The Montreal Alouettes look to improve their record to 4-0 as they travel to Hamilton to take on the Tiger-Cats in their third consecutive road game. The Alouettes had another strong win last week, winning 38-28 in Edmonton. The Tiger-Cats are looking for their first win as they come off a bye week.

Game Details:

Date/Location: Friday, June 27 / Hamilton Stadium, Hamilton, ON

Kickoff Time: 7:30 PM ET, 4:30 PM PT

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

Odds: 

Spread: Montreal -2.5 (-105), Hamilton +2.5 (-115)

Moneyline: Montreal -128, Hamilton +106

Over/Under: 48.5 (Over -115, Under -105)

If you place bets, please do so responsibly in moderation.

Montreal Alouettes: The Montreal Alouettes will have McLeod Bethel-Thompson starting at quarterback, with Davis Alexander being out due to a hamstring injury after being a non-participant in practice all week.  Last week saw MBT complete 6 of his 8 passes for 77 yards after coming into the game late in place of Alexander due to the injury. Bethel-Thompson had 13 starts last season for Edmonton and completed 67.9% of his passes for 3,748 yards and 24 touchdowns with 1 interception. The year prior, he led the USFL in passing yards with the New Orleans Breakers in 2023 and won a Grey Cup with Toronto in 2022.

Sean Thomas-Erlington led the team in rushing last week with 63 yards and a touchdown on 11 rushes.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats lost in week 1 to Calgary 26-38 on the road before losing their home opener to Saskatchewan 28-23 in week 2. The Tiger-Cats look to have a better start to their season this year after opening last season 0-5 in 2024 with some close finishes on the way. Hamilton finished the season 2 games out of the playoffs last year with a 7-11 record after winning 5 of their last 7 games.

Bo Levi Mitchell has over 300 yards in each of his 2 games so far this season, accumulating 640 passing yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Alouettes Keys to the Game

Influence Hamilton to Continue to Not Run the Ball

Week 1 saw Hamilton hand the ball off to their backs just 10 times for a total of 26 yards. In week 2, they had only 9 rushes from their backs for 51 yards, including their fullback, Ante Milanovic-Litre. Their running back, Greg Bell, had only 5 rushes in week 2 for 46 yards. Hamilton has a great passing game, but to give the ball to the running back only 5 times in a game with 40 pass attempts is a recipe for great imbalance.

Montreal will want early run stops to encourage Hamilton to continue this imbalance.

Bend But Don’t Break in Pass Coverage

Hamilton’s offense is going to come almost entirely through the air, so Montreal will need its defensive backs to prevent big plays from Hamilton’s talented cast of receivers.

Pound the Rock

Hamilton has seen their opponents have success on the ground in weeks 1 through 2. Montreal should look to rush the ball and bring a balanced offense to support MBT in his first start in an Alouettes uniform while playing in hostile territory.

5 Alouettes to Watch

#21 RB Sean Thomas-Erlington

Thomas-Erlington rushed 11 times for 63 yards and a touchdown last week.

#6 WR Tyson Philpot

Philpot was the most targeted receiver last week, catching 8 of his 9 targets for 96 yards and a touchdown.

#81 WR Austin Mack

Last week, Mack caught 2 of his 5 targets for 31 yards. Mack could be poised for a big game if the Tiger-Cats get caught with their focus elsewhere with other talented receivers in the lineup, such as Charleston Rambo, Tyler Snead, and Cole Spieker.

#2 DT Shawn Oakman

Oakman had 4 tackles, including a solo run stop last week and a sack. He had 5 additional pressures by my count (1 of which was a secondary source of pressure on the play).

#96 DE Lwal Uguak

Lwal Uguak had a sack last week and was in on 2 run stops (1 solo and 1 shared). He had 6 additional pressures by my count (2 of which were a secondary source of pressure on the play).

5 Tiger-Cats to Watch

#27 RB Johnny Augustine

Augustine will get his first start at running back as a Tiger-Cat this week. He played for Winnipeg from 2018 to 2024, where he had 5 starts over 95 games, rushing 222 times for 1,270 yards and 3 touchdowns over that span, 5.72 yards per carry.

#89 WR Kenny Lawler

Lawler is third in the league in receiving despite having 1 fewer game played than other receivers. He has 14 receptions for 249 yards and a touchdown in 2 games.

#81 12 WR Tim White

White has 9 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown over 2 games.

class="wp-block-heading">#17 Shemar Bridges

Bridges is poised for a breakout game soon, as he has only 4 catches for 35 yards so far this season. Last year, he had 83 catches over 15 games for 933 yards and 4 touchdowns as a CFL rookie.

#2 CB Jamal Peters

Peters was an East Division All-Star last season. He has 12 tackles over 2 games this season.

Injury Report:

Depth Charts:

Score Prediction:

Hamilton has not beaten Montreal outside of the preseason since 2021. Last season, Montreal defeated Hamilton in both of their meetings by a combined score of 66-39. With Hamilton’s frequency of abandoning the run and being overly reliant on the passing game, which Montreal is arguably the most equipped to defend, I do not see Hamilton defeating Montreal this season unless their ongoing tendencies change. I predict Montreal to win 30-20.

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