Montreal Alouettes Etienne Boulay, right, pushes the Edmonton Eskimos Fred Stamps out of bounds, during first half CFL action in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday, July 11, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John UlanJohn Ulan/The Canadian Press
It can probably be likened to the typical middle-aged male's experience with hair: You have it, then it starts to go, and before you know it everything is bare.
Defensive consistency in the pass-wacky CFL is an elusive and maddening quantity. Just ask the Montreal Alouettes.
Montreal (9-4) has allowed an average of just under 24 points a game this season, but has yielded 86 in its past two (roughly a quarter of the 337 the Als have allowed this season, which itself is more than they gave up all last year.) The Grey Cup defending champions' pass defence has been especially gruesome in the past two games - a last-minute win against Winnipeg and a 46-21 spanking at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders - allowing touchdown completions of 100, 61, and 74 yards and more than 700 passing yards in total.
There have been busted coverages, bad positioning, and, most galling to coaches, missed tackles and sluggish ball pursuit.
"It's embarrassing to lose that way, no question," safety Étienne Boulay said. "We didn't tackle, we didn't play physically, we didn't play with any effort. Our game plan wasn't the problem, it was the way we executed: Not lining up in the right place, not having our eyes in the right place, and we got caught."
So, is it safe to expect a highly motivated and revenge-minded Als on Monday in the return date with league-leading Calgary (10-3)?
"We've had a good week of practice, you can't reinvent the wheel," Boulay said. "We just have to get back to basics: effort level, pursuit angles, tackling and physical play. That's the recipe for success."
The Als will need to arrest a slide that began in the fortunate 44-40 victory in Winnipeg two weeks ago.
As in each of Marc Trestman's previous two seasons at the Montreal helm, it was an encounter with the Blue Bombers that upset the season's fragile defensive balance.
"We saw guys schematically a couple of times who weren't in position and we saw opportunities to make tackles that we didn't make and we didn't go to the ball with the collective sense of urgency we normally see in our football team," Trestman said. "I look at the Winnipeg game a year ago, where we went down there and had a similar instance of them just dominating the game with big plays ... and I felt we had a bit of a lull two seasons ago when we played Winnipeg at home late in the season."
And call it a byproduct of optimism or a champion's swagger, but despite the rocky patches of the past two seasons, the Als didn't see this one coming.
"I don't think people expect it, when you play 18 games you try to stay as consistent as possible, and for the most part, we have. We're still 9-4, but as a total unit - offence, defence, special teams - it wasn't good enough, not even close to beating anybody last week," quarterback Anthony Calvillo said.
Added veteran defensive end Anwar Stewart, "you can't turn the switch off and then turn it on, you've got to keep that switch on all the time."
The principal subplot to Monday's tilt is Montreal slotback Ben Cahoon's continuing pursuit of the four catches he needs to eclipse Terry Vaughn's CFL record of 1,006 receptions.
Cahoon said the attention paid to his impending feat "doesn't bother me," before saying in the next breath: "it's kind of a nuisance though. So I guess it does bother me - check that.
"I'd prefer to win a game, no matter whether any balls are thrown in my direction," the 38-year-old smiled.
Trestman will also have to choose between kickers Colt David, who was with the team in training camp, and Sam Swank, a recent cut from the New York Giants, to fill in for the injured Damon Duval.
They have been engaged in a weeklong head-to-head competition, Trestman will declare a winner Saturday.