Playoff positioning is on the line for Montreal on Saturday as they hit the road to face the Edmonton Elks in Week 19 CFL action. The Als made it three straight wins with last week’s 29-3 beatdown of Ottawa and now sit one game ahead of Hamilton for second place in the East Division. The Elks, on the other hand, can now only play spoiler as a 35-12 loss in Toronto in Week 18 officially eliminated them from the playoffs.

Montreal is favoured to win on the CFL odds.

CFL Odds and Betting

This will be the first and only meeting between the teams this season. Montreal and Edmonton split a pair of games in 2022, with the road team coming out on top both times. The Elks won 32-31 in Montreal in Week 5, while the Alouettes won 25-18 in Edmonton in Week 14.

The Als have been slightly better on the road this season, going 5-3 straight up compared to 4-4 SU at home. They’re 9-7 against the spread overall, including 4-4 ATS outside of Quebec. With the defence clicking at a high rate for Montreal, the team is riding a five-game Under streak.

It’s been a brutal season for Edmonton, with the team going 2-6 SU both at home and on the road. They haven’t been much better as a cover option as they are 6-9-1 ATS overall, including just 2-5-1 ATS at home. The Elks are riding an opposite totals trend than their opponent, with the Over hitting in four of Edmonton’s last six games.

Montreal Alouettes

Montreal’s defence got the job done last week, so it’s only fitting that Shawn Lemon recorded his 100th career sack in the win, moving him to 13th on the CFL’s all-time list. The Alouettes’ defence, which recorded six sacks in the game, limited Ottawa to just 10 first downs and also returned a fumble for a touchdown. It was the third straight game Montreal’s defence has scored a TD.

The offence wasn’t overly threatening for the Als’ against Ottawa, but it didn’t really need to be. Cody Fajardo finished with 272 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception while adding another 27 yards on the ground. It was a continuation of Montreal’s mediocre offence, which ranks around the middle-of-the-pack in average yards per game (358.8), rushing yards per game (103.2), passing yards per game (255.6) and points per game (24.1).

Edmonton Elks

The Elks are set to miss the playoffs for a third straight year and once again turnovers proved costly last week. Tre Ford threw two interceptions, including one that was returned 83 yards for a touchdown. Ford finished the game with 220 passing yards and a touchdown. As a team, Edmonton has thrown 19 interceptions this season, the second-worst mark in the CFL.

Unsurprisingly, Edmonton ranks near the bottom of the CFL in most major offensive categories. The Elks are averaging 343.4 total yards per game (eighth in CFL), 217.2 passing yards per game (eighth) and 20.1 points per game (last). It’s not much better on the other side of the ball as Edmonton ranks seventh in yards allowed per game (389.1), last in rushing yards allowed (135.7) and seventh in points allowed (27.3).

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