VANCOUVER — The BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes will both look to rebound from Week 4 losses when they meet in Vancouver on Sunday night.
Last week, the Lions fell to the Toronto Argonauts 45-24 on the road, while the Alouettes were held to three points in a home loss to Winnipeg.
The defence of the Lions had been the best in the league before running into the red-hot Argos and will try to regain its form against another East Division opponent.
They’ll lean on defensive lineman Mathieu Betts, who leads the league with seven sacks, and linebacker Boseko Lokombo to contain quarterback Cody Fajardo and stall the run game of William Stanback.
Betts is coming of another multi-sack game and will put pressure on an Alouettes line that has surrendered the second-most sacks so far this season with 15.
After being held out of the end zone a week ago and with a run game that ranks in the bottom half of the league, Alouettes head coach Jason Maas could allow Fajardo to regularly put the ball in the air.
If he does, he’ll need to be on the lookout for defensive back Garry Peters, who has five pass knockdowns.
When the defence leaves the field and the offence trots on, Vernon Adams Jr. will be motivated to prove his six-interception performance against the Argos won’t be the norm going forward.
Lions’ receiver Keon Hatcher wasted little time reacquainting himself with the offence, catching eight passes for 104 yards and a touchdown a week ago. Hatcher, Dominique Rhymes, Lucky Whitehead, Alexander Hollins and Justin McInnis should all see plenty of targets against an Alouettes defence that has been tough against the pass, allowing 233 yards per game.
The Lions’ receiving corps will catch a break though, as defensive back Ciante Evans will miss his second straight game.
While the pass game has led the offence for the Lions most of the season, head coach Rick Campbell would still like to see an improvement from his rushers after they combined for just 52 yards in Toronto.
Those duties will fall on Austin Mackie, as Taquan Mizzell is out with a knee injury.
Maas will be in search of more from his entire offence, despite their game with the Bombers being in less than ideal conditions.
The Als are averaging 316.7 net yards on the season, including 274.3 through the air thanks to Fajardo and his set of young but talented receivers.
Limiting yards through the air will be a challenge for the Lions as Fajardo has been one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league. He brings a 69.4 per cent completion percentage and a 111.1 quarterback rating into the contest.
Rookie receiver Austin Mack is second in the league with 316 receiving yards and will be targeted often.
The Lions are one of five teams to give up less than 100 yards on the ground per game, meaning Stanback will be put to the test yet again as he tries to get his game going.
With Jeshrun Antwi also likely to get touches, Maas will ride the hot hand/legs that spark his offence.
The run game may not be going as planned, but Maas emphasizes that it will take a team effort to correct it this week. It also won’t deter him from giving both Stanback and Antwi plenty of looks.
The Als’ defence, much like their opponent, has been a strong suit of the team. They’ve given up a league-low 931 net yards but with a Lions’ offence that has options all over the field, it won’t be easy to maintain.
Without Evans in the secondary, Marc-Antoine Dequoy and Wesley Sutton will need to find a way to shutout the talented Lions receivers.
Up front, defensive lineman Nick Usher is coming off a sack and anchors a Montreal d-line that has recorded a league low four sacks.
Both the Lions and the Als are out to show their Week 4 losses are in the rearview mirror as they go head-to-head to close out Week 5.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Canadian viewers can catch the game on TSN, while American viewers can watch on CBS Sports Network. CFL+ is the home for the game for international audiences.
