Sports Take

The East Semi-Final is this Saturday, November 1 at 12pm MT, and will feature a crossover for the first time since 2019. This time it’s the Winnipeg Blue Bombers taking the almost three hour flight into Montreal to face the Alouettes.

The Match-up

Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Montreal Alouettes

This will be the second week in a row that the Bombers and Alouettes will play each other, this time the stakes are much higher in a win or go home scenario for the right to play the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Final.

Winnipeg went 10-8 overall, and 6-2 against East Division opponents this season, however just a 3-6 record away from Princess Auto Stadium. But against the Alouettes this season, they managed to sweep the two games played, including a 26-13 win at Percival-Molson Stadium in week 12. However, they didn’t play against starting QB Davis Alexander in either game.

Montreal also went 10-8 overall despite missing star QB Davis Alexander for most of the season and fully expect the standout pivot to lead the Alouettes into the playoffs. They were just 4-6 against West Division teams including the two losses to Winnipeg, and were 4-5 at home.

The Deciding Factors

It’s hard not to put Montreal QB Davis Alexander as a deciding factor in the game, having yet to lose a CFL start in his young career. In just 7 starts this season the health concerns are real, even with not taking the field against these same Blue Bombers in the final game of the season. During his starts he went 158 for 218, tallying up 2,024 yards with 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

Brady Oliveira ran for over a thousand yards once again for the Blue Bombers, picking up just 3 majors. The identity of the Blue Bombers since the emergence of Andrew Harris many years ago, and continuing with Oliveira, has been run the ball. For the Bombers to win this game and be one of the very few to win a crossover game, the run game will be important.

Just as important will be the Alouettes defensive front 7, including their leader in defensive plays made Darnell Sankey. He is a force to be reckoned with and will be counted on to stop the run game of the Bombers. His 103 tackles on the season puts him third in the CFL, just behind Tony Jones of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Prediction:

Winnipeg – 31
Montreal – 33

The CFL playoffs provide some of the greatest moments in Canadian sports, and these playoff games should be incredible to watch. The road to the Grey Cup is about to begin, and I can’t wait anymore. This is our league, and this is our game.