OTTAWA — Winners of four straight, the Montreal Alouettes head to the nation’s capital to take on the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Friday Night Football.
Montreal’s most recent win came in the Week 8 finale when they downed Hamilton 31-18 at home.
Ottawa was on a bye trying to get things right as they search for their first win.
Here’s three keys to victory for each team ahead of Friday’s 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff, which can be watched on TSN/RDS in Canada, on CBSSN in the U.S., and on CFL+ internationally.
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MONTREAL ALOUETTS
1. EXPOSE THE FRONT
Running back Travis Theis has put himself in the conversation with the league’s best rushers, accumulating 373 yards over his last two games. He’ll have the opportunity to build on his recent success facing an offensive front surrendering 123.2 yards per game on the ground.
2. MAKE JAKE MAIER WORK
The last time these two teams met, Jake Maier threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns. The Als’ front, led by defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson and linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku, will make it their mission to keep him from having time to get through his reads.
3. FLIP THE FIELD
The Canadian Football League is flush with strong returners, and the Als’ Devonte Dedmon is one of them. Not that they necessarily need it, but if Dedmon can give Alexander, Theis and the rest of the offence good field position to start drives, it will only make it easier to put up points against a defence allowing 35.5 per game.
OTTAWA REDBLACKS
1. GIVE THE OFFENCE A CHANCE
Montreal leads the CFL through eight weeks with 443 net offensive yards per game and has shown it can score in a variety of ways. It will be up to the REDBLACKS defence to keep them in the game, starting with defensive lineman Michael Wakefield and extending out to safety Alonzo Addae. An extra week to prepare for arguably the league’s most prolific offence should help.
2. THE EMERGING AYDEN EBERHARDT
Ottawa’s offence looked better in their 36-34 overtime loss to Winnipeg in Week 7 and receiver Ayden Eberhardt has been a top target of late, pulling down 16 catches and 247 yards in his past two games. He’ll look to solve a Montreal secondary that held him to 25 yards on five catches back in Week 4.
3. BEAR DOWN
Ottawa held a 17-point fourth quarter lead in that loss to the Blue Bombers, serving as both a sign of what the team is capable of and how quickly games can turn. If they get a lead this time around, they’ll lean on defensive leaders A.J. Allen and C.J. Reavis to lock it down.
NEED TO KNOW:
- Davis Alexander is a career 5-0 against Ottawa.
- In their Week 4 matchup, Tyson Philpot had 12 receptions for 198 yards. He is 161 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard campaign.
- In the teams’ first meeting, Kalil Pimpleton had 338 combined yards. He had 101 receiving yards in his last game.
- Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET, and can be watched on TSN/RDS in Canada, on CBSSN in the U.S., and on CFL+ internationally.
