The league's best offense meets the league's stingiest defense as Montreal tries to avenge its only loss of the season.
Game Details
- Matchup: Edmonton Elks at Montreal Alouettes
- When: Saturday, August 8 at 3:00 PM ET
- Where: Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, Montreal, QC
- TV: TSN
- Stream: Watch live on CFL+
Odds
- Spread: Montreal Alouettes -3
- Moneyline: Montreal Alouettes -218, Edmonton Elks +180
- Over/Under: 58
Montreal has been money for backers all year, sitting at 6-2 against the spread with six overs hit in eight tries. Edmonton's been the opposite story — 4-3 ATS but the under has cashed five times in seven games, which lines up with how they've made their living: grinding, low-scoring, defense-first football.
Overview
This is the marquee matchup of Week 10, and honestly, one of the best games the CFL can offer this season. The Montreal Alouettes (7-1) host the Edmonton Elks (6-2) at Percival Molson with top spot in the league standings on the line — Montreal's only blemish this year came against this same Elks team back in Week 3, a 32-29 overtime loss up in Edmonton. Everything since has gone Montreal's way. The Als have won five straight and haven't lost at home since sometime last season, riding Davis Alexander's arm and Travis Theis's legs through wins over Ottawa, Hamilton and a pair of shootouts with Calgary.
Edmonton's been nearly as good, just quieter about it. Cody Fajardo has been terrific since that Week 3 win, throwing for 1,418 yards and 8 touchdowns with zero interceptions over his last four starts, and he's 5-1 in his career against the franchise that used to employ him. But the Elks stumbled last week, dropping a 28-26 decision at home to Saskatchewan where self-inflicted penalties turned red-zone trips into field goals instead of touchdowns. That's the margin in a game like this — Edmonton can't afford to shoot itself in the foot against an Alouettes offense that's averaging north of 34 points a game.
The numbers say this should be tight. Edmonton leads the CFL in points allowed (25.0), opponent yards per play and turnover ratio (+11), while Montreal isn't far behind in most of those same categories. But Montreal's defense is banged up heading into this one — losing sacks leader Mustafa Johnson, tackling leader Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, and DB Najee Murray all to injury is a real problem against a Fajardo-led attack that's rolling. Still, give me the home team with the better quarterback play and the crowd behind them. Montreal's beaten a good chunk of the league over the past two months, and Edmonton's coming off a loss where the wheels came off late. Edge: Montreal.
Key Players
- Davis Alexander (Montreal Alouettes, QB) — Leads the CFL with 2,788 passing yards on a blistering 71.7% completion rate, and he's on pace to shatter Anthony Calvillo's franchise passing record.
- Tyson Philpot (Montreal Alouettes, WR) — The CFL's leading receiver at 1,023 yards became the fastest Canadian ever to hit 1,000 receiving yards last week, tying a CFL record held by Hall of Famers Hal Patterson and Terry Greer.
- Cody Fajardo (Edmonton Elks, QB) — Riding a torrid four-game stretch of 1,418 yards, 8 TDs and zero picks, and he owns a 5-1 career mark against his former team.
- Justin Rankin (Edmonton Elks, RB) — Torched Montreal for 179 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Week 3 meeting, and he's fourth in the league in rushing this season.
- Tyler Snead (Montreal Alouettes, WR) — Set a career high with 174 yards last week and sits just 36 yards shy of 3,000 for his Alouettes career.
Keys to the Game
- Montreal's shorthanded front seven needs to find pressure on Fajardo without Mustafa Johnson and Geoffrey Cantin-Arku in the lineup, or this turns into a track meet Edmonton wins.
- The Alouettes have to limit Justin Rankin on the ground after he ran wild in the first meeting — contain him and Edmonton's offense loses its balance.
- Davis Alexander and Tyson Philpot need to keep hitting on those explosive plays down the field, because Montreal led the league in big plays and that's the fastest way past a stout Edmonton secondary.
Injury Report
| Player | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Stevie Scott III (RB) | Montreal Alouettes | Out — Hamstring |
| Jerreth Sterns (WR) | Montreal Alouettes | Out — Hand |
| David Perales (DL) | Montreal Alouettes | Available — Adductor |
| Geoffrey Cantin-Arku (LB) | Montreal Alouettes | Out — Adductor |
| Najee Murray (DB) | Montreal Alouettes | Out — Head |
| Mustafa Johnson (DL) | Montreal Alouettes | Out — Knee |
| Wesley Sutton (DB) | Montreal Alouettes | Out — Calf |
| T.J. Guy (DL) | Montreal Alouettes | Out — Ribs |
| Robert Kennedy (DB) | Montreal Alouettes | Available — Not Injury Related |
Depth Chart
Montreal Alouettes starters by position, built from the club's official Week 10 depth chart. Presented as projected — subject to change with in-week roster moves.
| Position | Montreal Alouettes |
|---|---|
| QB | Davis Alexander (Dustin Crum, Terry Wilson) |
| RB | Travis Theis (Rushawn Baker) |
| FB | Jacob Mason |
| WR (Boundary) | Alexander Hollins, Tyler Snead (Devonte Dedmon) |
| WR (Field) | Tyson Philpot, Cole Spieker (Kaseem Ferdinand) |
| REC | Marco Dubois |
| OL | Nick Callender (LT), Pier-Olivier Lestage (LG), Cyrille Hogan-Saindon (C), Donny Ventrelli (RG), Tiger Shanks (RT) |
| DL | Kylan Guidry, David Perales, Lwal Uguak, Daniel Wise, Ty Anderson, Decarius Hawthorne, Joshua Archibald, Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund |
| LB | Tyrell Richards, Tyrice Beverette, Alexandre Gagné, Donovan Manuel, Micah Awe, Arthur Hamlin, Gemon Green |
| DB | Shakespeare Louis, Faion Hicks, Lorenzo Burns, Robert Kennedy III, Jonathan Sutherland, Nate Beauchemin, Kabion Ento |
| K | Jose Maltos Diaz |
| P | Joseph Zema |
| LS | Louis-Philippe Bourassa |
| RET | Devonte Dedmon |
Score Prediction
Montreal Alouettes 31 - Edmonton Elks 28. This one plays out like the Week 3 game in reverse — a track meet between the two hottest offenses in the league, with Montreal's home crowd and Davis Alexander's record-pace arm just enough to get the Als past a defense that's forced turnovers all year but can't quite slow down Tyson Philpot and Tyler Snead when it matters most.
CFL Standings | Full Schedule | League Leaders
Who takes this one? Drop your prediction in the comments.