CFL division leaders meet on Saturday in Montreal, where the Alouettes will try to avenge a June loss at the hands of the Edmonton Elks.
But Montreal (7-1) will be very short-handed on defense. Tackle Mustafa Johnson, end TJ Guy, linebacker Geoff Cantin-Arku and linebacker Najee Murray have been declared out. That’s a third of the unit’s starting lineup.
However, coach Jason Maas isn’t expecting his team’s numerous injuries to hamper its chances.
“We’ve got 70-odd players in the building,” he said. “For every single one of them, the expectation is that they can be on our 45-man roster and play at a high level. That is the least of our concerns. It’s just about filling that 45.”
It helps when one of the 45 is playing quarterback at a level the franchise hasn’t seen since current offensive coordinator Anthony Calvillo was lighting up CFL defenses 20 years ago.
Davis Alexander is coming off a 420-yard performance on July 30 in a 34-13 win at Ottawa. And Tyson Philpot, who’s torched secondaries all year, had 184 yards on nine catches.
While Montreal has won five straight since its 32-29 overtime setback in Edmonton on June 20, the Elks (6-2) are coming off a 28-26 defeat at home against Saskatchewan on July 31. That cut their West lead over the Roughriders to a half-game.
One thing to watch is the turnover battle. Edmonton leads the league in forcing turnovers (23) and points off turnovers (62). The Elks are plus-11 in turnover differential to lead the league, and the Alouettes are second at plus-8.
“We’ve got to find a way to protect the football and that’s what we’ve done really well the entire year,” quarterback Cody Fajardo said. “Our defense takes the ball away, our offense protects it … that’s our formula for winning games.”
Edmonton also will attempt to regain the disciplined play that it didn’t have last week. The Elks were flagged 10 times for 92 yards, including a pair of critical infractions on Saskatchewan’s last drive that helped it seal the victory.
–Field Level Media
