Head coach Jason Maas tends to be reassuring at the start of the playoffs, but we have to admit that on a personal level, kicker David Côté didn’t have his best season with the Montreal Alouettes.
So we’re talking about 39 placements in 52 attempts with a success rate of 75%. For comparison: Côté was among the elite of the Canadian Football League in 2022 with a rate of 86.3%.
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Also on Saturday, the Quebecer missed two of four field goals from 45 and 50 yards.
“I’m confident every time he steps on the field,” Maas said of Côté. The wind certainly played a role today (Saturday) and he felt comfortable in his final placement attempt [de 50 verges], surely. He kicked well, even if the ball didn’t go between the posts. I’ll be happy to call his number next week, as I have done all season. We expect good results from him.”
Ballast injured?
For a variety of reasons, a second Quebecer is worried about the Alouettes, offensive lineman Pier-Olivier Lestage. The latter appears to have injured his ankle or leg during Saturday’s meeting.
“It’s an uncertain case, he didn’t finish the game,” said Maas. Of course, there’s a question every time a player doesn’t finish a game. We’ll take a look at this next week and probably have answers in the coming days. All the guys have a week to be ready. Our linemen are tough and Lestage falls into that category. I know he will do everything he can to be on the field for us.”
Remember that the Alouettes, who beat the Tiger-Cats by a score of 22-20 to close the regular season on Saturday, will face the Hamilton club again on November 4 in Montreal in the Eastern semifinals.