Edmonton, Montreal's path down The Final Stretch to the Division Finals presented by Wegovy®

Last week, I focused my efforts on providing a breakdown of the path to the Grey Cup Playoffs presented by Wegovy® for the four teams playing on Division Semi-Final presented by Wegovy® weekend.

This week, I look at the path that led the Edmonton Elks and Montreal Alouettes to the top of their respective divisions ahead of Saturday's Eastern and Western Finals presented by Wegovy®.

Lets just say the paths for both these teams was very similar, as opposed to the myriad of ways the four Semi-Finalists made the Grey Cup Playoffs.

EDMONTON ELKS

I think the Edmonton Elks' season needs to start with the end of 2025. After a 1-6 start, the team did finish above .500 in the back half of Mark Kilam’s first season as head coach.

The Elks made the move to Cody Fajardo at quarterback, and they instantly became more of a consistent threat on offence. The Elks' defence also made strides, finishing their final 11 games with a 6-5 record and sitting 7-11 overall.

The momentum was pushing them, albeit slowly, in the right direction.

With a full offseason to rework the roster, Edmonton went out and acquired Malik Carney in free agency from the 112th Grey Cup champions. His addition to the Elks' defensive line has been as much of a boost to Edmonton as it was a blow to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Offensively, they brought in Austin Mack to give Fajardo some familiarity in the receiving corps, while bolstering the offensive line with Brendan Bordner and Coulter Woodmansey coming over from Hamilton.

The tinkering to an improving team worked.

The Elks got off to a hot start. They were 6-1 and at the top of the CFL's West Division. Running back Justin Rankin was the leading candidate for the George Reed Most Outstanding Player to start the year, on pace to be the CFL’s first 1,000-1,000 man as a runner and pass-catcher.

With all the hype around Rankin’s start and Fajardo’s MOP-calibre quarterback play, the real headline was being buried.

The Elks' defence had become the best in the league.

They ranked either first or second in almost every major defensive statistic, including first in points allowed, yards allowed, opponents’ quarterback efficiency and turnovers forced.

The Elks only lost back-to-back games once all year and had three separate three-game winning streaks, as well as a four-game winning streak.

Oh, and if you think having a bye week will help the Elks, they went 3-0 this season coming off a bye.

What I think makes the Elks really special is the fact none of their players will go on to win an MOP award, but their coach may win Coach of the Year.

A potential win by Mark Kilam without an MOP trophy in sight is a sign of the overall team that the Elks are. They have a few superstars, but what moved them from worst to first in 2026 was more about the collective than being led by one or two major individual performances.

From start to finish, the Elks quieted the doubters and sit one win away from their first Grey Cup appearance in 11 seasons.

MONTREAL ALOUETTES

The Alouettes' road to first in the East was all about one key component that failed them last year: the health of Davis Alexander.

It was an absolutely unlucky regular season for Alexander in 2025, and he even limped his way into the 112th Grey Cup game against Saskatchewan.

The Alouettes didn’t lose a regular season game in which Alexander started over his previous two seasons, but he only made it through eight games in 2025.

Their quarterback's health was the only big question the Alouettes had for 2026.

With him healthy and on the field, the Als went 13-3 with Alexander as their starter, putting him on a path to win his first MOP award.

The Alouettes went the entire season without a losing streak, following up all four of their losses with a win. Their hottest stretch came over the summer, when they won seven straight games to start the season 9-1.

While the Elks' story was about the defence, the Alouettes' story was about the offence.

They were second in scoring, first in yards, first in protecting the quarterback, and first in protecting the football.

Tyson Philpot was breaking records catching the ball on his way to topping the CFL in receiving yards, while his teammate Tyler Snead finished second.

The Alouettes were great at running the ball as well, despite a constant rotation at running back with an unfortunate injury to Stevie Scott III to start the season and then to Travis Theis midway through. But with Scott healthy, the Alouettes are just as dangerous running the ball as they are throwing it.

Now, that’s not to say the Alouettes' defence had a down year. They finished the year as the league's third-ranked unit, just short of second.

From the jump, the Alouettes were the best team in the CFL and never wavered.

Montreal was a team clearly focused on making sure they don’t leave 2026 as disappointed as they left the field in Winnipeg at the end of 2025.