OTTAWA \u2014 In a duel that saw the Montreal Alouettes cruise to a 39-28 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, the two East Division rivals couldn\u2019t have more opposite outlooks heading into the final week of the regular season.<\/p>\n
With the win, the Alouettes tied the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for first in the East and extended their win streak to five games.<\/p>\n
With just one game to go in the regular season, the Alouettes have a chance at earning a bye through the first round of the playoffs if they can finish on top of their division.<\/p>\n
For the Redblacks (4-13), a second straight loss to the Alouettes (10-7) after falling 30-10 in Montreal on Monday is another demoralizing blow after a season spent at the bottom of the CFL standings. <\/p>\n
When the Saskatchewan Roughriders ultimately squashed Ottawa\u2019s playoff chances with a 20-13 win on Oct. 3, the Redblacks were left with three weeks in the season to find something else to play for.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the visiting Alouettes fielded quarterback Davis Alexander, a rising star who once again extended his CFL record career-opening run to 11 straight wins. Even while continuing to add to such a dominant streak, individual success is not Alexander\u2019s top priority on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool, but the standard here is we play winning football,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cYeah, it\u2019s Davis Alexander, but it\u2019s our football team.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Montreal head coach Jason Maas, it\u2019s the team-first focus that makes Alexander invaluable to the Alouettes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the confidence that he uses and the energy he brings is contagious,\u201d Maas said. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason he\u2019s a franchise quarterback for us. Our guys understand he\u2019s our leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander completed 21 of his 31 passes for 328 yards against the Redblacks.<\/p>\n
The Redblacks gave fourth-string quarterback Tyrie Adams the nod with starter Dustin Crum sidelined with a head injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt good to get a start,\u201d Adams said. \u201cIt felt horrible to lose, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until this game, Adams hadn\u2019t logged any contributing numbers beyond appearances since suffering a torn ACL ending his 2023 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been very frustrating,\u201d Adams said. \u201cBut at the same time, being a number four quarterback on the depth chart, you don\u2019t expect to play in the season at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a prove-it game, Adams stepped up as an offensive threat at points, converting 27 of 44 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw three interceptions in key moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re that fourth quarterback, you don\u2019t get a whole lot of time running our offence,\u201d said Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce. \u201cI thought Tyrie did a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Post-game, Dyce wouldn\u2019t answer whether Adams would start in Ottawa\u2019s final game of the season against Hamilton on Oct. 24.<\/p>\n
Ottawa failed to contain the Alouettes offence out of the gate, falling to a 13-0 deficit while Alexander threw for 171 yards in the first quarter alone. <\/p>\n
Even after an awkward fall sidelined Alexander in one of the game\u2019s opening plays, he was back on the field the very next drive, where he delivered a 23-yard lob pass to set up Montreal\u2019s first touchdown, rushed in by running back Stevie Scott III eight minutes into the game.<\/p>\n
Just four minutes later, Alexander sniped a 44-yard pass to wide receiver Austin Mack to put the Alouettes within two yards of a score. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s seeing the field extremely well right now,\u201d Maas said. \u201cHe\u2019s been able to put the ball where he needs to put it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After quarterback Shea Patterson rushed into the end zone, a botched Montreal conversion was little consolation for the hosts.<\/p>\n
Halfway through the second quarter, Adams put Ottawa on the board with only his second career touchdown, finding wide receiver Eugene Lewis at the back of the Montreal end zone. <\/p>\n
A 49-yard Montreal field goal from kicker Jose Maltos Diaz three minutes later gave the Alouettes some breathing room. Then a goal-line interception by Montreal defensive back Najee Murray devastated one of Adams\u2019 best drives of the game. <\/p>\n
An Ottawa field goal brought the Redblacks back to within six points, as close as they would get through the remaining half.<\/p>\n
Montreal put Ottawa in a chokehold through the third quarter, starting with two successive field goals through the first half of the frame.<\/p>\n
With just over a minute to go, a 38-yard interception return by Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette set the Alouettes up for a 22-yard touchdown pass to Mack on the next play to go up 29-10.<\/p>\n
Even as Adams led Ottawa\u2019s offence to an 18-point showing in the final quarter, it wasn\u2019t enough to catch the Alouettes and their dominant lead through three frames.<\/p>\n
UP NEXT<\/p>\n
Alouettes: Head to Winnipeg to face the Blue Bombers on Saturday, Oct. 25.<\/p>\n
Redblacks: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday, Oct. 24.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2025.<\/p>\n
David Cummings, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA \u2014 In a duel that saw the Montreal Alouettes cruise to a 39-28 win over the Ottawa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-225416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}