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If they say offence wins games and defence wins championships, the Alouettes may be alright come November. But its July and the season has gotten off on the wrong foot for Montreals offence. On the other side of the ball, despite a 1-2 record, the defence can say they are doing their job. The last two weeks Noel Thorpes crew has given up only three touchdowns -- two goal-line QB sneaks against Winnipeg and a tipped ball that landed in the hands of Nik Lewis versus Calgary. "I love my defense; we knew going into camp we were going to be a scrappy physical bunch," defensive lineman John Bowman said. The unit is led by Thorpe, the Alouettes defensive coordinator. Hired prior to Marc Trestman leaving to become head coach of the Chicago Bears, Thorpes previous positions included stops at the Université de Montreal where he was the defensive coordinator and in Edmonton as the special teams coordinator for the Eskimos. Early on he has earned instant respect from his players including defensive back Byron Parker. "Our front seven is playing amazing football right now," Parker said. "Hats off to the front line, coach Thorpe is calling a great game." In three games Montreal has four interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and 14 sacks. The high-level play of the defence has only increased the pressure on the underperforming offence. However, Parker dismissed any concern the team had for its offensive leader, Anthony Calvillo. "Im not worried about AC, hes a living legend," Parker said. Fellow defensive back Geoff Tisdale echoed Parkers sentiments about the rest of the offence. "Were a team, were a family, we got to stick together," Tisdale said. "We are built to get the ball back for our offence, thats what we are going to do every game." The Alouettes are refusing to hit the panic button, realizing there were similar concerns last season about the early struggles of the defence and they were able to turn things around. "We are going to get it together, its an 18-game season, we have seven more home games and we are going to take it one game at a time," Parker said. Although the Als defence looks like it is championship caliber, the offence needs to step up in a rematch with the Stampeders this Saturday in Calgary and prove it can win a game. Notes: Last week vs. the Stamps, Montreal had six penalties of at least 15 yards…Nik Lewis had as many second down conversions as the Alouettes had as a team…The Als Defense limited the Stampeders to three field goals and one touchdown in four trips to the redzone… Montreal only had one trip to the redzone and it came on their opening drive. Darius Bazley Jersey . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Russell Westbrook Thunder Jersey . The next step is a better finish. 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Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.For all that cricket is a team game, it is ultimately a series of individual battles that decide the outcome. The Test series between India and England has all the ingredients to be an absolute corker, with a number of top class performers on either side.Hosts India go in as strong favourites in conditions that are expected to expose Englands weaknesses but here, with the help of former England skipper Nasser Hussain, we look at three key head-to-head clashes that could make all the difference come the end of the five-match run… Ravichandran Ashwin v Alastair Cook Alastair Cook has an excellent record in Asia As an opening batsman, Cooks main challenge is usually trying to get the better of a burly fast bowler. The 6ft 5in Ashwin fits half that description but it is the wily off-spinners carrom ball rather than the late swing of the new cherry the England skipper must be wary of in India. Ashwin may not take the new ball but with spin-friendly conditions a near-certainty, it wont be long before Cook will be faced by the worlds No 1 ranked Test bowler.However, Cook boasts an impressive record in the subcontinent, is a superb player of spin and excelled during Englands triumphant tour of India in 2012. Doing so again would mean overcoming arguably the games most in-form bowler. Whoever comes out on top of this particular battle will have significantly improved their sides chances of success... Ravichandran Ashwin has a phenomenal record on home soil Nasser says: The way Ashwin has bowled over the last couple of years and in particular the way hes bowled to left-handers - his record against left-handers is absolutely phenomenal, I think its even better than Graeme Swanns was.Obviously Cook is a wonderful player of spin and hes got more runs than anyone other foreign player in Asian conditions. He had a reasonably quiet time of it in Bangladesh so that battle - their star bowler against one of our star batsmen is going to be absolutely vital.They might not open with Ashwin as Bangladesh did with the Mehedi Hasan but if Cook can show the left-handers a game plan and a way of going about playing Ashwin while he is in the middle, that will calm and comfort the dressing room. That is going to be a massive battle.Ravindra Jadeja v Joe Root Ravindra Jadeja celebrates dismissing Joe Root during Indias 2014 tour of England How England cope against spin is likely to be the biggest factor in the outcome of the series and it is not just Ashwin they have to worry about. The left-arm spin of Jadeja will also test the England batsmen, in particular the right-handers with the ball spinning away from them.Of those right-handers, Root will be seen as the prize wicket for India. The England No 3 has established himself as one of the worlds leading batsmen in any conditions and the tourists will need him to prove it again, and deal with Jadejas threat, in the next two months... As ever, Root will be a key player for England in the five-match series in India Nasser says: Root, with Cook, is one of Englands best two players of spin. A lot of the talk has been about Ashwin and the way he has bowled recently. But Jadeja in home conditions where the odd one turns and the odd one doesnt will be a handful, especially for Englands right-handers.Even though Root has a fabulous record in Test matches against left-arm spin - he averages about 67 against left-arm spin - recently in one-day cricket and against Bangladesh hes been getting out to left-arm spin to balls that dont turn, like the ball that got him at Dhaka.Jadeja is very clever, hell bowl the odd slower ball that spins, he challenges both edges of the bat and hell suddenly bowl that quicker ball and with DRS now being used in India as well, it brings in the lbws.Virat Kohli v Stuart Broad Virat Kohli hit a career-best 211 in Indias most-recent Test series Indias premier batsmen against the leader of the England bowling attack, certainly with James Anderson missing for the first Test at the very least.ddddddddddddKohli struggled on Indias most recent tour of England as the hosts seamers - Broad included - found a frailty just outside his off stump.Two years on and in home conditions, keeping Kohli under wraps is a different proposition entirely. The 28-year-old now captains his country and is considered the worlds best batsman by many, recently striking a career-best 211 in the Test series with New Zealand.However, Englands seamers continue to impresse, even on pitches offering them next-to-no support with Broad at the forefront. If he is able to find a bit of swing with the new ball, use his cutters to good effect and get the ball reversing later in the innings, Broad may fancy his chances of coming out on top against Kohli... Watch all five Tests live on Sky Sports as Alastair Cooks side take on the No 1 side in the world Nasser says: This is another massive one. Kohli is obviously Indias star player, a fabulous player and hes in great form of late.He went through a quiet patch a couple of months ago in Test match cricket but just towards the end of that New Zealand series, in all forms of the game, hes been absolutely phenomenal - a run machine. So he goes into the series in good nick.Obviously, last time he was in England, he struggled. England bowled very well at him and he didnt get many runs at all - he kept nicking off outside off stump. England bowled a fifth stump line and got him edging, playing away from his body. India vs England November 9, 2016, 3:30am Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass That is in England, in India with not so much movement, not so much bounce and carry, you might not even have two slips at times. I think theyll be a bit more in it for Englands seamers in India than there was in Bangladesh but that isnt difficult because there was nothing at all for them there, apart from a bit of reverse swing.England will have to get him in early and theyve been helped a bit by the amount of injuries India have had - Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are missing for the first Test - so there is an opportunity. The lads they are bringing in are good players, Gautam Gambhir and so on but the key man is still Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara is in good nick at No 3.So if they can get him in early or, if its a bit later, get that ball reversing and hope that there is enough carry and bounce to get Kohli playing away from his body, they have a chance.Watch the first Test between India and England from 3.30am on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD. Also See: England XI for the first Test? Ashwin: Indias spin wizard Bairstows 2016 run-blitz Ind v Eng: Story of 2012 ' ' '