After a one-week hiatus the CFL is back on Thursday night and what a way to return. We have division leading clubs set to square off at the rocking Alouettes’ home turf of Percival Molson Stadium. Here are the five notes on my mind heading into kickoff tonight between the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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Shea Patterson’s underrated arrival
One of the truly strange twists and turns of the last five years in the CFL for me is watching Trevor Harris lead Edmonton to a valiant road playoff performance against Montreal in a 2019 crossover against then Als starter Vernon Adams Jr.
We shook the snow globe and found Harris in Montreal for a couple years before he departed for Saskatchewan. For some reason the last five years of Harris’ journey are most memorable for me with his Montreal ties. Cody Fajardo finding his feet in Regina before starring for the Alouettes makes this all that much more incredible of a storyline.
That is, if either of them were playing, which they are not.
Into the breach, below the radar and ready to surprise is Shea Patterson. The Riders’ backup has been thrust into the starting role and seems to be picking along through the week-to-week hurdles with little fanfare. I’m incredibly impressed by his poise and quick decision making.
Can he hand Montreal another home loss and send a message to Rider Nation that he can hold down the fort for as long as needed in the future?
Canadian pass catchers
One of the great storylines in the 2024 CFL season has clearly been the pass catchers. Unfortunately just like the quarterbacks mentioned above we have hit that dreaded part of the season where bodies begin to feel the grind and potential breakdowns can happen.
With Kaion Julien-Grant on the injured list and Kian Schaffer-Baker out, we still have an incredible depth of Canadian receiver talent to watch, from Tyson Philpot to Samuel Emilus and Mitchell Picton; not to mention the rise of Saint Mary’s grad Shedler Fervius to the starting lineup and the return of Nate Behar to the CFL in Alouettes colours!
Best on best
These defences are wildly talented.
Amongst the basic stats, Montreal and Saskatchewan sit first and second overall in the CFL defensively in: points allowed, opponent offensive touchdowns allowed, opponent average gain per play, opponent average first-down gain, opponent pass efficiency, first downs gained by passing play, opponent second down conversion rate and on and on and on.
When the two best units in the CFL come together you get the potential for a grind of a game, but I have a feeling these are the two teams most comfortable playing that style.
The turnover battle
Defences are the story in this one, but the overall turnover awareness of all three units is of huge importance tonight. Both the Riders and Als are tied for least turnovers given up with just EIGHT. That leads to a massive advantage in turnover margin when you have defences capable of turning teams over with consistency. There are only two teams with a ‘+’ in front of their turnover margin in the CFL entering Week 8: Montreal (+6) and Saskatchewan (+11)
Stylistic contrast of backs
It’s not as though AJ Ouellette doesn’t have hands and Walter Fletcher doesn’t have power, but the styles of these two backs and the way they have been used stand in direct contrast to each other as I’ve watched the first chunk of this CFL season.
Fletcher is near the top of the CFL in explosive runs and yards per carry (5.6) while leading all running backs in targets (30) and catches (25) just ahead of Hamilton’s James Butler. Meanwhile, up until missing tonight’s game with a hip injury, Ouellette has plugged away to absolutely pound defences with downhill runs and a mentality he established with the Argonauts while setting the tone week-after-week in Double Blue.
Despite Ouellette not being in the lineup, the Riders have clearly decided they want to be the more physical team at the line of scrimmage and prided themselves on that to begin the 2024 season. I expect Saskatchewan will have put that mentality in their carry on luggage and will be ready to unleash it in Montreal. The only problem is Montreal’s defence is as tough-nosed as they come up front, led by middle linebacker Darnell Sankey and defensive tackle Mustafa Johnson.