STREAMING CFL PPV: Montreal Alouettes @ Ottawa REDBLACKS, July 22, 01:00 CET (1 am, 7 pm ET July 21)

OTTAWA — The Ottawa REDBLACKS are still searching for their first win of the season as they get set to host the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday night.

A Hamilton touchdown with 21 seconds to play and a missed 54-yard field goal in Week 6 kept Ottawa outside of the win column.

The Alouettes also suffered a loss in Week 6. Leading by as many as 19 points, Montreal couldn’t fend off the late charge from the Edmonton Elks as they took a 32-31 win.

In their first game without star quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, the REDBLACKS turned to Caleb Evans who performed admirably, despite suffering a loss to Hamilton.

Making his debut as Ottawa’s starting quarterback for 2022, Evans completed 18 of his 30 passing attempts, throwing 203 yards and a touchdown. The REDBLACKS’ pivot was also the team’s leading rusher in the game, tallying a team-high 62 rushing yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.

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As expected, Evans targeted receiver Jaelon Acklin often, and for good reason. Acklin leads the REDBLACKS in targets, receptions and yardage.

In the game against Hamilton, Acklin caught six passes for 118 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. He’ll be relied upon to make plays again against a Montreal team that has been strong against the passing game. The Als are allowing an average of 250.6 passing yards per game, the second fewest air yardage allowed league-wide.

Ottawa’s Nate Behar has caught 20 passes this season for 239 yards and a touchdown. He’ll be looked to in order to give Evans another option and take some of the defensive pressure off of Acklin.

Darvin Adams and Shaquille Johnson are the two other receivers that have over 100 receiving yards in the REDBLACKS offence this season. As a team the REDBLACKS are averaging 268.8 yards through the air.

Ottawa will be asking for more out of running back William Powell. Against Hamilton, he averaged just 2.2 yards per carry on 13 rushing attempts.

As a team defensively, Ottawa is near the bottom of the league in average rushing yards allowed, giving up 116.4. Through the air, they are allowing an average of 285.2 yards per game. Those marks rank 8th and 7th in the league, respectively.

They may be turning a corner, though. Aside from a second quarter where they surrendered 17 points, Ottawa’s defence held strong against the Tabbies. They put pressure on quarterback Dane Evans, recording five sacks.

Defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin and defensive lineman Davon Coleman had two apiece, while linebacker Avery Williams worked his way through the offensive line for one of his own.

Playing in just his second game of the year, Ottawa defensive back Hakeem Bailey intercepted a Hamilton pass on a crucial third and goal in the fourth quarter, giving him his first interception of the season.

Als quarterback Trevor Harris is coming off a game against the Elks which saw him throw a pair of interceptions, so forcing turnovers and giving their offence strong field position will be critical as the REDBLACKS try to secure their first win of the season.

However, despite the interceptions Harris was able to throw for 241 yards and two touchdowns, completing 19 of his 26 attempts as he helped his team put up 31 points against Edmonton.

The Alouettes have relied heavily on their top receiver in Eugene Lewis to start the year. Lewis pulled down six passes for 78 yards and a touchdown in his team’s loss. The Montreal pass-catchers’ 437 receiving yards to start the year, give him the third highest yardage total among receivers entering Week 7.

Ahead of their matchup in the nation’s capital, Lewis maintains that his team will need to play a full four quarters in order to come away with a win on Thursday.

“We need to be able to finish when we’re up that many points at halftime,” Lewis told MontrealAlouettes.com. “We have to keep up that momentum. When we come out in the third quarter we need to have that sense of urgency.”

The Alouettes have begun to employ a backfield by committee. In recent weeks ball carrying duties have been split between Walter Fletcher, Jeshrun Antwi and backup quarterback Dominique Davis. The trio totalled 80 yards on 14 carries against the Elks, with Davis being called upon to convert scores on the goal line.

Fletcher led the way with 64 yards on the ground and is taking on an expanded role with running back William Stanback sidelined. The running game has been respectable even without their biggest star, as they’ve rushed for an average 88 yards per game, fourth best in the league.

On the defensive side of the ball for the Alouettes, defensive back Marc-Antoine Dequoy had the only interception in their game against the Elks, his second of the year.

In Week 7, linebacker Brian Harelimana and defensive lineman Michael Wakefield will be tasked with applying more pressure and creating disruption for Evans and the Ottawa offence. The pair have combined for six sacks this season.

If the Als hope to earn their second win of the season, they’ll need to be more disciplined than they were in Week 6, as they took 13 penalties totalling 193 yards. Something head coach and general manager Danny Maciocia says the team will address heading into Thursday nights contest.

“Most of the penalties came on pass interference calls on their receivers,”  Maciocia told MontrealAlouettes.com. “Those are the type of penalties that come when you don’t fully understand the new coverages or it’s the technique that’s off. It wasn’t roughing penalties. Those are things that we’re going to address this week. We have some work to do with our new defensive system. The guys will have to learn it and execute on the field.”

The 1-4 Alouettes will look to leapfrog Hamilton and tie Toronto atop the East Division with a win. A win for the REDBLACKS would put them into a tie for second.

AFI, Visaic and the CFL

American Football International is collaborating with Visaic and the Canadian Football League to present 2022 CFL games live. This is more than a livestream. This is a stream of the topflight TSN network television broadcast.

Watch the game live here PPV. Montreal Alouettes @ Ottawa REDBLACKS, July 22, 01:00 CET (1 am, 7 pm ET July 21)