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MONTREAL — As statements of intent go, it fell some distance short of subtle. From the moment quarterback Anthony Calvillo took his first snap Sunday, it was evident the Montreal Alouettes would be airing the ball out early and often against the Edmonton Eskimos.
And heave it Calvillo did, opening the game with seven consecutive passing plays to march his CFL team for a field goal on its initial drive, going 5-for-7 for 59 yards in the process.
It was a sign of things to come as the premier team in the East Division sought to alter the perception that it can't compete against the cream of the West.
In a contest pitting the league's two pre-eminent passing teams, Montreal, 8-4, staked its claim as the undisputed best, rolling up 576 yards of total offence and coasting to a 40-4 shellacking of the Eskimos, 7-5.
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The Alouettes scored points on six consecutive possessions to open the game — Montreal kicker Damon Duval didn't punt a ball in anger until five minutes had expired in the third quarter — and didn't look back.
Despite the advance billing, the Eskimos' vaunted offence barely put up a fight, scoring an anemic four points while amassing 358 total yards.
Led by a pinpoint passing attack and stifling defence, the Alouettes rolled to a 30-4 halftime lead, and piled up 386 total yards in the process. Calvillo threw for 299 yards in the opening half.
Calvillo ended up with a season-best 414 yards, completing 31 of 38 attempts and connecting for two touchdowns. He now has a league-leading 28 touchdown passes.
"It was just one of those days where things were working," Calvillo said. "We didn't turn the ball over, and we stayed on the field."
Three Montreal receivers — Ben Cahoon, Jamel Richardson and Kerry Watkins — topped the 100-yard mark, and throughout the game the Alouettes' passing game sliced the Edmonton defence apart.
"It all starts with the coaches and how they create this offence. We had a lot of new plays in here, it created a lot of separation for guys and guys got open," Calvillo said.
Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman played down the idea Sunday was a message game, even though it came in the midst of a run in which Montreal plays Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatchewan in consecutive weeks.
"No, it wasn't. It was a win against a very good football team … there are good teams all across the board. We didn't win those games against the West when we went out there, but that's all part of our growing process as a football team," Trestman said.
Edmonton coach Danny Maciocia, a Montreal native who spent five years as an Als assistant, was plainly disgusted by his team's performance.
"We were terrible," said Maciocia, suggesting the debacle was the worst game the Eskimos have played since he moved to Edmonton as offensive co-ordinator in 2002.
Indeed, the Eskimos showed a startling ineptitude at hanging on to the ball, fumbling it away five times.
The Als were clearly second best a week ago against the Calgary Stampeders — going into Sunday Montreal was 1-4 against Western teams. But the Eskimos were confronted with a different reality at Percival Molson Stadium, where the Als have lost only once this season.
When Calvillo hooked up with Richardson on a 58-yard bomb with 40 seconds to play in the first half, the game was effectively over.
On the defensive side of the ball, Montreal also seemed intent on setting the tone early. On the Eskimos' first series, the secondary hammered star receiver Kelly Campbell as he tried to catch a pass across the middle. He left the game and didn't return.
The Alouettes defensive line, badly overmatched against Calgary, rebounded with a dominant performance, sacking Ricky Ray six times.
Rookie defensive end Jermaine McElveen was a revelation, chalking up three sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
"Jermaine rebounded from last week … he came back and practised hard, and [the front four] all did," Trestman said.
The game was the first head-to-head matchup this season between the league's two best quarterbacks, Calvillo and Ray.
The latter entered the game with the edge in terms of the major passing statistics, but despite a 14-for-17 performance, Calvillo played him off the park.
Jason Maas took over from Ray in the fourth quarter. Maas was scarcely more effective. On the rare occasions the Eskimos threatened, they engineered their own failure.
After mounting a charge in the third quarter, the Esks blew perhaps their best chance to make it a contest when Ray was sacked on a third-down scramble on Montreal's 3-yard line. Predictably, he fumbled.
With his team up 40-4 in the late stages, Trestman, who is in his first year in the CFL, twice elected to pass up field-goal attempts and gamble on third down with the Alouettes deep in Edmonton territory.
"I'm learning how to play the game, and I want to do it the right way, and I thought the best way to do it was to run the ball and use as much clock as we could," the coach said. "That's a very good football team we played. … I think we'll see them again."
