CALGARY — The Montreal Alouettes travel west for a date with the Calgary Stampeders as Week 15 comes to a close on Saturday night.
Montreal has already wrapped up a playoff spot and sits first in the East Division with six games remaining.
Four-straight losses has dropped Calgary into fifth in the West Division.
With the best record in the Canadian Football League, the Alouettes head into a game off a loss for just the second time this season.
Getting back into the win column starts with more production from their offence after they put together 270 net yards in their 37-23 loss to the BC Lions.
Still without Austin Mack and Tyson Philpot, it comes down to the play of quarterback Cody Fajardo and his ability to find the reliable Charleston Rambo, Cole Spieker and Reggie White Jr. The three receivers combined for 116 yards against the Lions.
They’ll line up against a secondary holding opposing offences to 280.5 yards per game and one that has plenty of players able to shift momentum. It’s a unit led by Demerio Houston and his four interceptions but Dave Dickenson will need Kobe Williams to step up along with Tre Roberson, who returns from injury this week.
While losses haven’t been frequent for the Alouettes this season, Fajardo hopes his team uses their most recent one as motivation to be better.
Als running back Walter Fletcher continues to produce in both facets of the offence, as he topped all Als receivers last week with 72 yards. On the ground, he’s averaging 5.3 yards over 93 carries.
While part of stopping him falls on the pass defence, containing Fletcher on the ground is the job of Julian Howsare, Mike Rose and James Vaughters at the line of scrimmage and Micah Awe and Cameron Judge at linebacker. Collectively, they’ve been the worst at stopping the run, surrendering 116.9 yards a game. It’s an aspect of the defence Maas certainly will try to expose.
On the offensive side of the ball, Dickenson will go back to Jake Maier under centre. Maier served as the backup in the Stamps 37-16 loss to Edmonton.
While things haven’t gone well for Calgary of late, receiver Reggie Begelton has produced at a high level, including catching eight passes for 123 yards against the Elks. Aside from Begelton, Maier will be on the lookout for Jalen Philpot and Cam Echols.
Finding open receivers is going to be a challenge as Montreal possesses the league’s top pass defence. Despite giving up an uncharacteristic 304 yards to Nathan Rourke, defensive backs Bryce Cosby, Marc-Antoine Dequoy, who is out this week, and Dionte Ruffin came away with interceptions. Add in Wesley Sutton and Kabion Ento and space will be tight downfield. Rookie Arthur Hamlin makes his first start at safety, replacing the injured Dequoy.
Much like his opponent in Fletcher, running back Dedrick Mills has the capability of impacting the game in multiple ways, a skillset that could be useful against a strong defence. He’s combined for 471 yards on the ground and 264 through the air in seven games.
The Als haven’t been as successful against the run, giving up a second worst 112.4 yards per game, but have both physicality and agility up front. Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund has played well and recorded a pair of sacks versus BC.
Behind him, Tyrice Beverette and Darnell Sankey remain two of the best linebackers in the league.
Dickenson is keeping the approach simple in the midst of his team’s rough stretch.
Montreal can run their road record to a perfect 6-0 with a victory.
Calgary is in need of a win to climb back into a tie with Edmonton for fourth in the West Division.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET at McMahon Stadium. Canadian fans can watch on TSN/RDS while International and U.S. audiences can tune in on CFL+.
