Minas Panagiotakis/CFL.ca
TORONTO — The Montreal Alouettes will not be worried about the standings when they take the field on Thanksgiving Monday.
The current champions have locked in the East Division title and a home playoff date in the Eastern Final on November 9. That doesn’t mean that they are going to be an easy prey when the Ottawa REDBLACKS come to town to close out Thanksgiving Weekend presented by Purolator.
That’s because the Als have shown they are one of the deepest teams in the league, including at pivot.
“Even if you sit down Cody Fajardo, you’ve got Davis Alexander stepping up at quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes, and we saw what he can do,” said Henoc Muamba in a conversation with Donnovan Bennett in this week’s edition of The Waggle Podcast.
THANKSGIVING WEEKEND PRESENTED BY PUROLATOR
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Montreal dealt with injury all season long, but didn’t skip a beat even after losing key pieces like Tyson Philpot, who’s out for the season, and Fajardo, who is back after missing a few weeks. Alexander completed 73 of 102 passes for 972 yards, six touchdowns and one interception so far this season, stepping up at pivot whenever the Alouettes needed him to.
That’s why it won’t be an easy challenge for the REDBLACKS to top Montreal on Thanksgiving Monday. Ottawa is still battling for second place in the East Division with the Toronto Argonauts, who won their Friday night matchup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and can’t look past an Alouettes team that plays hard no matter the circumstances.
“It’s hard to go against these Alouettes, even when they’ve already clinched, because they have had such a great system,” said Muamba. “You can see the culture, how deep and rich it is. It’s been a bunch of different guys all year long, just coming in, stepping up and getting it done.”
Another player that stepped up due to injury was wide receiver Charleston Rambo. The 25-year old has 54 catches for 773 yards and three touchdowns in 2024 as the Als lost Grey Cup hero Tyson Philpot to a season-ending injury. Rambo, Philpot and Cole Spieker all have over 700 receiving yards, with dual-threat running back Walter Fletcher rounding the pass-catching group with 596 receiving yards.
Without Philpot, the Alouettes will rely on Rambo and Spieker as the main threats in the passing game, regardless of who’s playing under centre. It’ll be up to a REDBLACKS defence that features names like Lorenzo Mauldin IV and Damon Webb to stop Montreal and continue a push for a home playoff date.
Als and REDBLACKS face off on Monday, October 14, 1:00 p.m. ET time at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
