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Grey Cup Commentary

Toronto vs. Montreal - East Division final

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Sunday, November 12, 2006 | 12:24 PM ET

By Signa Butler

Ah, the CFL's East Division final. Or as it's sometimes known - the Montreal Alouettes against the Toronto Argonauts (apologies to the Blue Bombers, who put in a great effort against the Argos in the semifinal last week).

This is the fifth straight season Montreal and Toronto have squared off for the right to play in the Grey Cup. The Alouettes came out on top last year and nearly captured Earl Grey's mug in a thrilling overtime loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.

The Argos have beaten the Alouettes just once in the last four East finals, though they did come out on top at Olympic Stadium in 2004 (the same year they went on beat B.C. in the Grey Cup).

Game time is approaching ... will the Alouettes be rusty after a week off? Have the Argos got enough offensive juice to pull out a victory? Will this be Damon Allen's last hurrah?

Oh, and one last question. What's up with this Dome stuff? Shouldn't the Grey Cup playoffs be about rain, sleet, fog and snow? Just putting that out there.

GAME OVER

The Alouettes can pack their bags for Winnipeg ... now, who will they play - Saskatchewan or B.C.? Hmmm ... check out our commentary on that game.

4th quarter, 43 seconds remaining

That's pretty much all she wrote. All Montreal needs to do is take a few knees and ... it ... is ... over! The final: 33-24. The Alouettes are going to their fourth Grey Cup in five years.

4th quarter, 1:09

Montreal is attempting a 44-yard field goal ... Duval nails it up the middle ... he's 4-for-4 today. Montreal 33 - Toronto 24 Not too sure about Duval giving a little wave good-bye to the Argos bench ... guy, you're a kicker, settle down.

4th quarter, 1:24

Check out AC fooling the Argos. Toronto was expecting the run, but Calvillo launched a 31-yard pass to Kerry Watkins.

4th quarter, 2:02

TOUCHDOWN! Argos Montreal 30 - Toronto 24 Ricky Williams (I like calling him Ricky Dub ... as in W ...anyway) just leapt over a pile of players for the major. Can the Argos' D come up with another big stop?

4th quarter, 2:09

Bishop just lofted the ball to R. Jay Soward in the end zone, but Chip Cox was called for pass interference. Argos 1st and goal from the one-yard line.

4th quarter, 2:43

Montreal's Ricky Bell just got called for face masking on Toronto receiver Tony Miles giving the Argos a first down. Time is ticking for a comeback ... though Bishop has done well to initiate a rally.

4th quarter, 3:41

Big first down opportunity for the Argos ... expect Bishop to dive under for the quarterback sneak. As my co-worker Tony just said, you could sneeze your way to the first down.

4th quarter, 5:20

Robert Edwards can't seem to find the same gaps he was getting in the opening half. Either the Argos D has turned it up or Edwards's "hogs" (the O-Line) are tired out ... maybe they won't be getting those T-bones after all.

4th quarter, 8:24

Good to see Talbot back out there after getting rocked in the third quarter. The Argos have a decent drive on the go thanks to a solid defensive stand by their defence. Toronto has really clamped down on shutting down Edwards in the second half.

4th quarter, 11:15

TOUCHDOWN Argos! Montreal 30 - Toronto 17 The Argos just needed five plays to get this TD ... a 10-yard catch by Canadian receiver Michael Palmer. Bishop's Arena Football sensibilities are paying off ... he can run like a running back and throw the long bomb when needed. This is turning into a ball game.

4th quarter, 13:53

How slow is Anthony Calvillo? I mean, the guy is a fantatsic quarterback. He throws for 5,000 yards just about every year, but play action? I think not. Look at him trying to roll out to his left. He's road kill when he's trying to escape coverage ...

4th quarter, 14:40

Hilarious trick play attempt by the Argos. Prefontaine went out for the fake punt and he was looking to throw up field, but he had no receivers. Guess they missed the memo. Anyway, Prefontaine was stuck with no option but to launch a running rugby-style punt - a 50-yarder no less - his longest of the game.

3rd quarter, 1:38

TOUCHDOWN Alouettes! Montreal 30 - Toronto 10 AC just aired it out to Thyron Anderson, who hauled in the 52-yard catch with Chuck Winters hanging off his back. Momentum certainly seems to be back with the Alouettes.

3rd quarter, 1:54

Alouettes interim head coach Jim Popp is challenging a call ... it appeared Ricky Williams was down when the whistle blew, but on the replay, the ball popped out before he hit the ground. Great challenge by Popp ... Montreal's Ricky Bell stripped the ball from Williams before he hit the turf and Chip Cox recovered it ... the call was overturned ... Alouettes ball.

3rd quarter, 5:20

TOUCHDOWN Argos! Montreal 23 - Toronto 10 Bring the gun! Bishop just threw a bullet to Bruce for the major.

3rd quarter, 7:08

Huge break for the Argos ... Cobourne fumbled the punt return at midfield and Argos special teams player Chris Hardy was there to snag the loose ball.

3rd quarter, 8:58

Bishop rolled out to his left and threw though the goal posts to Andre Talbot, who got absolutely smoked. He's definitely hearing tweetie birds.

