Heading into last winter, Alouettes receiver Tyson Philpot, a potential free agent, held all the chips in this game of poker.
Als general manager Danny Maciocia, meanwhile, must have felt as though he was playing Russian Roulette.
Maciocia realized he come February, knowing a bidding war would ensue and a rival CFL team would quickly snatch him up.
Left with no recourse, Maciocia not only signed the talented Philpot to a two-year contract extension in early December, he made the 2022 first-round (ninth overall) draft choice the highest-paid Canadian receiver at a reported $275,000, including a $100,000 signing bonus.
Through four regular-season games, Philpot has earned every penny.
He put on a one-man show Sunday night, catching 12 passes for 198 yards in Montreal’s hard-fought 37-35 victory over the winless Ottawa Redblacks at Molson Stadium.
“I’m not a stats guy,” Philpot said. “I’m just coming out here to play football. The coaches draw up good plays for me and I help the team win.
“I have the utmost confidence. Obviously they paid me in the off-season to be this kind of player. That’s the kind of swagger, the kind of confidence I’ve always had. Obviously probably (I’m getting) a little more targets than usual. I just roll with the punches.”
On the season, Philpot has now caught 36 passes for 587 yards while scoring three touchdowns. And there’s still 14 games remaining.
While the Als improved their record to 3-1 heading into their first bye week, this game was far closer than required.
Montreal appeared in full control at halftime, jumping out to a 21-6 lead against a team that was missing receiver and allowed 44 points at home against Toronto in their last game. Through 30 minutes, the visitors were held to five first downs and 76 yards’ net offence. Quarterback Jake Maier had only 83 yards passing.
“When we watch the film it won’t be the kind of win we wanted,” Philpot admitted. “There’s something about that third quarter that we need to clean up. It pisses us off when we let teams back in. We know when we play championship-winning teams we’re not going to find a way to win playing like that.
“It’s kind of mind-blowing to us,” he continued. “We’re a confident group at halftime. We talk about having this killer instinct, coming out and stepping on the throat. It just doesn’t happen. It’s something we need to clean up.”
The Als had their usual third-quarter meltdown and were outscored 12-0, allowing two touchdowns in barely more than seven minutes. The Als ran seven offensive plays in 15 minutes. Montreal now has been outscored 39-10 in the period this season.
Montreal Alouettes head coach Jason Maas gives his players orders during the fourth-quarter of their win over the Ottawa Redblacks on June 28, 2026. Tim Snow / Montreal Gazette
“Closer than it should have been?” Als head coach asked. “I don’t even know what that means. There are plays they made you’ve got to give them credit for. We made plays, too. We made more plays, too. We made more plays than they did and won the game. That’s all we really care about. We want to be better.”
Having said that, Maas has no explanation for his team’s third-quarter abyss.
“We come out with all the momentum in the world,” Maas said. “All of a sudden we give up two scores. And we didn’t do anything with the ball offensively. That has been a trend. We’ve got to correct it and we’ve got to get better.”
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Ottawa outscored Montreal 29-16 in the second half. The Redblacks got to within three points midway through the fourth quarter and narrowed the deficit to two following Kalil Pimpleton’s 94-yard kickoff return touchdown in the final minute of regulation.
Ottawa attempted a short kickoff that was recovered by Philpot.
Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Jake Maier passes the ball downfield in the fourth quarter of his team’s loss to the Montreal Alouettes on June 28, 2026. Tim Snow / Montreal Gazette
Maier rebounded nicely following the intermission, passing for 336 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted once. His favourite target was Justin Hardy, who caught seven passes for 119 yards, including a 29-yard score to open the second half.
Veteran defensive back seemingly had no answer for Hardy. Indeed, the secondary as a whole struggled, although the Als sacked Maier three times.
“We’ve just got to make plays,” said Sutton, the recipient of Maier’s interception. “We’ve got to make more plays. When the ball comes to you you’ve got to catch it. When somebody has the ball and is running at you you’ve got to make the tackle.
“We just come out too flat in the third quarter,” he added. “We definitely don’t lack a killer instinct. Letting that temptation of comfort set in. It happens to everybody. When you’re doing good, you’re winning, you got a promotion, something happens where you’re getting success. It’s a temptation to relax. That has to be what it is. We’ve just got to fight that.”
While the Als’ defence and special teams took a beating, quarterback Davis Alexander continued to excel, completing 22 of 30 passes for 345 yards and two touchdowns. Alexander hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 254 attempts.
He likely gave Maas heart palpations in the fourth quarter, when he came up limping following a seven-yard run. However, on the next play Alexander connected with Tyler Snead for a 46-yard completion. In other words, same old.
