STREAMING CFL PPV: Montreal Alouettes @ Toronto Argonauts, Oct. 29, 20:00 CET (8 pm, 2 pm ET)

CFL | American Football | 10/29/2022

Graphic: Igor Lazarevic

TORONTO — The Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes will meet at BMO Field for the second game of a home-and-home and the final game of the regular season as both teams prepare for the 2022 post-season.

In the Week 20 matchup between the East Division rivals, the Argonauts clinched first place in the East Division and earned the right to host the Eastern Final from BMO Field for a second consecutive season. Kicker Boris Bede scored a last second rouge to secure a thrilling 24-23 victory in Montreal.

The regular season finale between the Als and the Argos will also provide CFL fans an opportunity to see Chad Kelly lead the Double Blue offence. According to the team’s depth chart Kelly has been listed as the No.1 quarterback and is expected to make his first career CFL start.

Despite the loss, Montreal outscored the Argos 20-17 in the game’s second half and Trevor Harris recorded his best statistical performance of the season. Harris completed over 75 per cent of his passes and threw for 413 yards and two touchdowns, including a highlight reel touchdown to Eugene Lewis to give Montreal a late fourth quarter lead.

Ahead of Week 21, Lewis appeared on the team’s injury report and according to the team’s depth chart, the pass-catcher has been ruled out ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

Much like the Argonauts, the Alouettes offence will also feature a change at the pivot spot as quarterback Dominique Davis has been listed as the team’s No.1, while Harris will serve as the No.3 quarterback on the depth chart.

Watch the game live here PPV. Montreal Alouettes @ Toronto Argonauts, Oct. 29, 20:00 CET (8 pm, 2 pm ET)

As a passer, Davis has put the ball in the air just 11 times this season and has completed six passes for 87 yards and a touchdown, with his best statistical performance coming in a Week 9 loss to Winnipeg. In the game Davis completed four of his five passing attempts for 76 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass to Reggie White Jr.

While he has seen limited action throwing the ball, Davis has excelled in short-yardage situations for the Alouettes this season. The veteran quarterback has carried the ball 61 times, rushing for 102 yards, while scoring 12 rushing touchdowns this season, the second most rushing touchdowns in the league.

The return of William Stanback and the emergence of Walter Fletcher have given the Alouettes a hard-hitting offensive backfield. In Week 20, Stanback assumed the role of lead back, carrying the ball 10 times for 65 yards, adding another 41 yards on three receptions.

Fletcher had an equally impressive outing, doing most of his damage through the air as he caught all four of his targets and turned upfield for 99 yards, while contributing an additional 24 yards on three carries.

Montreal’s ability to effectively use the ground game to gain yardage and their multi-layered attack should help to provide an added sense of comfortability for Davis on Saturday as he looks to help his team build momentum heading into the post-season.

Defensively the Alouettes held Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson to just 240 yards through the air in Week 20, his fourth lowest passing yard total of the 2022 season. The outing also featured a crucial fourth quarter interception from defensive back Marc-Antoine Dequoy, who now leads the team with four interceptions.

Despite the performance the Alouettes secondary will need to remain conscious of a versatile Toronto passing attack that averages 280.2 yards per game and has scored 23 touchdowns this season. However, the Als won’t be preparing for Bethel-Thompson as Kelly is slated to make his first regular season start for the Boatmen.

The rookie signal caller hasn’t seen much action from under centre for Toronto this season, completing just three passes for 33 yards. During the preseason Kelly was given an opportunity to throw, in two games he completed 15 of his 27 passing attempts for 163 yards and a touchdown.

The first-year has also been reliable in short-yardage situations for Toronto in 2022, carrying the ball 19 times for 102 yards and five touchdowns, while scoring a major in three of his last five games.

Speaking to team media following the team’s division-clinching win over Montreal, Bethel-Thompson said he was proud of the way his team played, but knows there is still work to be done.

“We fight, we don’t quit, we’re clutch when we need to be clutch,” Bethel-Thompson told Argonauts.ca. “If you think you’re done working, you’re in the wrong business. We’ve secured at least the Eastern Final and there’s two more steps to the promise land.”

According to Toronto’s depth chart receivers Brandon Banks and DaVaris Daniels have been ruled out, providing opportunities for Tommy Nield and Cam Phillips to make plays. Nield scored a game-winning touchdown for Toronto in their Week 18 win over the BC Lions, while Phillips has recorded 477 yards and three touchdowns on 34 receptions this season.

The Argonauts will also give rookie Daniel Adeboboye an opportunity to be the feature running back in Week 21. The 15th overall pick from the 2022 CFL Draft has been listed as the No.1 back on the team’s depth chart, while A.J. Ouellette will serve as the No.3 back in the final week of the regular season.

Adeboboye has seen just seven touches in the Argos offence and has rushed for 32 yards this season. However, the rookie running back has been integral to the Argos special teams unit, having been apart of multiple big-plays on the coverage team. During Toronto’s two preseason games Adeboboye rushed for 58 yards on a total of 14 carries.

Defensively the Argonauts will hope to replicate what was a nearly unstoppable pass-rush in their win over Montreal. The Boatmen front-seven was relentless in their pressure on the quarterback, sacking Harris five times in Week 20. Applying similar pressure and creating disruption in the backfield should provide the Toronto defence with an opportunity to force turnovers.

Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie told team media there is still plenty of work to be done for his team and that they can’t look past their final game of the regular season.

“We have some work to do, we have to clean up some things,” Dinwiddie told Argonauts.ca. “We have to do some self-scouting, look some of the schemes, some of things were doing and what we need to really improve on. We have to prepare to win a game, as well.”

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Watch the game live here PPV. Montreal Alouettes @ Toronto Argonauts, Oct. 29, 20:00 CET (8 pm, 2 pm ET)

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