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News August 26, 2026

48 Hour Primer | Facing Montreal’s Imposing Offence

@EdTaitWFC

There’s a house down the street from my humble abode in Charleswood now on the market that, well, let’s be kind and just say it needs some work.

Check that, it needs a lot of work.

Now, there’s little doubt many who see the place won’t bother to even give it a second look after what would be a shocking first glance. Still, the silver-lining optimistic sales pitch from the realtor is right there at the top of the ‘For Sale’ sign:

‘Exciting Development Opportunity.’

And that — if you can pardon my wordy intro — brings us to Friday’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers home date with the Montreal Alouettes, the best team in the Canadian Football League at 9-1, winners of seven straight games and a squad that has yet to be held under 30 points in any contest this year.

Yet, ask around the Blue Bombers clubhouse about this matchup and they’ll frame it, more or less, as exactly that — an ‘Exciting Development Opportunity.’

“It’s a challenge against a good opponent,” began defensive back Major Williams in a chat with bluebombers.com on Wednesday. “It feels like the ante goes up every week and so playing the Alouettes now is perfect for us.

“It’s ramping up with Labour Day coming up soon. It’s a real test to see who we are. Everyone is asking, ‘Who are we?’ This is going to show who we are.

“It’s not about their numbers, it’s about us. This is the next one and coming off that last loss we have a lot to prove right now and that’s the energy of the team. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder, and it just so happens to be against this opponent.

“This is a great opportunity for us.”

Here are the Alouettes offensive numbers for what their worth:

  • 1st in offensive points: 34.6
  • 1st in TDs: 39
  • 1st in net offence: 454.3 yards per game
  • 1st in rushing: 118.8
  • 2nd in passing: 343.8
  • 1st in passing efficiency: 123.4
  • 1st in time of possession: 31:17

Again, where many would cower in fear at those numbers, the Blue Bombers see it differently. They have to, after all.

“They’re explosive. They’ve got weapons in every area of their offence – run game, pass game, great quarterback,” said defensive back Evan Holm. “I look at it as an exciting opportunity. They like to throw a lot of deep shots and Davis (Alexander, Montreal’s QB) is talented, so it’s going to be a good challenge.

“Any time you get to cover deep concepts and deep throws that’s pretty exciting in the CFL game. And when you’re going up against the top offence it’s good to see what you can do against them.”

The Alouettes attack features the league’s leading passer in Alexander (3,400 yards with 20 TDs against just two interceptions) the two leading receivers in Tyson Philpot (83 receptions for 1,229 yards and nine TDs) and Tyler Snead (58-982-6) and the third-leading rusher in Travis Theis (788 yards rushing and seven TDs).

And to hear Blue Bombers defensive coordinator Jordan Younger tell it, what makes the Als so difficult to defend — and it’s a long list — is what they do on first down and the thick catalog of plays they run out of each formation.

“And then you have a guy like Davis Alexander who even when you dial it up good on second down, he’s able to extend plays, make people miss, throw the ball down the field,” said Younger. “So, they’ve got a system where even their role players are executing at a high level.

“Philpot vs. Snead, run vs pass, short passes vs deep passes, they can do it all. They can beat you in the screen game, they can beat you running the ball, they can beat you in play action, they can beat you in drop back. The fact that they’re that balanced is what makes it difficult to play against.

“It’s a huge challenge.”

Critical for the Blue Bombers Friday is for the offence to stay on the field and be more productive in the score zone and for the defence to put up a roadblock against Montreal’s vaunted attack.

What’s been interesting in witnessing the Blue Bombers this week post the crushing loss in Edmonton in which they built a 16-zip lead in the first half only to stall out and fall 22-19, was their collective reaction.

The focussed on some of the negatives in the loss, of course, but are also leaning into some of the positives that had them running with the division leading Elks before the late collapse.

Again, it’s all about outlook and whether this team sees a run-down house that needs work, or an exciting development opportunity.

“There were a lot of positives but always understanding there were plays that we missed, and that’s a common theme to say that we missed one or two, but we have to figure that out,” explained Holm.

“People put in a lot of work last week and it’s even more this week. There’s a lot of buy in – we’re a 5-5 football team with eight games left and we still have everything in front of us. We have to come in here, trust our process, trust ourselves and in our ability to make plays and then in the crunch time we’ve got to make them.

“You can’t just talk about it; you have to do it.”

More on the Blue Bombers vs. Alouettes matchup from defensive end Willie Jefferson:

NOTABLE: Here’s Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea when asked today by Taylor Allen of The Free Press if the club takes anything from last year’s playoff loss to the Alouettes — the last time these two teams met:

“I mean, painfully so, we watched it — or parts of it — and now you remember begain because you hadn’t watched it since… Richie (Hall, defensive assistant) said, ‘I hadn’t watched it since February.’ So, it’s a long time ago.

“But as you look through the breakdown, we didn’t do much in the first half and they put it on us. We came out and had a lead again and then you end up losing and that doesn’t feel good. But you realize at any given point you can play good football, and you can do well.”

O’Shea’s full press conference from Wednesday is here:

OUCH UPDATE: Practice was closed to the media on Wednesday, the last full session before Thursday’s walk-through. Here is the daily injury report:

PACK THE HOUSE: As of early Wednesday, ticket sales had already surpassed the 31,000 mark for Friday’s game. That means the club will play in front of is 22nd consecutive crowd of 30,000-plus, including 17 sell outs.