League-Leading Alouettes Set to Host Surging Lions

The Montreal Alouettes have another chance to book their place in the CFL playoffs when they host the surging B.C. Lions on Friday night.

Montreal can secure a post-season berth and a home playoff game with a victory at Percival Molson Stadium. The team would also qualify for a seventh consecutive year if the Toronto Argonauts lose to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Labour Day Monday.

The Alouettes lead the East Division at 9-2, despite seeing their seven-game winning streak end with a 44-28 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last week. B.C. has moved in the opposite direction. After starting 1-5, the Lions have won five straight, including a 45-24 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks.

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We have been playing good football through 11 games, but the job is not done.

Montreal quarterback Davis Alexander will lead the offence after an injury scare in Winnipeg. An MRI showed no structural damage to his calf or ankle, although he continued to feel the injury and wore a compression sleeve over his bandaged right leg during the week. Coach Jason Maas said Alexander improved each time he practiced and had no setback.

Alexander leads the CFL with 3,657 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes, tied with Toronto’s Chad Kelly for the league lead. He will face a B.C. defense that ranks first in the league in net defense, allowing 344.7 yards per game, and against the run, allowing 58.8 yards per game.

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We have to play a full four quarters and make sure we keep our emotions to ourselves and play our best brand of football in front of our fans.