(Montreal) The Alouettes occupy second place in the Eastern Conference, a place that few experts predicted for them before the start of the season. But facing the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, the Montrealers will want to prove that they belong to the elite of the Ambrosie circuit.
This elite are the Argonauts (9-1), the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-3) and the British Columbia Lions (8-4). The Alouettes’ record (6-5) against these teams this season? Five defeats in as many occasions.
“We have a good position in the standings, but we really want to prove that we can beat these top teams in the league,” said quarterback Cody Fajardo after Thursday’s practice session. That’s our challenge this week: we’re going to face the best team in the CFL on their home field. »
“It’s clear that we want to win these games, that we can win against Winnipeg, Toronto and British Columbia,” added left guard Pier-Olivier Lestage. It came close, but it didn’t happen this season. We have two games in a row (against Toronto). If we come out with at least one victory, we will be satisfied. »
The offense will have to do more and not screw up its chances in the paying zone – 0 for 3 against the Lions last week – if it wants to give itself the opportunity to come away with victory.
For one of the few times this season, head coach Jason Maas has pointed the finger at his attacking failures, blaming him for the loss at the hands of the Lions.
“We have 517 yards of total offense: that should be enough to score more points and come out of there with the victory,” admitted Lestage when reminded of his coach’s comments.
“You have to score more touchdowns, that’s the key,” Maas said. I hope we learned from this match and that the very good work done this week will allow us to make the necessary changes. »
This first game of this round-trip series is all the more important because if the Argos were to win, they would then hold the tiebreaker in the event of an identical record with the Alouettes at the end of the season.
“These two games against the Argos (Editor’s note: the Alouettes will host them next Friday) are very important,” admitted Fajardo. We don’t want to give the Argos a tiebreaker with a victory on Saturday, but the goal is to win the Gray Cup. To do this, you only need to secure a place in the playoffs.
“Once you’re invited to the dance, you can achieve anything. We are second in the East, but for some reason many seem to think we are not in a good position to qualify. The experts actually placed us last in the league before the season…”
“I’m not thinking about first place in the East, but I know full well that we’re playing two games against the Argos, the best team in the CFL, who are committed to being in the East, for his part argued The internship. If we want to finish first, we know very well that we have to win these matches. »
Maas does not see these two duels as a whole, even if the first match can serve to “set the table” for the second.
“Physically, if we can take advantage of their shortened week to try to win this aspect of the match, it could advantage us in the second. But if your attention is already on the second meeting, it can’t work.
“However, you have to be aware of the stakes: if we win this first game, we put ourselves in a very good position to achieve great things. We must also be confident that it is the quality of our play since the start of the season that has allowed us to end up with this opportunity. »
After playing his first game in nearly a year last Saturday, wide receiver Greg Ellingson has missed the club’s last two practices this week, casting doubts over his availability for the game against the Argos.
The answer for Saturday’s duel is now known: he won’t be there. We are also wondering if we haven’t seen the last time of Ellingson in the Alouettes uniform, since his name was once again placed on the injured list for six games by the Montreal team.
Limited to eight games last year, it feels like the end of the road for this CFL veteran, who was part of the league’s elite for several campaigns.
This main Alouettes hiring on the free agent market was to make up for the loss of Eugene Lewis in the receiving group. Maas and the Alouettes had to rely on the many young receivers unearthed by Danny Maciocia to get the job done. Fortunately for them, Austin Mack, Tyler Snead and other Quartney Davis were able to do the job in the company of Keion Julien-Grant and Tyson Philpot, who recently returned to the game.
Right tackle Landon Rice, who did not practice this week, was also added to the six-game injured list. He will give way to Jamar McGloster on the offensive line.
Kickoff at BMO Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.