3 storylines to watch in the Eastern Final presented by Wegovy®

For a second consecutive season, the Montreal Alouettes will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in an East Division playoff game.

Last season saw the Als prevail 42-33 in the Eastern Semi-Final presented by Wegovy® en route to an appearance in the 112^th Grey Cup. One year later, these two teams will meet once again, this time in the Eastern Final presented by Wegovy® after Winnipeg’s 25-22 win over Toronto last weekend.

The Bombers are riding the momentum of a crossover playoff win, while Montreal has been preparing for this game since clinching first in the East Division in early October.

Here are three storylines we’ll be tracking leading up to Saturday’s showdown at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

THE STATUS OF ZACH COLLAROS

Much like last week leading into the Eastern Semi-Final, the status of quarterback Zach Collaros will dominate much of the Winnipeg conversation. The two-time George Reed Most Outstanding Player missed Saturday’s win over the Argonauts with a rib injury suffered in the final week of the regular season.

With the Bombers opting not to practice Tuesday, Collaros’ status remains unknown at the time of this submission.

In his absence, Dru Brown helped Winnipeg grind out a win last weekend. Brown engineered a game-winning drive that culminated in a 23-yard Nic Demski touchdown with less than one minute remaining. Overall, Brown completed 18 of 30 passes for 206 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first career playoff win.

CAN ANYONE SLOW DOWN THE ALS?

Shutting down Montreal’s offence has essentially been an impossible task. The best an opposing defence can do is hope to limit it. That's something the Bombers were able to do in Week 13, at least to an extent. Winnipeg prevailed 44-28 that week despite four touchdown passes from quarterback Davis Alexander and three touchdown catches from wide receiver Tyler Snead.

Even slowing an offence led by Alexander is a tall task. A George Reed Most Outstanding Player finalist, Alexander was the league’s best quarterback from start to finish, and his 122.7 quarterback rating is the third-best single-season mark in CFL history. Alexander also started building a solid playoff resume with a pair of wins last year.

Snead and fellow MOP candidate Tyson Philpot make for the league’s most potent one-two receiving punch, while the CFL’s best offensive line created holes for three different starting running backs during the regular season.

MAKING HISTORY?

With last weekend’s result, the Blue Bombers became just the sixth team in league history to win a playoff game as a crossover team. Now Winnipeg will look to do what no crossover squad has ever done before: advance to a Grey Cup.

And the Bombers have as daunting a crossover challenge in front of them as I can remember. The Alouettes finished 14-4 during the regular season and at no point looked truly vulnerable, even in losses. Even more scary was their 9-0 home record, making them the first team to accomplish that feat since the 2019 Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Winnipeg will have to manufacture a significant upset if they’re going to make history while also advancing to a sixth Grey Cup game in seven years.