The Alouettes get a shot at the champs in week 10 CFL action when they take on the Stampeders in Calgary on Saturday night. Despite the uncertainty regarding who will start for either team at QB, the sportsbooks released an early line of -7 favoring Calgary with a total of 51.5. Kickoff is slated for Saturday, August 17, at 7:00 pm ET.
Alouettes Overview
Montreal is coming off a very frustrating 17-10 home loss to the Riders that saw the game get called in the third quarter (just when they were mounting a comeback), because of a weather delay. Calgary had their three-game win streak come to an end last week giving up two kick return Touchdowns to the Bombers and fell short 26-24.
This meeting is the first of the year between these two teams. In 2018 the Calgary defense would not allow Montreal to score in either contest holding the Als to 8 points in Calgary for a 25-8 victory and then to 6 points in Montreal where they ground out a 12-6 W. Montreal has taken some “whoopings” at the hands of the Stampeders, but the Als have been tough to cover against going 8-2 ATS in their last ten against Calgary. Points have been hard to come by in this series with the under going 8-2 of late.
This is a much bigger game for the Al’s than it is for the Stampeders psychologically as well as standing wise. Montreal would love to validate their early-season success and prove to themselves and the rest of the league that they’re a different team this year, and a force to be reckoned with. The best way to do that is by going into the house of the defending Grey Cup champs and handing them a loss.
The Alouettes are playing well on defense and can also move the ball on the ground, as long as they cover kicks and don’t give Calgary any “easy” points or field position, they should have a shot at the victory.
Stamps Overview
Calgary is not a “rah-rah” team per se, except for maybe when they play Edmonton, other than that they take the field with the same intensity regardless of their opponent. Will they be fired up to play the 3-4 Alouettes who they haven’t lost to at home since forever? No, probably not, but it doesn’t matter they need a win to keep up with the Bombers in the West and it will be business as usual for the Stampeders. Calgary lost a lot of talent in the off-season, especially on defense, but are still playing solid ball in all three phases and are nearly impossible to beat at Mcmahon stadium.
Weather Report
There is a new rule in the CFL that allows the league to call games if it is past the halfway point of the third quarter and the delay has lasted over an hour. This is important to know, last week myself and other Montreal backers were burned when they called the game with plenty of time left for the Als to come back and cover. The heatwave in the Northern prairies has subsided somewhat, and a cooler air mass has moved in and reduced the chances of thunderstorms, so this game should go the distance.
Injury Report
Montreal’s starting QB, Vernon Adams, suffered a minor concussion a couple of weeks ago, but took first-team reps at practice this week and should be good to go. Calgary’s starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell, was at practice this week, but after listening to his post-practice interview on Wednesday, it doesn’t sound like he’ll start on Saturday. Mitchell’s injury is in the shoulder and pectoral muscle of his throwing arm, so it looks like Head Coach Dave Dickenson is going to be extra cautious with his star QB and rest him again this week. Mitchell might dress, but I doubt he’ll start, as usual, I’ll be checking the depth charts on Friday.
- Get more details: Montreal at Calgary CFL Match-up Stats
