By the time Saturday afternoon’s bout between the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Redblacks concludes, there will still be a month of regular season football left. That said, this contest’s result will say a lot about where these beasts of the East stand. Either the Redblacks will have sent a clear message that they’re coming for the Als or the latter will award itself breathing room in the race for a playoff bye.

Our CFL odds see this one as a close contest, with the visiting Alouettes pegged as -2.5 favourites.

CFL Odds and Betting

The magnitude of the game cannot be understated. After years of the East Division playing second fiddle to the typically stronger West, here we are in September, 16 weeks into the campaign and both Montreal and Ottawa are playing great football.

What’s more, there is no time like the present for head coach Bob Dyce’s Ottawa squad to take a shot at their rivals. The Als have conquered the Redblacks six times in a row dating back to 2022. Montreal rolled out the carpet in June for their home opener, then rolled over Ottawa 47-21. It’s safe to that at the time we didn’t know how good Ottawa would be this season.

Adding spice to the proceedings is the Redblacks’ undefeated record of 6-0-1 at home this season. Yes, they too have played to a tie, just like Montreal. Ottawa has been a stellar 5-2 against the spread this season when playing in front of their fans. As if the football gods ordained it, Montreal has yet to lose on their travels, going 5-0-1. Montreal is also a respectable 4-2 ATS on the road. Unless another tie occurs, something will have to give.

Montreal Alouettes

There is even more intrigue to Saturday’s game. Despite that they have already clinched a playoff berth and look swell at 10-2-1 the truth is the Alouettes haven’t won in a while. They were obliterated at home a fortnight ago by the BC Lions before playing to a sloppy 19-19 draw at the Calgary Stampeders last week.

It was the kind of match one perhaps should have expected but a fanbase dreads. Calgary has struggled mightily, especially lately. That meant either the Alouettes would ease their way back into the win column or that an underdog Stamps squad would play up to the competition. The latter occurred. Worse, Calgary was stunningly undisciplined at times with penalties and yet Montreal still could not capitalize. One can applaud the club for coming back from an early 10-0 deficit, but the offence has been stuck in neutral for two weeks. QB Cody Fajardo was a forgettable 16-for-24 and 204 yards.

With WRs Tyson Philpot out for the season (foot) and Austin Mack’s return temporarily derailed (ankle, six-game injured list), now is the time for Charleston Rambo, Tyler Snead, and Kaion Julien-Grant to fill big shoes.

Ottawa RedBlacks

Ottawa benefitted from a bye in Week 15. When last seen, the Redblacks were humbled 37-21 by the suddenly decent Hamilton Tiger-Cats. To their credit, they didn’t back down after falling behind 29-6 in the third quarter. A pair of touchdown drives led by veteran QB Jeremiah Masoli made it a 29-21 contest before Hamilton pulled away late. It stands to reason that Dru Brown is still QB 1.

The club announced this week that LB Adarius Pickett is gone for the season because of an Achilles injury. A more peculiar development was the team cutting RB Ryquell Armstead after Labour Day despite that he was averaging five yards per tote. The running back committee is now formed of Khalan Laborn, DeVonte Dedmon, and Devonte Williams, although the latter two are on the six-game injured list. Time to dig into the practice squad.

Ottawa’s defence will be tested. It gives up 26.0 true offensive points per game, sixth-best out of nine teams. Despite recent struggles, Montreal’s attack averages 26.3 points per match.

Who Will Win Alouettes vs. RedBlacks?