Inside the CFL: Tea leaves may look ominous, but Alouettes unperturbed before East final

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Twelve years have passed since that infamous day. Enough time for Brian Bratton to laugh about it, albeit with some bittersweet emotion, knowing the inevitable question is coming.

“It came down to that last play, and it’s really ironic,” Bratton told The Gazette this week from Indianapolis, where he’s an offensive quality control/wide receivers coach with the NFL’s Colts. “Looking back over my career in Canada with Anthony Calvillo, he hit me on a lot of scrambles. He would break the pocket and would kind of just find me. We had that comfort level.

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“It seemed like the same type of play. I was wide open, he scrambled, looked and threw it. Everybody in the building probably thought that was a sure touchdown.”

On Nov. 18, 2012, the Alouettes lost 27-20 to the Toronto Argonauts in the East Division final before 50,122 spectators at Olympic Stadium. Montreal had the opportunity to tie the game with 39 seconds remaining, but Bratton dropped a third-down pass in the end zone.

Different accounts of the play surfaced that day with most fans and media members laying blame on Bratton. However, it appeared the pass was tipped by Pacino Horne, altering the trajectory, and the Toronto defender also blocked Bratton’s view. The pass deflected off Bratton’s hands and the upset was complete. Montreal was denied a third Grey Cup appearance — and third potential CFL championship — in four years.

One week later, the Argos, who were playing at home, defeated Calgary in the title game.

“The guy from Toronto — you slow down the film and you can see it — he made a play, got a finger on the ball,” Bratton said. “It changed the trajectory just enough to where I couldn’t reposition my hands. It was a tough moment, but not for one second did I think I lost the game. One play doesn’t cost you a game. It does impact it.

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“Whether it was tipped, a bad ball, out of position or somebody in the way, that was my ball. I (usually) came down with that ball. That time I didn’t. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to give my team a chance to win the game. It was an awful feeling to not come through. I wish I could have been the hero. For whatever reason, I wasn’t.”

It would be the last play of Bratton’s six-year CFL career, all spent with the Alouettes. He was 30 at the time, limited to 13 games because of a knee injury. He was released the following February, two weeks before becoming eligible for free agency. And although he received calls from other teams, Bratton already had committed to become the wide receivers coach at North Greenville University in South Carolina. He’s in his third season with Indianapolis.

“I remember the drop like it was yesterday because that was so unlike him,” Chip Cox, a linebacker on that 2012 team, said from his home in Johnstown, Ohio. “He had made plenty of big plays in his career. When I saw the ball go in the air, I thought we’re good. Then he dropped it. Are you freaking kidding me? That’s about all I remember.

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“I was furious,” added Cox, who spent his entire 13-year CFL career with Montreal and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2022. “I felt bad at how mad I was at him for dropping the ball. Now, looking back, I realize that’s part of the game. I don’t think I talked to him for a while. Nobody except my wife knows how mad I was. This is the first time I’m sharing this. I was furious. I shouldn’t have been that mad.”

While that one Bratton play stood out, the Alouettes also squandered a 17-10 halftime lead and was outscored 17-3 over the final 30 minutes. Toronto’s Chad Owens established a team playoff record with 207 receiving yards, adding another 139 return yards for a total of 346. Montreal’s entire team offence was 394 yards.

Argos tailback Chad Kackert had 13 carries for 139 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown run up the middle. Toronto quarterback Ricky Ray passed for 399 yards. Meanwhile, Calvillo, at age 40, was intercepted twice by Marcus Ball. Calvillo would suffer a concussion at Saskatchewan the following season and forced to retire. That division final also was the last for head coach Marc Trestman, hired two months later in the same capacity by the Chicago Bears.

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That 2012 season was the end of an era for the Als, who reached the Grey Cup eight times over 11 years. While they made the playoffs the next two seasons, they did so without a winning record and failed to qualify for the post-season between 2015-18.

Montreal’s fortunes have now changed. The team captured its first Grey Cup since 2010 last season, finished first this year and is preparing to host its first division final since 2012 Saturday afternoon at Molson Stadium against the Argos, who will be seeking revenge for last season’s 38-17 drubbing administered at home by the Alouettes in the division final.

Toronto was 16-2 in 2023, yet failed to reach the Cup. The Als went 12-5-1 this season, but lost their last two and three of their final four. If the tea leaves look ominous, Calvillo, Montreal’s offensive co-ordinator/quarterbacks coach, isn’t perturbed.

“You want to earn that first-round (playoff) bye,” he said. “That’s what every team tells itself when you start the season. When you don’t do it, you tell yourself a story. It’s natural to compare the two seasons. Every team would love to be in this situation.”

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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