I understand what I am going to say is soaked in recency bias with a heavy dose of knee jerk but has there been an easier Divisional Final in recent memory to hype up than this one?
Montreal finished the year with the CFL’s best record, and they will host the hottest team in the league. It has been a dozen years since the Alouettes hosted an Eastern Final as they look for another trip to the Grey Cup.
As for the Argonauts, I’m sure the messaging all this week will be the team is looking to go “1-0” but there is no way this group isn’t thinking about revenge. Yes, at this time of year everyone is motivated, everyone wants to win but the memory of last years’ upset blowout loss has to be lingering in the locker room at BMO Field.
Let’s continue the hype train with six matchups that will play a pivotal role in who will be representing the East in the 111th Grey Cup.
2024 CFL PLAYOFFS
» Matchups Set: Division Finals head to Montreal and Winnipeg
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» Head To Head: Who has the edge in the Eastern Final?
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I’m not going to take any victory laps from last week’s prediction that McManis would be in the middle of some big plays for the Double Blue defence, we all knew he would be critical. However, McManis went above and beyond with his 10 tackle, interception and cunning lateral to Tarvarus McFadden day. McManis has had success against the Alouettes finishing with a season high in tackles (nine) in their first meeting and returning a second quarter interception for a touchdown in helping hand Montreal their first loss of the season 37-18 in Week 6.
For the Alouettes the key will be the chess game between their quarterback and the Argonauts linebacker once they get into the red zone. What doomed Ottawa last week was their inability to finish long drives with touchdowns, especially early on keeping Toronto in the game. The number one priority for Fajardo and the Alouettes offence is to convert those extended drives into touchdowns and make sure Jose Maltos has an uneventful day.
RB Ka’Deem Carey has hit 90 yards or more in the last two games (Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca)
Ka’Deem Carey vs. Tyrice Beverette/Darnell Sankey
One of the most unexpected statistics from 2024 was Toronto rolling up 234 yards on 30 carries in their 37-31 Week 17 win over the Als. Maybe it shouldn’t have been a shock as we saw a similar performance in Week 6 with an impressive 179 rushing yards. Carey has hit 90 yards or more in the last two games and in total has 348 yards from scrimmage against Noel Thorpe’s defence.
For the Alouettes to reverse this trend they’re going to need to meet Toronto at the point of attack and not allow extra yardage after first contact. If I had to trust anyone in slowing down the Argo rushing attack it is certainly these two Montreal linebackers. Beverette was part of the conversation for who should be nominated out of the East for Most Outstanding Player while Sankey filled up the stat sheet with over 100 tackles, three forced fumbles and chipped in with an interception and a sack.
DB Marc-Antoine Dequoy registered a 101-yard interception return touchdown in the 2023 Eastern Final (Minas Panagiotakis/CFL.ca)
The most impressive aspect of Kelly’s day against the REDBLACKS defence has nothing to do with any of the touchdowns he was involved with. What stood out for me was neither Kelly nor any member of the Toronto offence panicked. Early in the second quarter Lorenzo Mauldin IV took down Kelly forcing the passer to fumble, that turnover would soon give Ottawa a 13-3 lead. Kelly was not rattled and soon after completed a series of long touchdowns.
I was wondering if what happened to Kelly last year in the playoffs would haunt him again on this sunny day at BMO. Clearly it had no impact on his performance. Well now look at who comes strolling into town! When telling the story of the 2023 CFL Playoffs the Marc-Antoine Dequoy 101-yard interception return touchdown against Toronto in the Eastern Finals would have its own chapter. Dequoy perfectly read Kelly on the goal line last year and the entire game turned within the first five minutes. The now two-time East Division All-CFL will be waiting.
The 1980s cop movie Argo receiver combo vs. Kabion Ento
Apologies for how wordy this one is but I love the dynamic of the “old” guy 31-year-old DaVaris Daniels teaming up with the new hot shot on the team, rookie Makai Polk. Daniels did not have a banner year statistically but last week the eight-year pro finished with 88 receiving yards and two scores. Not to be outdone it was the youngster beating Ottawa early on a 70-yard touchdown as the game’s hottest receiver in the second half of the season finished with 103 yards on five receptions. As for Ento his star was on the rise last year as he joined Dequoy with his own touchdown return off of Kelly.
Ento’s play only got better this year after being named to his first All-CFL team playing in all 18 games and recording two interceptions to go along with two forced fumbles and 56 tackles. Daniels and Polk must do their best to create separation from the second-year star to help keep their quarterback from harms way.
The season ending injury to Tyson Philpot put extra pressure on the entire Alouette receiving core including the rookie who led all Montreal receivers in receptions. Toronto’s defence will give up lots of underneath completions in their bend-don’t-break defence. It will be up to Rambo to hold on to every target, make defenders miss and keep the chain moving.
We saw peak Rambo from Weeks 9-12 where in four games he had 399 yards and three touchdowns, Montreal went 4-0 during that span. This is almost a rookie-on-rookie challenge as Franklin played in just one game in 2023. The defensive back finished with eight tackles last week and picked off Dru Bown once.
OL Dejon Allen will be one of the players responsible for keeping Montreal’s pass rush at bay (Andrew Lahodynskyj/CFL.ca)
Circling back to that vicious second quarter sack that Kelly took, Mauldin IV came through the Argonauts offensive line unblocked thanks to what looked like miscommunication on the right side of their line. Kelly took some big hits last week and still performed well but you cannot count on that occurring week after week. As for Montreal they lost one of their rocks on the defensive line in Mustafa Johnson to a knee injury.
No better player to pick up the slack than 2024 All-CFL Adeyemi-Berglund. The first year Alouette finished second in the CFL in sacks and all it takes is one mistake from the Argonauts linemen for Adeyemi-Berglund, who has 20 sacks over the last three years, to be all over Kelly.