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MONTREAL — For evidence of the gulf separating the Montreal Alouettes from the rest of the CFL's East Division, look no further than Sunday's clinical 45-19 dismantling of the Toronto Argonauts.
The Alouettes strolled to their seventh victory of the season — against three defeats — behind a sterling effort from quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who threw three touchdowns and scored a fourth on an eight-yard scamper.
With eight games remaining in the season, it's a bit premature to say the Als have a stranglehold on the East title, but it certainly seems theirs to lose.
Indeed, Montreal was able to notch a fifth consecutive win and did so without injured running back Avon Cobourne, the CFL's leading rusher.
"We started out slow, but the guys just kept sawing wood," head coach Marc Trestman said.
Though his team is clearly the class of the East, Trestman wouldn't be drawn into a discussion about why that is.
"I can't control the big picture," he said, "we can only control what we're doing. We're going to keep our mindset that way and keep growing as a team. … It's coach cliché, but it's true.,"
Slotback Ben Cahoon, who caught a game-best 11 passes for 110 yards, said the Alouettes' return to dominance after a disappointing 8-10 season in 2007 is about more than tactical improvements or personal performances.
"I think we're playing for each other more than in any other year that I've been here," the 11-year veteran said, "and I give credit to coach Trestman for creating that atmosphere."
And that atmosphere has been a demanding, exhausting quest for improvement, Cahoon said, adding "hard work is kind of a glue that holds us together."
Calvillo echoed the sentiment, saying the team has regained its swagger.
"We all believe in what the coaches are teaching us, across the board, and it's making a huge difference for us right now," he said.
"We really don't care about the other teams in the East, we don't care about their record, we're just trying to concentrate on what we can do."
Montreal has scored at least 30 points in all, but one of its 10 games this season.
But the defence was at least as valuable Sunday, provoking three turnovers and limiting Toronto to 297 total yards — only 38 on the ground.
The Als also scored a special-teams touchdown — they also gave one up — and provoked a key fumble on a punt return that was swiftly converted into seven points.
Trestman pointed to the performance of the defensive line and linebackers, who swarmed, harried and battered Toronto quarterback Kerry Joseph throughout the game.
Joseph's first act of the game was to heave a 40-yard pass to his right, which was picked off by Alouettes cornerback Davis Sanchez.
And his last involvement of the first half was to toss his second interception, snagged by defensive end Anwar Stewart, as he was driven into the turf by Montreal's defensive line.
The Argos, through stout defensive work of their own, were able to keep the Alouettes off the scoreboard in a turgid first quarter, but the Als struck for two touchdowns and a field goal in the second quarter.
A 92-yard kickoff return from Dominique Dorsey early in the second half gave the Argos cause for optimism, but it was short-lived as Montreal steamrolled the Toronto defence for 28 second-half points, including 21 in the final quarter.
Argos coach Rich Stubler, whose team now sits at 4-6, conceded Montreal is far ahead of his own squad.
"I think they're executing very well, their defence is playing with great high intensity and they're able to score early," he said.
After the setback, Stubler took as sunny a view as possible in the circumstances.
"We don't need to be ahead of Montreal when we finish the playoffs," he said. "We need to get to the playoffs, we need to be better than two football teams."
And if Toronto's previous loss to the Alouettes — before last month's bye week — was cause for the coaches to retool their defence, it may be time to rethink the rethink.
Calvillo was able to take advantage of a youthful secondary, and though Montreal was limited to 127 yards rushing, the defence's vulnerabilities across the middle of the field were laid bare.
"We need to change, and we're going to," Stubler said, adding he is still tinkering with the defensive schemes.
Calvillo connected on a season-best 36 passes (accumulating 369 yards), and also moved past former Toronto and Edmonton Eskimos great Matt Dunigan into sole possession of third place on the CFL's career touchdown completions list.
The plodding Calvillo even ran the ball into the end zone and rushed for 31 yards, compared with the much fleeter Joseph's 17.
In truth, the news would have been worse for the Argos were it not for some lackadaisical play from Cahoon, who coughed the ball up on the 5 yard line while trying to score late in the third quarter.
The Alouettes also missed two field-goal attempts.
