MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes will look to be the first team to defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers when the two square off on Thursday from Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
Montreal comes into the game third in the East Division with a record of 2-5. Despite shutting out the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the fourth quarter, they dropped their Week 8 contest 24-17 in Hamilton.
Winnipeg has once again positioned themselves as the top team in the Canadian Football League through eight weeks. A 35-28 win over Calgary helped the team advance their record to a perfect 8-0.
Montreal quarterback Trevor Harris was relied upon to do a little bit of everything in their loss to Hamilton. Harris threw for 288 yards and a touchdown, while also calling his own number four times for 39 yards. He now has an even 1,600 passing yards on the year to pair alongside six passing touchdowns.
A key to Harris’ success has been his ability to limit his turnovers as of late. He hasn’t thrown an interception since the Alouettes Week 6 loss to Edmonton. It’s something that will be important Thursday night against a Winnipeg defence that is tied for the league lead in interceptions forced with 10.
Alouettes receiver Eugene Lewis caught the majority of the Als 288 air yards, reeling in 154 receiving yards on eight catches. Lewis, who is second in the league with 619 receiving yards, will look to expose a Bombers secondary that has allowed 280.4 passing yards per game.
Lewis won’t be able to do it alone, however. The Als will need strong performances from Reggie White Jr., Hergy Mayala, Kaion Julien-Grant and Jake Wieneke.
Manufacturing offensive production through the air will be critical for the Als, as the Bombers have been proven to be a tough test for opposing running backs. Montreal’s Jeshrun Antwi will be met by a a defence that has surrendered a third best 83.5 yards per game.
On the defensive side of the ball the Als will be up against a team that has scored an average 26.8 points and a quarterback in Zach Collaros who leads the league with 1,994 passing yards.
The Als defence has sacked opposing quarterback 15 times. The Bombers offensive line will need to find a way to contain defensive lineman Michael Wakefield and linebacker Brian Harelimana who have three sacks each.
In the secondary, the Als will need defensive backs Marc-Antoine Dequoy, Darius Williams and Wes Sutton to keep tabs on the Bombers talented receiving corps.
Collaros is just six yards away from 2,000 after throwing for 270 against Calgary last week. His four touchdowns against the Stamps bring his total to 15, compared to just five interceptions on the year.
Receiver Dalton Schoen continued his outstanding rookie season against the Stampeders, catching four passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way. Canadian receiver Nic Demski had an equally impressive game in his first game back from an injury, catching seven passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
Brady Oliveira had one of his best on the year in the win over the Stamps, rushing for 110 yards on 15 carries. Replicating that performance on Thursday seems possible, as the Als have given up an average of 107 yards on the ground this season.
It was the type of performance Oliveira has been looking for, and one he wants to carry into this week.
“I want to say that looking back at earlier in the season I was really – I don’t know if you want to call it the pressure – but I was trying to get the big hitter and waiting for the big hitter,” Oliveira told BlueBombers.com. “I was tiptoeing and not playing Brady brand of football which is being a north-south physical runner, hard-hitting violent runner.
“I feel really good right now. The guys up front have my back, they’ve had my back this entire season. The coaches have had my back. Let’s just keep this thing going.”
The Bombers failed to record a sack or an interception against Calgary. The defensive focus will likely centre around the secondary as the Harris lead Montreal offensive attack will look to find receivers in space and to stretch Winnipeg’s defensive zone coverage.
The offensive scheming of the Als will make the roles of defensive backs Nick Taylor and Demerio Houston crucial on Thursday. The pair have picked off a combined five passes and they will certainly look to take away the big-play ability of Montreal’s Lewis.
Head coach Mike O’Shea was happy with his team’s Week 8 performance, but knows each game brings it’s own unique challenges.
“Every game is going to look different,” O’Shea told BlueBombers.com. “I just believe this group is going to find out a way to get it done. Our guys understand that whatever it’s going to take in any given week is how they have to do it.”
Even with a 2-5 record, the Als are right in the thick of the East Division race. The Bombers will look to remain undefeated as they roll into Montreal Thursday night.
