OTTAWA — The Montreal Alouettes defeated the Ottawa REDBLACKS 24-12 on Saturday afternoon and have clinched a home playoff date.
That means the Als will host either the Eastern Final or the Eastern Semi-Final in November.
Montreal won the turnover battle 3-0 in the victory at TD Place as their defence continued to dominate opposing offences, just like they have done all season long. That domination also included two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, and eight total pass knockdowns.
Here are CFL.ca’s three key stats from the Alouettes’ win over the REDBLACKS in Week 16.
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They say if you win the turnover battle, you win the game. And for the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday, that was exactly the case, winning that battle 3-0.
The Alouettes defence forced three turnovers in their victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS. Montreal’s offence did not give up a single one.
Two of the turnovers were interceptions, one from defensive back Dionté Ruffin was returned for a touchdown and the other was thanks to rookie linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku. The final turnover was a turnover on downs midway through the fourth quarter.
The Montreal Alouettes defence was active at TD Place and they didn’t let Dru Brown or Jeremiah Masoli have an easy outing. Along with the two actual picks, there were plenty of times that CFL on TSN play by play commentator and CFL.ca writer Marshall Ferguson said that a pass was “almost intercepted!”
As a group, the Als collected eight pass knockdowns during the contest. Defensive lineman Mustafa Johnson and defensive back Wesley Sutton had a pair of knockdowns, while linebackers Darnell Sankey and Cantin-Arku and defensive backs Kabion Ento and Arthur Hamlin also tallied one each.
The entire Montreal Alouettes defence played exceptionally well in Saturday’s game, as mentioned in the two points above, and there could have been a handful of players on that defence singled out in this final stat.
But it’s Tyrice Beverette that we want to shine a light on, as he continues to rack up the stats in every game he plays.
The Alouettes weak side linebacker had a game-high 11 defensive plays, including seven tackles on defence and two on special teams to go along with two tackles for loss.