# 2011 Montreal Alouettes season

The 2011 Montreal Alouettes season was the 45th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 57th overall. The Alouettes finished in second place in the East Division with a 10–8 record. The Alouettes attempted to three-peat as Grey Cup champions, after winning back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010, but lost to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Semi-Final game. The Alouettes opened their training camp at Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec on June 5.

## Offseason
### CFL draft

The 2011 CFL Draft took place on Sunday, May 8, 2011. The Alouettes had seven selections in the draft, including the eighth overall pick, which they used to select placekicker and punter Brody McKnight. Montreal came into draft day needing a kicker, and traded a 2012 first round pick for Sean Whyte. Because McKnight has one more year of eligibility, he will not be able to join the Alouettes until 2012. Other notables in the draft include Vaughn Martin, who was ranked as the sixth overall prospect, but his draft stock dropped immensely due to the fact that he had already been with the NFL's San Diego Chargers for two years. Should Martin choose to enter the CFL at any point in his career, the Alouettes would hold the rights to sign him.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | School/Club Team |
| 1 | 8 | Brody McKnight | K/P | Montana |
| 2 | 16 | Anthony Barrette | OL | Concordia |
| 3 | 23 | Philip Blake | OL | Baylor |
| 4 | 25 | Renaldo Sagesse | DL | Michigan |
| 4 | 31 | Reed Alexander | OL | Calgary |
| 5 | 39 | Vaughn Martin | DL | Western Ontario |
| 6 | 47 | Blaine Ruttan | LB | Carson-Newman |

### Notable transactions

| Date | Type | Incoming | Outgoing | Team |
| January 26, 2011 | Retirement | – | Ben Cahoon (SB) | Montreal Alouettes |
| January 28, 2011 | Re-Signing | Anthony Calvillo (QB) | – | Montreal Alouettes |

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Venue | Score | Result | Attendance | Record |
| A | Thurs, June 16 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Molson Stadium | 27–15 | Win | 21,223 | 1–0 |
| B | Wed, June 22 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 57–20 | Loss | 26,732 | 1–1 |
    # Games played with white uniforms.

## Regular season
### Season Standings

East Divisionviewtalkedit :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts | |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 432 | 432 | 20 | Details |
| Montreal Alouettes | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 515 | 468 | 20 | Details |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 481 | 478 | 16 | Details |
| Toronto Argonauts | 18 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 397 | 498 | 12 | Details |

### Season Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Venue | Score | Result | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | Thurs, June 30 | BC Lions | Molson Stadium | 30–26 | Win | 22,317 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Sat, July 9 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | Mosaic Stadium | 39–25 | Win | 30,045 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Fri, July 15 | Toronto Argonauts | Molson Stadium | 40–17 | Win | 24,698 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Sun, July 24 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Molson Stadium | 27–24 | Loss | 24,434 | 3–1 |
| 5 | Fri, July 29 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 34–26 | Loss | 24,068 | 3–2 |
| 6 | Thurs, Aug 4 | at Toronto Argonauts | Rogers Centre | 36–23 | Win | 19,204 | 4–2 |
| 7 | Thurs, Aug 11 | Edmonton Eskimos | Molson Stadium | 27–4 | Win | 24,448 | 5–2 |
| 8 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 5–2 |
| 9 | Sat, Aug 27 | at Calgary Stampeders | McMahon Stadium | 38–31 | Loss | 30,386 | 5–3 |
| 10 | Mon, Sept 5 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 44–21 | Loss | 26,964 | 5–4 |
| 11 | Sun, Sept 11 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Molson Stadium | 43–13 | Win | 24,304 | 6–4 |
| 12 | Sun, Sept 18 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Molson Stadium | 25–23 | Loss | 24,642 | 6–5 |
| 13 | Fri, Sept 23 | at Edmonton Eskimos | Commonwealth Stadium | 34–21 | Win | 40,274 | 7–5 |
| 14 | Fri, Sept 30 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Canad Inns Stadium | 32–26 | Win | 30,447 | 8–5 |
| 15 | Mon, Oct 10 | Toronto Argonauts | Molson Stadium | 29–19 | Win | 23,960 | 9–5 |
| 16 | Sun, Oct 16 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Molson Stadium | 27–25 | Win | 23,668 | 10–5 |
| 17 | Sat, Oct 22 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Canad Inns Stadium | 26–25 | Loss | 30,360 | 10–6 |
| 18 | Sun, Oct 30 | Calgary Stampeders | Molson Stadium | 32–27 | Loss | 24,051 | 10–7 |
| 19 | Sat, Nov 5 | at BC Lions | BC Place Stadium | 43–1 | Loss | 35,454 | 10–8 |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.
    # Games played with white uniforms.

## Awards and records
### Milestones

On July 15, 2011, quarterback Anthony Calvillo became the CFL's all-time passing touchdown leader with a first-quarter touchdown, passing Damon Allen's previous mark of 394 with his 395th touchdown pass, against Allen's former team, the Toronto Argonauts. The pass was completed to receiver Éric Deslauriers, who recorded his first touchdown reception since 2007.
On October 10, 2011, quarterback Anthony Calvillo became pro footballs all-time passing leader with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jamel Richardson, also against the Toronto Argonauts.

## Playoffs
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Time | Opponent | Venue | Score | Result | Attendance |
| East Semi-Final | Nov 13 | 1:00 PM EST | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Olympic Stadium | 52–44 (OT) | Loss | 33,051 |
    # Games played with colour uniforms.

### Bracket

| November 13: Division Semi-Finals | November 13: Division Semi-Finals | November 13: Division Semi-Finals | November 20: Division Finals | November 20: Division Finals | November 20: Division Finals | November 27: 99th Grey Cup BC Place Stadium – Vancouver | November 27: 99th Grey Cup BC Place Stadium – Vancouver | November 27: 99th Grey Cup BC Place Stadium – Vancouver |
| | | | E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 3 | | | |
| East | East | East | E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 3 | | | |
| East | East | East | E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 19 | | | |
| E3 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 52* | E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 19 | | | |
| E2 | Montreal Alouettes | 44 | | | | | | |
| E2 | Montreal Alouettes | 44 | | | | E1 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 23 |
| | | | | | | W1 | BC Lions | 34 |
| | | | W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 23 | | | |
| West | West | West | W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 23 | | | |
| West | West | West | W1 | BC Lions | 40 | | | |
| W3 | Calgary Stampeders | 19 | W1 | BC Lions | 40 | | | |
| W2 | Edmonton Eskimos | 33 | | | | | | |
*-Team won in Overtime.

### East Semi-Final

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Tiger-Cats | 10 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 8 | 52 |
| Alouettes | 3 | 13 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 44 |