The defense gave up 29 points, actually ... not 38. And on top of that, let's see just how Montreal scored those points.
7 points off a drive that started in field goal range after a Buck Pierce INT on the first offensive possession ... so the defense gets NO break after a tough stop to start the game.
3 points off another Buck Pierce INT that gave Montreal the ball starting in FG range
3 points on the NEXT drive (again no break) after a Chad Simpson fumble AGAIN giving Montreal a chance to start with the ball in field goal range.
There's your first half. 13 points off turnovers and realistically, the lowest they were going to give up was 9 considering Montreal started in field goal range on every one of those drives and had only two plays off in between possessions on two of those.
3 points off a 12 play, 85 yard drive.
7 points off ANOTHER drive starting in field goal range after Burke's awful decision to punt in the end zone.
3 points off a 10 play, 49 yard drive.
3 points off a 6 play, 38 yard drive.
So basically, what it boils down to is that they held Montreal to field goals every single time they had a whole field behind them and even when the offense / coaching staff set them up for failure, they still held all but twice.
So yes, I'd absolutely say it was a dominating performance that was robbed by the offense. 29 points allowed, 13 of which were off turnovers that gave Montreal the ball in FG territory and you can even tack on the other 7 that resulted in them starting in FG range because of a bad coaching call. That leaves 9 points that Montreal actually busted their ass to earn.