Peter McCabe/CFL.ca
TORONTO — There is a reason the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes are once again playing in the Eastern Final.
The stats show that these two teams have played a lot of good football all season and were rewarded with a chance to advance to play in the 110th Grey Cup.
Toronto finished tying a CFL record with 16 wins on the season to go along with only two losses by being a force on all sides of the ball while Montreal is also playing at a high level, especially on defence, and has proven to be a formidable opponent.
CFL.ca takes you through three stats that could be the deciding factor in the Eastern Final.
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19 – Sacks allowed
Quarterback Chad Kelly has picked apart defences in his first year as a starter in Toronto on his way to being named the East Division’s MOP. The pivot completed 270 of 394 passes for 4,123 yards, 23 majors and 12 interceptions while also adding 248 yards and eight touchdowns as a runner.
It would be impossible to dissociate Kelly’s season to the play of the offensive line, though. The Argos had the stoutest offensive front in the CFL, allowing only 19 sacks through 18 games. The second best team, the Blue Bombers, allowed 14 more sacks than the Double Blue in 2023.
The line will be tasked with stopping a Montreal pass rush that didn’t finish with a high number of sacks during the regular season (41) but is coming off a five-sack performance against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Semi-Final, including two by defensive lineman Shawn Lemon.
0 – receiving yards
The Alouettes defence was able to neutralize Hamilton’s Tim White to the tune of three targets and zero catches in the Eastern Semi-Final. The receiver led the league with 1,269 receiving yards over the regular season but was unable to find any room to operate against Montreal.
The Als secondary – led by Marc-Antoine Dequoy – allowed the second fewest passing yards per game (239.1) and passing touchdowns (17) during the regular season while also keeping the Ticats to 150 yards through the air in their post-season matchup.
Toronto, however, features a passing attack that doesn’t have a single focal point, with five players going over 500 receiving yards. DaVaris Daniels led the group with 1,009 but any attempt to focus on the veteran could leave room for the rest of the Argos receivers to find space, including Damonte Coxie who finished second on the team with 787 yards and has displayed a rapport with Kelly on passes down the field.
92 – turnovers
If you’re looking for a reason as to why these two teams are still standing look no further than the column that says “takeaways”. Both teams excel in taking the ball away from their opponents with Toronto finishing first with 54 turnovers while Montreal was second with 48.
It’ll be a matchup between two ball-hawking secondaries that combined for 49 interceptions (27 for the Argos, 22 for the Als). These two units combine a knack for stealing possession with stopping explosive plays, as Toronto finished first and Montreal third in big plays allowed.
To cap it all off they were also in the top three in avoiding turnovers on offence, with the Double Blue making the fewest mistakes (27) and Montreal finishing third (34) in that same category. That gives them the top two ratios in the CFL (+27 and +14) and forecasts a game between two sharp teams in the turnover department.
