Clash of the titans

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/08/2023 (759 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The two hottest teams in the CFL are set to clash at IG Field on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

Before the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-2) can start planning for their annual back-to-back with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, they must handle the Montreal Alouettes (6-3).

Many assume the Toronto Argonauts (7-1) will run away with the East Division, but the Als are right in the mix and are riding a four-game winning streak heading into Week 12 action.

The Bombers have also won four straight, and a big reason for that is backup quarterback Dru Brown’s ability to keep the club afloat in Alberta.

With Zach Collaros down and out, Brown led the Blue and Gold to a thrilling 38-29 victory in Edmonton, followed by a less-than-stellar showing in Calgary in a 19-18 win. Montreal also owes the back half of their win streak to their No. 2 pivot as Caleb Evans won two consecutive games, 41-12 over Saskatchewan followed by a 25-24 squeaker over Ottawa last week, while Cody Fajardo nursed an injury.

Brown and Evans will return to the sidelines this week as Collaros and Fajardo are all healed up.

We’ll dive more into that, and everything else you need to know, with this week’s edition of 5 Storylines.

Collaros-Fajardo set to battle once again

There’s a lot of history between Zach Collaros and Cody Fajardo.

They were teammates in Saskatchewan in 2019, and would end up meeting in the West Division final that year in Regina after two trades landed Collaros in Winnipeg. They met again in the 2021 West Division final, this time in Winnipeg, and the result remained the same with another win for Collaros and the Bombers en route to a Grey Cup title.

Fajardo never got a chance to make a third time the charm as he had a horrific 2022 that led to Riderville letting him walk in free agency and eventually sign a two-year deal in La Belle Province. He hasn’t been terrific by any means, but he’s enjoying a bit of resurgence with Montreal with 1,877 passing yards, six touchdowns, and five interceptions while completing 67 per cent of his passes.

Fajardo is coming off an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, but should be at 100 per cent as he told reporters he won’t be wearing any additional protection. To firmly get his career back on track, a win over the Bombers would do wonders as he has a 2-7 all-time record against the club. The Calgary Stampeders (2-4) is the only other team that Fajardo has a losing record against.

Fajardo is 0-1 against Winnipeg this season already as the Als fell to the Bombers 17-3 at home back in Week 3. The game was a messy one as it was delayed by nearly two hours due to rain. This is the second and final meeting between the two squads this season.

Meanwhile Collaros owns a 7-7 record against Montreal in his career. A neck issue forced him to sit out the last six quarters of play, but Collaros has been practising all week and will look to get the offence rolling after they failed to score a single touchdown in Calgary.

Where’s Kenny?

No offence to Brown, but Kenny Lawler should be very happy about Collaros returning to the lineup.

The receiver from California exploded for nearly 300 yards combined in his first two games back from suspension. The last two weeks, mostly without Collaros, Lawler has been held to four catches for 69 yards and a score. He was especially quiet in the Calgary game with only 20 yards.

Cowtown was a challenge for the entire offence as they settled for four Sergio Castillo field goals and were bailed out by Demerio Houston scoring on a pick-six. Now back at IG Field, and with the reigning, two-time Most Outstanding Player award winner throwing passes, the Bombers will be expected to return to their scoring ways. It won’t be easy since Montreal is holding opponents to 19.8 points per game. The Bombers average 30 points per game at home.

Mack attack

Bombers receiver Dalton Schoen lit the league on fire last year as a rookie.

This season, the CFL newcomer that’s turning heads is Montreal’s Austin Mack. The 25-year-old pass catcher from Ohio State currently leads the league in receiving with 773 yards, 48 catches, and three touchdowns. Mack continued to dominate even when Fajardo was out as he had nine grabs for 113 yards on Saturday in Ottawa.

Mack is on pace for 1,546 yards which would surpass the CFL record for most by a first-year players. The record currently belongs to Matt Clark (B.C. Lions) with 1,530 in 1991.

It should come as no surprise as Mack had a game with the NFL’s New York Giants back in 2020 in which he caught four passes for 72 yards, including a 50-yarder, in a win over the Washington Commanders. After that, he had brief stints with the Tennessee Titans and San Francisco 49ers before coming up north.

Pretenders or contenders

Despite sitting at 6-3, nobody’s talking about Montreal being a Grey Cup contender.

They might want to start, though, as they’ve won seven of their last eight games on the road.

General manager Danny Maciocia was heavily criticized for firing head coach Khari Jones last season. Maciocia took the headset on an interim basis and managed to get the team to 9-9 and a berth in the East Final. This season, Maciocia handed the keys to Jason Maas, another move that was met with skepticism as Saskatchewan canned Maas last season as its offensive co-ordinator, but things are working well so far.

With that said, the Als need to beat a heavyweight to truly change the narrative. They’ve lost to the Argos, Lions and Bombers this year, and another loss to Winnipeg would confirm Montreal is far from ready to be grouped in that top tier. They haven’t had a ton of time to do their homework as they were just in Ottawa on Saturday.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Houston giving problems

Bombers defensive back Demerio Houston has been brilliant this season. He has an interception in five of his last six games to give him seven on the year, which tops the league, and also leads the three-down circuit with three fumble recoveries. Winston Rose had nine picks for Winnipeg in 2019 and Houston is almost at that total at the midway point of the season.

It’ll be tough for him to stay at this pace, but Less Browne’s franchise record of 14 interceptions, set during the 1990 season, is in range. Al Brenner owns the CFL’s top spot with 15 for Hamilton in 1972.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.