the afternoon to lead all defenders.

Not much a QB can do about a lot of that, but what a CFL pivot must take into account is McManis' sneakiness in the pass defence game, particularly in high stakes moments.

McManis did it again against the REDBLACKS, stealthily dropping back into coverage, lurking with his cloak of invisibility, keeping a close eye on REDBLACKS' quarterback Dru Brown. Then…BAM! He shot over to snag an interception, delivering a critical turnover when Ottawa was still in the game.

Know where 48 is at all times.

And zero in as much as possible on No. 17 in Als' colours.

Receiver Cole Spieker had a dynamite year against the Argos in 2024, pulling down 16 passes on 20 targets over three games, for a total of 282 yards. In the two games where Fajardo went the distance (recall that he was injured during the first quarter of Toronto's win in Montreal in August), Spieker caught 11-12 Fajardo passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns.

Cole Spieker was Montreal's leading receiver in each of the three games they played against Toronto this season. Seek that guy out.

BE MINDFUL OF THE ALARM CLOCK

The Alouettes have, arguably, the best offensive line in the CFL, led by All-CFL East left tackle selection Nick Callender and criminally underrated left guard Pier-Olivier Lestage.

Still, there's only so much a fortress can take and Toronto's seemingly never ending rotation of elite, marauding quarterback hunters is going to inflict some damage, poking holes in that Alouette concrete and disrupting Fajardo's workspace with great malice aforethought.

Hanging on a bit too long in the pocket could be a very dangerous proposition, indeed. Do not hit the snooze button when the alarm goes off, hoping that just one more moment will allow for a deep receiver to come free.

Make an escape. Pronto.