The Montreal Alouettes will host the Ottawa RedBlacks on Thanksgiving afternoon. Davis Alexander will get the start at quarterback with Cody Fajardo being with his family as he and his wife welcome their newborn child to the family. Ottawa will have Jeremiah Masoli start under center as Dru Brown continues to heal from an ankle injury. 

Both teams are rested coming off the bye week after suffering a loss in week 17. This is the third and final meeting between these teams. Montreal won at home 47-21 in week 3 over Ottawa and defeated the RedBlacks again in week 16 on the road 24-12.

Game Details:

Date/Location: Saturday, October 14 /Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, Montreal, QC

Kickoff Time: 1:00 PM ET, 12:00 PM CT

Channel: TSN, RDS (Canada), CBS SN (USA), CFL+ (Global)

Odds: 

Spread: Montreal -4.5 (-102), Ottawa +4.5 (-120)

Moneyline: Montreal -194, Ottawa +160

Over/Under: 48.5 (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: The Montreal Alouettes have the security to know that no matter what happens in their final 3 games they have already secured home-field advantage in the East Division Final. However one does not have to look closely to get a sense of the competitive spirit of head coach Jason Maas and the rest of the team to know that they will want to win every game no matter the circumstance. Montreal has had a lot of success this season and will aim to stay hungry to avoid any complacency ahead of the playoffs.

Ottawa RedBlacks: The Ottawa RedBlacks looked to be within range to push to make it a close race for first in the East. However, a 3-game losing streak has now seen them slip to third place in the division. Ottawa is just half a game behind Toronto and has 3 games remaining while Toronto has only 2 so Ottawa is still in the driver’s seat. After this week their remaining opponents will be the Toronto Argonauts and then the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Alouettes Keys to the Game

Run the Ball

Montreal doesn’t run the ball enough and I’m tired of talking about it. This season Walter Fletcher has rushed 119 times for 674 yards and 3 touchdowns, 5.7 yards per carry. Among running backs with 100 rushes, only Brady Oliveira has a stronger average at 5.8 yards per carry. Montreal has the fewest rushing attempts in the league despite leading in most games and having a strong run game.

Strong Pass Protection

Ottawa has some strength on their defensive line and Montreal will need to play well in pass protection for their young quarterback.

More Lockdown Pass Coverage

Montreal has the 2nd lowest quarterback efficiency allowed from their opponents this season at 86.2.

Stop the Run

Last year Ottawa had the 2nd most rushing attempts in the league to finish the regular season. This season they currently have the 2nd fewest rushing attempts. This is partially due to the style of Dustin Crum last year inflating the number with rushes from the quarterback however it’s still an indicator that Montreal might be able to get Ottawa to abandon the run with some early stops.

5 Alouettes to Watch

#10 QB Davis Alexander

The emergence of Davis Alexander has been fun to watch. He played exceptionally well in every preseason he appeared in and didn’t start in a game until this season which is his third in the CFL. He has played in 3 and a half games which saw him completed 73 of his 102 passes for 972 yards and 6 touchdowns with 1 interception.

#17 WR Cole Spieker

Spieker led the team in receiving last game as he caught 3 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. He has 49 catches for 710 yards and 7 touchdowns on the season.

#91 DE Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund

Last game Adeyemi-Berglund had 9 total pressures by my count. He had 6 total pressures including a sack in the game before.

#1 LB Darnell Sankey

Last gameSankey had 6 tackles including a sack. He had a solo run stop and was in a shared run stop and 3 shared stops against passing plays.

#43 CB Lorenzo Burns

In the Alouettes’ previous game, Burns had his first CFL start and he recorded 5 tackles. He saw 8 targets come his way which resulted in 4 completions for 48 yards. Only 2 of those completions were for more than 5 yards.

5 RedBlacks to Watch

#8 QB Jeremiah Masoli

Masoli will get his third start of the season this week. He has completed 83 of his 116 passes (71.6%) for 933 yards and 5 touchdowns with 5 interceptions.

#34 RB Khalan Laborn

In the previous RedBlacks loss, he rushed 8 times for 42 yards, 5.3 average. He has rushed 44 times for 244 yards this season (5.5 average) with 1 touchdown over 4 games.

#15 WR Dominique Rhymes

With Justin Hardy out for this game, Rhymes may be relied on more heavily. He has 62 catches fro 861 yards and 2 touchdowns this season.

#93 DE Aiden John

John had 2 sacks in the RedBlacks’ previous game. He has 16 tackles and 3 sacks over 15 games. This week will be his first start of the season.

#96 DT Michael Wakefield

Wakefield has 23 tackles, 7 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles over 15 games this season.

Injury Report:

Depth Charts:

Score Prediction:

Montreal has won each of the previous meetings this season by at least 12 points and I have a hunch they will win the third. I predict Montreal to win 27-20.

@JonathanClink on Twitter