Photo: Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
By Marshall Ferguson, CFL.ca
After a thrilling comeback effort by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the third quarter of Saturday’s Eastern Semi-Final, the Montreal Alouettes found a way to shut the door.
Now they move as far West as possible for the Eastern Final.
Did the Eastern Semi-Final reveal cracks in Montreal’s armour or was it a powerful performance confirming their Grey Cup legitimacy?
Much of that perspective rides on your allegiances and what you believe carries more weight from the Als’ first round playoff performance.
It was one in which the Hamilton Tiger-Cats were patiently watching and waiting for the conclusion to set up this monster matchup.
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QUARTERBACKS
Davis Alexander led his Alouettes to a win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Eastern Semi-Final (Graham Hughes/CFL.ca)
The legend vs. the kid.
However you want to dress it up, this is the most interesting quarterback matchup remaining this season, perhaps outside of the Most Outstanding Player nominees Bo Levi Mitchell and Nathan Rourke going head-to-head. The personalities and sound clips sure to come from both leading men this week are special.
Mitchell led the CFL in passing yardage and set a new career-high in single-season touchdown passes while Alexander STILL hasn’t lost (now 12-0 with the playoffs included). In his first career playoff start, Davis was 24-of-34 for 384 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while throwing the ball downfield, fuelled by adrenaline and home crowd confidence.
This comes down to execution, high completion percentage, avoiding “the big mistake” and high-quality throws on downfield attempts.
Who wins the battle? I have no idea.
ADVANTAGE: TOSS UP
RUNNING BACKS
Greg Bell rushed for 1,038 yards and five touchdowns in the regular season (Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca)
Alouettes running back Stevie Scott III had nine missed tackles forced in the Eastern Semi-Final, the most by any player on the weekend, as he added 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Since his opportunity came, Scott III has run angry, and will only do more lowering of the pads if this Alouettes’ Grey Cup run continues.
That’s great, but Greg Bell went for 156 yards on 20 carries in Montreal earlier this season, and with a week’s rest, he should be the fresher of the two.
ADVANTAGE: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
RECEIVERS
Kenny Lawler hauled in a league-leading 14 touchdown passes in the regular season (Christian Bender/CFL.ca)
I’ve got a lot of love for Montreal’s pass-catchers, especially Tyson Philpot, but this Hamilton group is absolutely stacked.
Philpot had five receiving first downs, second behind only his twin Jalen for Calgary on Saturday! His 10 catch, 135 yard receiving performance will need to be duplicated with some help from Tyler Snead, Cole Spieker and Austin Mack if Montreal has a chance.
If Davis Alexander has a huge day passing, never say never, but I just don’t know how you try to eliminate the seemingly endless collection of threats from the Tiger-Cats receiver room.
ADVANTAGE: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
OFFENSIVE LINE
Can the Tiger-Cats O-line help keep Mitchell protected and open gaps for the run game? (Simon Prelle/CFL.ca)
The two clubs in question are seventh and eighth in average rushing yards per game, while sitting second and fourth in sacks allowed, with a minuscule difference of just one.
It’s as close as can be between these units, but if the Hamilton crowd plays their role properly, perhaps a couple of free yards can be obtained for the Tiger-Cats defence as lineman jump the snap.
Give me Hamilton in a close one.
ADVANTAGE: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
DEFENSIVE LINE
Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund tallied four tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles in last week’s Eastern Semi-Final (David Kirouac/CFL.ca)
The Alouettes are tied for the CFL lead with 45 sacks in the regular season.
Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund has been special again this year alongside Lwal Uguak’s great sense of time, space and quarterback rhythms. The Alouettes SHOULD have the advantage here in giving Bo Levi Mitchell headaches, especially with defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe dialling up blitzes.
But who says Julian Howsare and co. can’t go completely off the rails with a first step fuelled by the blackout home Tiger-Cats game day experience?
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL ALOUETTES
LINEBACKERS
Darnell Sankey picked off Zach Collaros late in the Eastern Semi-Final to seal the deal for his team’s win (Timothy Atticus/CFL.ca)
Darnell Sankey is an absolute stud and Tyrice Beverette is every bit the player he was last year, even if the statistics don’t show it.
I have immense confidence in Ticats’ rookie middleman Devin Veresuk making a couple of great plays, but Sankey and Beverette are overwhelming in most scenarios, especially while playing villains, on the road and in the playoffs.
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL ALOUETTES
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Will DaShaun Amos come up with an interception in the Eastern Final? (Christian Bender/CFL.ca)
The Tiger-Cats secondary leads the CFL in interceptions this season with 27 to Montreal’s 18, while Hamilton has a 72-58 regular season advantage in passes knocked down.
The back end, organized by Stavros Katsantonis, has been severely upgraded since last year with defensive coordinator Brent Monson calling the shots and DaShaun Amos patrolling the field side halfback position.
The question now becomes: can the talented Tiger-Cats back end pick off Davis Alexander?
ADVANTAGE: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
KICKERS
How much will Marc Liegghio be relied upon in the Eastern Final? (Geoff Robins/CFL.ca)
Marc Liegghio has the slightly higher make percentage, but has a shorter average made distance. José Maltos-Diaz stands alone in Alouettes history with 58 field goals made this season, and stands behind only Lirim Hajrullahu’s ridiculous dozen field goals made of 50 yards or more.
The kicking battle is between two of the absolute best in 2025, and they could swap kicks that take the lead down the stretch with both entering this monumental Eastern Final with maximum confidence.
ADVANTAGE: TOSS UP
RETURNERS
Alexander Gagné was second in the regular season in special teams tackles (25) behind his teammate Tyrell Richards (30) (David Kirouac/CFL.ca)
Isaiah Wooden has a CFL-high punt return average (15.0) and the Alouettes return game has largely been a non-factor, but here’s the catch: punter Joseph Zema and cover men Tyrell Richards alongside Alexandre Gagné and co. give opposing returners next to NOTHING.
All it takes is one burst from Montreal to flip this all-important matchup to their advantage, but if Montreal can largely negate Trey Vaval, why would anyone believe they won’t do the same to Hamilton?
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL ALOUETTES
IN SUMMARY
Hamilton SHOULD win based on the tale of the tape, head-to-head matchups this season, and playing fresh off the bye, but how many times have we said that deep in the playoffs with the Tiger-Cats only to see a stunner take place?
I think this Hamilton group is different when led by Bo Levi Mitchell and fuelled by the pain of last season still fresh in their minds.
As Bo told me a couple weeks ago, “we’re young, but the guys are mature beyond their years.” They’ll need it to get past Montreal.