What Alouettes need to do vs. Blue Bombers to end Grey Cup drought

To say it's been an eventful season for the Montreal Alouettes would be an understatement.

The CFL took over operations and began search for a new owner back February just as free agency was set to begin.

Now they are one win away from ending a 13-year championship drought.

There was a time when an appearance in the Grey Cup was the norm for Montreal, especially in the 2000s when they were the class of the CFL. From 2000 to 2010, the Alouettes reached the Grey Cup game eight times winning three championships.

Getting back to the game means a great deal to the organization, but for Montreal native Marc-Antoine Dequoy there is an extra significance that the team isn't taking for granted.

"It's not easy to get to the Grey Cup especially when the length of a career is around four years," Dequoy said. "It's been a tough 13 years of the Alouettes not being at the Grey Cup and growing up cheering for this team makes it extra special for me to be here."

Montreal is one of the hottest teams in the CFL winning their last seven games including an upset win over the Toronto Argonauts in the East final.

They certainly have their work cut out for them with Winnipeg reaching their fourth straight Grey Cup and looking to win their third ring.

Here's how the Alouettes can bring a trophy back to La Belle Province.

Rely on the strengths that got you there

It's hard to not respect the Alouettes defence at this point considering they forced the Argonauts to commit nine turnovers in the East final.

This is a unit that has been making improvements each and every week and part of that had to do with the additions of Shawn Lemon and Darnell Sankey.

"There are more things that we can be better at and continue to work on," said Reggie Stubblefield. "We're just gonna continue to fit the standard and set the bar high every single game."

Stubblefield credits the preparation by the coaching staff to know what to expect from their opponent in every situation which has established trust between the players and coaches.

"We put a lot of faith into coach Thorpe, and know he is going put us in the right positions," Stubblefield said. "If we execute, and we know we can handle anything coming our way."

They say defence wins championships and if Montreal's defence can continue to play with the confidence they have shown in these playoffs, it should make for a great contest.

Win the field position battle

Both of the Alouettes' touchdowns on offence in the East final against the Argonauts came as a result of turnovers putting them in favourable field position.

The Alouettes offence struggled to drive down the field against the Argonauts in the first half in part because of the sacks quarterback Cody Fajardo took.

However, Fajardo knew that he couldn't risk trying to force a play that wasn't there and potentially turn the ball over and put his defence in a tough spot. Winnipeg would love nothing more than to exploit an opening especially if they can give their offence a short field to work with.

"I think that's one of the one of the biggest things you can have in a game is field position in your favour," said head coach Jason Maas. "When you're backed up, it changes the way you call plays at times, forces you to make tough decisions, whether you're gonna take safeties, give them singles or punt the ball out. You're always putting pressure on your defence or other aspects of your team if because they're in scoring opportunities more often.

"It changes the complexion of the game quite a bit. So being good in those crucial situations to allow for the type of possession or field position to be in your favour, is a good thing. It's something that's not lost on us as coaches or as players."

Montreal will also need to find a way to get their special teams to put them in favourable spots while also finding ways to pin the Blue Bombers deep in their own end.

Respect the balance of Winnipeg's offence

What makes the Blue Bombers a tough team to go up against is the different ways they can attack you on offence.

It's certainly a challenge to gameplan for because Winnipeg will remain patient and take what an opposing defence will give them.

However, the Alouettes believe everything starts with Winnipeg's desire to get the ball in Brady Oliveira's hands.

"They're going to establish the run there's no there's no doubt about that. They've got playmakers on the perimeter to get the ball in the hands of those guys. They make things happen," said Alouettes defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe. "When you look at the amount of touches that Brady's had and it helps sets up in their play-action game, puts them in second and manageable situations mediums where it's advantage offence.

"Then you put the ball in the hands of Zach Collaros and what he can do in moving the chains, how well a deep ball thrower is, the great decisions he makes and how he can navigate a pocket. There's a lot of challenges and a lot of areas we need to account for."

For the Alouettes, they'll need to find a way to knock the Blue Bombers' offensive line off their game which is easier said than done. Winnipeg allowed just 33 sacks, the second-fewest in the league and the Alouettes didn't get as much pressure on Chad Kelly as they would have liked.

Make a statement early

A big part of the Alouettes' success against Toronto was throwing the Argonauts off their game early.

The pick-six by Dequoy was one of many plays that forced Toronto to chase the game and play a little desperate.

"The key against Toronto last week was that they weren't going to give us anything, we had to take it," said Fajardo. "Against a very talented Winnipeg team, they're not gonna give us anything, we're going to have to earn every yard, earn every point. Field position is going to be a big part of the game and we're going have to go out there and like I said, play our best ball."

Part of that will be establishing a rhythm on offence. Not necessarily by asking Fajardo to go for deep throws but by ensuring they maximize each play.

Look no further than receiver Austin Mack who was fourth in the CFL with 423 yards after the catch.

"We were the number one team in the league in yards after the catch and that's that's something that we preach on," said receiver Austin Mack. "Anything underneath we want to catch and get a first down. Between myself, Tyson Philpot, Tyler Snead and Cole Spieker, we're all guys who are trying to catch the ball, break a tackle and get north and south as fast as we can."