3rd quarter, 9:20

Bishop alert! Can he get things rolling for the Argos? Allen leaves the game after completing just 9-of-14 passes for 60 yards and an interception.

3rd quarter, 14:23

All is not well on the Argos sideline ... not even two seconds after Allen was picked off, Arland Bruce III got up in Allen's grill about being open on the play. What? Dude, it's a team game ... sheesh, Toronto doesn't need to have a Terrell Owens on their sideline right now ... anyway, drama escalated when standout linebacker Mike O'Shea got in Bruce's face. If I was a lip reader ...

3rd quarter, 14:23

TOUCHDOWN Alouettes! Montreal 23 - Toronto 3 WOW ... first play from scrimmage. Allen is intercepted by Mark Estelle (Anwar Stewart got a piece of the throw) and Estelle ran it back for the TD. Argos are in a real hole right now.

End of first half

One has to wonder if Pinball will pull the plug on Allen just to get some spark going. Don't be surprised to see Michael Bishop, who led the Argos to victory in last week's win over Winnipeg, get some snaps this half.

2nd quarter, 2 seconds remaining

Montreal 16 - Toronto 3 Duval connects right up the middle (didn't need any help from the uprights this time) to give the Alouettes a pretty commanding lead going into the second half.

2nd quarter, 5 seconds remaining

That's cold! Gotta love the icy move by the Argos in calling a timeout to mess around with Duval's focus ... will this half ever end?!

2nd quarter, 5 seconds remaining

Referee Jake Ireland ruled the play was inconclusive ... so Duval has a 26 yard field goal attempt.

2nd quarter, 5 seconds remaining

Ben Cahoon just made a catch at the sideline to get Duval in easy chip-shot range. Oh oh ... Pinball is challenging whether Calvillo crossed the line of scrimmage when he threw to Cahoon ...

2nd quarter - 1:43

Yikes - Allen just sacked again ... this time by Adriano Belli. Allen's 43-year-old body has got to be achin'.

2nd quarter,2:47

TOUCHDOWN Alouettes! Montreal 13 - Toronto 3 Robert Edwards just ran it in four yards for the first touchdown of the game. Edwards owes his O-line a bunch of T-bones after the game ... Bryan Chiu, Paul Lambert and Scott Flory essentially shovelled the Argos defence out of the way to give Edwards a clear path to the end zone.

2nd quarter, 3:26

AC is loving the pump fake today. 1st and goal from eight-yard line for the Alouettes.

2nd quarter, 4:59

Alouettes are moving up the field well thanks to a little brotherly love. Robert's been tearing up the Argos' soft run defence so far, while Terrence has seen the ball with a little catch and run action.

2nd quarter, 5:33

Ouch. Damon Allen just ate turf courtesy of reserve linebacker D'Wayne Taylor.

2nd quarter, 6:29

Montreal 6 - Toronto 3 41-yarder from Duval is good ... barely ... bounced off the right upright and through. Football is a game of inches, so they say ...

2nd quarter, 10:15

Prefontaine just missed a long field goal attempt. Ouch! Cobourne with a fantastic 77-yard return brings the Alouettes up to midfield.

2nd quarter, 13:00

Pinball withdrew his challenge. The boys upstairs must've given him the word.

2nd quarter, 13:27

Argos coach Michael (Pinball) Clemons has just thrown a challenge flag ... Arland Bruce III made a great catch as he was going out of bounds under double coverage. Looked like his toe came down first then his heel hit out of bounds.

1st quarter, 1:53

Montreal 3 - Toronto 3 Noel Prefontaine connects on a 22-yard field goal to tie the game.

1st quarter, 2:05

Hey-oh! Ricky just took a spill on the handoff ... actually Allen tripped him up.

1st quarter, 4:05

INTERCEPTION! Sheesh, two turnovers by AC within three minutes. That's not good. A tipped pass and Orlondo Steinauer scooped it up around the 50. Good field positioning for Allen and the Argos.

1st quarter, 6:45

FUMBLE! Ha - spoke too soon about Calvillo using all his tools. Calvillo faked tucking the ball into Edwards's hands, but bobbled it on the way out. I think that was big Riall Johnson of the Argos who hopped on the loose ball.

1st quarter, 8:20

Calvillo is using his tools early. Pump fakes and hitting his receivers on short routes, using running back Robert Edwards early ... they're already at the Argos 15.

1st quarter, 10:29

Not much happening on Toronto's first drive. Good to see Ricky Williams getting the ball early. Expect him and John Avery to share running duties all afternoon.

1st quarter, 12:13

Montreal 3 - Toronto 0 Damon Duval capped off Montreal's first drive with a 37-yard field goal ... just scrapes in off the left upright.

Kickoff

Shortish kick, Avon Cobourne runs a few yards, but the Alouettes have great field positioning to start the game. Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo has got to like that.

Kickoff

Argos kicking off the Alouettes ... HERE WE GO!

10 minutes to kickoff

Alouettes fans are all jacked up at the Big O. Thunder sticks, pyrotechnics ... they've got all the smoke and mirrors on the go.

20 minutes to kickoff

Montreal sealed home-field advantage with a 24-20 come-from-behind victory over Toronto in the final game of the regular season. They'll be playing at Olympic Stadium for the East title game instead of the confines of Percival Molson Stadium.

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