The Montreal Alouettes head to Toronto to take on the Argonauts to close out week 17. It will be the third and final meeting between the two of the regular season. Both of the previous meetings this season saw the road team win with Montreal winning in Toronto in week 4 and Toronto winning in Montreal in week 6.

Last week saw Montreal defeat Ottawa on the road 24-12 while Toronto lost at home 31-33 to Hamilton. Montreal has won their last 10 road games which is the third longest streak of victories on the road in CFL history.

CFL Power Rankings Week 16

Predictions: CFL News Hub Writers’ Week 17 Picks

Game Details:

Date/Location: Saturday, September 28 /BMO Field, Toronto, ON

Kickoff Time: 7:00 PM ET, 6:00 PM CT

Channel: TSN (Canada), CFL+ (USA, Global)

Odds: 

Spread: Montreal -1.5 (-118), Toronto +1.5 (-104)

Moneyline: Montreal -130, Toronto +108

Over/Under: 51.5 (Over -110, Under -110)

If you do place bets please do so responsibly and if you may have a gambling problem please seek help.

Montreal Alouettes: Montreal is coming off a 24-12 win over Ottawa in which Ottawa never had the lead. Montreal’s defense held Ottawa to a slow start and also put the first points on the board with a Dionte Ruffin pick-six. Montreal’s pass defense saw Dru Brown get pulled from the game in favor of Jeremiah Masoli after Brown was held to 8 completions over 16 attempts for 69 yards and 2 interceptions.

Last week saw Cody Fajardo complete 16 of his 27 passes for 226 yards. Fajardo added 29 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on 7 rushes. Charleston Rambo was the leading receiver for Montreal catching 4 of his 8 targets for 77 yards. Tyler Snead was the 2nd most targeted as he caught 3 of his 6 targets for 40 yards. Walter Fletcher rushed 8 times for 36 yards, 4.5 yards per carry.

Toronto Argonauts: Toronto has hung around a .500 record for most of the season despite being without starting quarterback Chad Kelly for the first 9 games due to his suspension. Kelly has now completed 66.5% of his passes for 1,630 yards with 6 touchdowns and 7 interceptions over 5 games. The Argos are currently 3rd in the East with a 2-game lead over Hamilton and 1 game behind Ottawa. 

Alouettes Keys to the Game

More Protective Gameplan for Fajardo by Running the Ball More

The Alouettes have the fewest rushing yards in the league. Montreal has had success offensively while seldom running the ball. However, more run plays would help keep Fajardo protected by keeping the opposition’s pass rush honest. Last week saw him sacked 3 times and by my count hit on 6 additional dropbacks. There was also a QB draw at the end of each half last week and in my opinion, it would have been better to hand the ball off to one of the 3 runningbacks dressed in both of those scenarios to spare Fajardo from taking more contact.

Fajardo was visibly in pain last week for much of the game often holding the right side of his abdomen. With Montreal having such a large lead in the standings I would recommend catering the gameplan to avoid having him take more hits than necessary.

More Run Stops

Montreal currently is tied for 2nd in longest average rush yards allowed from their opponent at 5.4 per rush. It’s partially due to how Montreal schemes defensively often having only 3 defensive linemen at the line with creative post snap coverage and pass rush schemes. These plays are working well. If Montreal can see their defense win more plays defending against the run they will have a more well-rounded defense than what is already a very effective defense.

Get Pressure on Chad Kelly

The last time Chad Kelly played Montreal was in the Eastern Final in which he threw 4 interceptions with 1 touchdown. If the Alouettes can get frequent pressure on him and make the backfield less comfortable for him then it will make it more difficult for him to shake off those memories.

Tight Pass Coverage Downfield

Kelly currently has the most passing yards per game and has one of the longer passing yards per attempt at 9.1. It will be important for the coverage to be tight downfield against him.

6 Alouettes to Watch

#26 LB Tyrice Beverette

Last week Beverette led the team in tackles with 7 and also had 2 special teams tackles. He had 4 total pressures, a solo run stop, a shared run stop, and made a stop against a passing play. He currently leads the league in tackles with 91.

#94 DT Mustafa Johnson

Last week Johnson had 2 tackles including a sack and batted 2 passes. He applied pressure on 5 separate plays in the pass rush and was in on 2 shared run stops. Johnson has 34 tackles and 6 sacks this season.

#91 DE Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund

Last week Adeyemi-Berglund had a sack and generated pressure on 5 additional plays. Adeyemi-Berglund has 32 tackles, 5 sacks, and a forced fumble this season.

#48 CB Kabion Ento

Ento has been very good in coverage this season. Last week he saw 3 targets come his way and broke up one of them. Only 1 target resulted in a completion which was for 2 yards. He has 41 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 2 forced fumbles this season.

#85 WR Tyler Snead

Snead was the 2nd most targetted receiver last week which saw him catch 3 of his 6 targets for 40 yards. Snead has 9 catches for 140 yards in 3 games this season.

#14 WR Charleston Rambo

Snead was the 2nd most targetted receiver last week which saw him catch 3 of his 6 targets for 40 yards. Snead has 9 catches for 140 yards in 3 games this season.

6 Argonauts to Watch

#86 WR Damonte Coxie

Coxie leads the team in receiving having caught 47 passes for 683 yards and 4 touchdowns. Last week saw him catch 5 of his 7 targets for 45 yards.

#15 WR Makai Polk

Polk has 43 catches for 613 yards and 4 touchdowns this season as a CFL rookie. Last week he caught 2 passes for 42 yards and a touchdown.

#80 WR DaVaris Daniels

Daniels is often a favorite target of Chad Kelly. He has 38 receptions for 512 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season. Last week he had 4 receptions for 118 yards.

#25 RB Ka’Deem Carey

Carey has rushed 159 times this season for 872 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns. Last week he rushed 7 times for 65 yards (9.3 average). Last Toronto had the run game have contributions from 3 runningbacks as Deonta McMahon rushed 5 times for 29 yards and Daniel Adeboboye rushed 6 times for 26 yards.

#8 DB DaShaun Amos

Amos has 19 tackles and 5 interceptions this season. Only 2 players have more interceptions than him this season thus far.

#94 DE Jake Ceresna

Ceresna has 22 tackles and 7 sacks on the season. He is tied for first in sacks in the league.

Injury Report:

Depth Charts:

Score Prediction:

I can see this game going either way but I’m going to predict Toronto to win 27-24. In week 15 last year, we saw Toronto have 6 sacks against Montreal and then 7 sacks against Montreal in the Eastern Final. At times last year, Montreal had struggles in pass protection correlating when they were running the football infrequently.  I have a feeling that the infrequency of run plays is going to advantage Toronto in this game with their formidable pass rushers not needing to focus on sealing rushing lanes.

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