The Toronto Argonauts know full well that they are favorites against the Montreal Alouettes heading into the Eastern Finals.
Regardless, head coach Ryan Dinwiddie warned his players not to take the victory for granted. He indicated as much at a press conference on Friday, about 24 hours before the game at BMO Field.
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“I made sure to tell the boys that we may be the favorites but we have a team to beat for the fourth time in a row and they are playing their best football at the moment. We know very well that this is a difficult challenge,” said Dinwiddie.
“[Les Alouettes] “We will have ideas about what they can improve and we have to find ways to do things differently than we did in the first three games,” he also said.
The Argonauts (16-2) have been a real steamroller this season. As the Pilot pointed out, the Toronto team won three times against the Alouettes (11-7) during the regular season. The Argos’ last win against the Quebec team – a 23-20 victory on September 15th – was the Sparrows’ last loss. In fact, Jason Maas’ team has won their six games since then.
Compliments for the defense
The head coach has experience as he looks to lead the Argonauts to their third Eastern final in as many seasons. Dinwiddie knows he can’t give the Als any more reasons to keep the knife between their teeth. He therefore decided to praise his future opponents, especially the unity of coordinator Noel Thorpe.
“Defense is their backbone,” analyzed the man who won the Gray Cup in 2022 in an interview with the TSN network. They play very good football, give their offense good field positions and cause turnovers. That was our message this week: We can’t give them the ball.
“They’re physical too! They hide their game well and Noel does an excellent job in this regard.
Same observation for quarterback Chad Kelly.
“They use different formation variations on defense,” the Argonauts starting quarterback said. This is what her coach is known for. They also have several good players spread all over the field. I don’t see any weakness in their game.”
“That’s what’s special about this game,” Kelly continued. Our offense is strong and their defense is strong too. We have to set the tone quickly.”