3 stats that defined Montreal's Mobil Thanksgiving Weekend victory over Saskatchewan
Minas Patagiotakis/CFL.ca
Football player in blue celebrates.
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MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes are playing their best football at the right time, rolling to a 44-24 Mobil Thanksgiving Weekend win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Monday.
In a rematch of the 112th Grey Cup, Montreal closed out its regular-season home schedule with a perfect 9-0 record, improving to 13-3 on the season.
The Roughriders kept pace early but faded after halftime, unable to contain Davis Alexander as their losing streak reached four games and their record fell to 8-8.
CFL.ca brings you three key stats that defined the Montreal Alouettes' win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Mobil Thanksgiving Weekend.
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5 - DAVIS ALEXANDER PASSING TOUCHDOWNS
Davis Alexander's day started with an interception, but he turned it around in dramatic fashion, throwing five touchdown passes for the first time in his career and finishing with 403 passing yards. Three touchdown passes of 45 yards or more, including two on Montreal's first two drives after halftime, helped the Alouettes seize momentum and pull away late.
With back-to-back 400-yard performances and a five-touchdown statement, Alexander now leads the league in both passing yards and touchdown passes, strengthening his case for Most Outstanding Player as the season winds down.
1 - ROUGHRIDERS RED ZONE TRIP
The Roughriders cashed in on their one trip to the red zone on Monday afternoon, but it was too little, too late. It took until the 2:38 mark of the fourth quarter for Trevor Harris and company to run a snap inside Montreal's 20-yard line, and by then, the Alouettes had taken complete control.
Saskatchewan's one earlier touchdown drive was by way of a 27-yard pass to Kian Schaffer-Baker, a rare moment when the Als' defence opened up over the middle. After that, Montreal shut down the Riders' attack, holding them to under 50 per cent conversion rate on second down and forcing a pair of turnovers in the late stages to seal it.
4 - ALOUETTES RECEIVERS OVER 70 YARDS
When Alexander has a big day, Tyson Philpot and Tyler Snead, the league’s leading receivers in both yards and touchdowns, are usually central to the action. But Monday was an air show by committee, with Jerreth Sterns leading the way with 124 receiving yards and Charleston Rambo adding 96 on just two long touchdown catches. Philpot and Snead chipped in with 74 and 75 yards, respectively.
Alexander’s ability to spread the ball around, combined with Montreal’s depth at receiver, kept Saskatchewan’s defence off balance, which helped fuel the three long touchdown passes.