This is it!
Week 21 of the CFL season is here! As of next week, the playoffs will kick off with the East and West Division Semi-Finals. But before we get to that point, the Alouettes will play this final home game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 3pm ET on Saturday afternoon.
The Alouettes managed to clinch first place in the East weeks ago, but the Blue Bombers need to win this game to secure first place in the West. A Bombers loss and a Saskatchewan Roughriders win would lead to Winnipeg finishing in second place.
Lineup notes:
The Alouettes will be making a handful of changes ahead of this game. They’ll be welcoming Austin Mack, Walter Fletcher, Brock Gowanlock and Theo Grant back in the lineup. Receiver Tyjon Lindsey will be making his Alouettes debut. He’ll be handling return duties with James Letcher Jr. sitting out this week.
Josh Donovan, who appeared to suffer a lower-body injury in last Saturday’s game against the B.C. Lions, won’t be in the lineup. He’s been placed on the one-game injured list. Defensive end Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund is also out.
Heading into this final game of the season, Adeyemi-Berglund leads the team in quarterback sacks, with seven.
Star defensive tackle Mustafa Johnson will miss his third straight game. He’s second on the team in sacks, with three.
Offensive tackle Jamar McGloster, who replaced Donovan in B.C., is considered a game-time decision for this game. The veteran was the starter at right tackle in the second half of last season and the Grey Cup, but he’s been limited to one game due to a back injury.
Can Bev wrap up M.O.P. Award?
Earlier this week, the Alouettes announced that linebacker Tyrice Beverette had been voted as the team’s Most Outstanding Player nominee. Only once before has a defensive player been named M.O.P. and that was Lions linebacker Solomon Elimimian in 2014. But Beverette has a legitimate shot of taking it home. He’s two defensive tackles away hitting the 100-mark for the season. He’s also added nine special teams tackles, four sacks and two interceptions.
The 29-year-old continues to make an impact on the field every week. Not only has he been durable, he’s also been productive. Since joining the Als in 2022, he’s missed just one game. In his first two seasons, he hit the 20-special teams tackle mark. This year, his numbers have come down in that category, but he’s added more defensive tackles.
“I don’t think anyone here is surprised that Bev is our nominee,” head coach Jason Maas said. “I’ve been year for just over a year and a half, and the way he’s played, he could be our player of the game in just about every game. He’s been tremendous, he’s been outstanding. He flies around the field and loads up the stat sheet with everything. He’s capable, on every single play, of either rushing the quarterback and hitting them, making a tackle in the open field and they’re usually punishable tackles as well. He can run down the field on special teams too, and he can cover. He plays some free safety for us. He does a little bit of everything for us.”
Finishing the way you started:
The Alouettes and Blue Bombers haven’t faced off since Week 1 of the season at Princess Auto Stadium. In the Grey Cup rematch, the Als stomped the Bombers, 27-12, back on June 6. Winnipeg went into a bit of a tailspin after that, as they lost their next three games to fall to 0-4. Since then, they’ve found a way to turn it around.
As for the Alouettes, they’re coming off a tough loss in B.C. last Saturday night. Even though this game won’t affect their place in the standings, they want to be playing some good football heading into the playoffs.
