It's an unlikely match-up in the CFL Eastern Final, as the Toronto Argonauts, who won three games all of last season, take on the defending champion Montreal Alouettes. The Alouettes have home field advantage and probably the best player in the league in quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who threw for 4,839 yards and 32 touchdowns as Montreal finished the regular season 12-6. Behind Calvillo, the East Division Champion Alouettes scored the second-most points in the league (521). Meanwhile, Toronto finished the regular season 9-9, but defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 16-13, in the Eastern Semifinal. The Argos feature the CFL's leading rusher in Cory Boyd, who ran for 1,359 yards during the regular season.
The Argos and Als split four games during the regular season with Toronto barely outscoring Montreal, 107-104. Here's a look back at the four regular season meetings between Toronto and Montreal:
Week Five (July 29th): Montreal 41, Toronto 10
Homestanding Montreal overpowered Toronto in their first meeting behind Avon Cobourne, who scored two touchdowns and had a career-high 231 total yards (115 rushing and 116 yards receiving). Meanwhile, the Als' defence shut down Argos' running back Cory Boyd, limiting him to 53 yards on nine carries, and quarterback Cleo Lemon didn't do much better with eight completions for 143 yards.
Week Seven (August 14th): Toronto 37, Montreal 22
The host Argos evened the 2010 season series as Chad Owens caught a pair of touchdown passes and Ryan Christian returned a kickoff a club-record 110 yards for another major. Montreal was on the comeback trail when Lemon tossed a 40-yard TD pass to Owens with 8:00 left in the fourth quarter to put the Argos ahead 38-22. Anthony Calvillo completed 37 of 50 passes for 443 yards and three touchdowns, but the Als had three costly turnovers.
Week 18 (October 29th): Montreal 37, Toronto 30
In the wildest finish of the season, visiting Montreal pulled out the win when Dahrran Diedrick recovered a missed field goal attempt in the end zone as time expired. Both teams had a chance at the ball after Damon Duval (three FGs and four converts) was wide on a 36-yard field attempt, but Diedrick fell on it after a mad scramble. Lemon threw two touchdowns and two interceptions and Boyd finished with a modest 68 yards rushing and 79 yards receiving. Calvillo completed 30 of 44 passes for 412 yards and three touchdowns. Ben Cahoon and Cobourne had touchdowns as well.
Week 19 (November 7): Toronto 30, Montreal 4
The game meant nothing in the standings as both teams mostly used back-up players for the majority of the game. Spencer Watt caught a pair of touchdowns and Grant Shaw booted three field goals for the visiting Argos, who led 21-4 at halftime. Montreal quarterback Adrian McPherson, who filled in for Calvillo, completed 16 of 32 passes for only 137 yards.
Prediction: Who Will Play in the 98th Grey Cup?
The Argos last won at McGill Stadium in 2005, so it won't be an easy task for them to upset the Alouettes. They'll need a couple of things to go their way. First of all, they must force turnovers. Argos are 8-0 when they win or remain even in turnovers in a game. In addition, the Argos are 9-1 this season when they score at least 17 points in a game. That won't be easy against a better-than-average Montreal defence playing at home, but Toronto has scored big against the Als.
Montreal has done a great job at limiting the explosive Boyd, but keep an eye on Chad Owens, who finished 2010 as Toronto's all-time team leader for most total kick return yards in a season with 2,701. He burned Montreal for 500 return yards this season in three games and one big play from him can make a difference. The clutch Calvillo is sure to put up big numbers, but expect a better game from Boyd, who is due for a 100-plus yard performance against Montreal.
These two franchises have a long and recent playoff history, having met five consecutive times in division finals between 2002-06 — four times at Montreal. The only Argos victory over that span came in 2004, and required an injury late in the second quarter to pivot Anthony Calvillo for it to materialize
It's hard to bet against the Alouettes in this spot. Montreal and Toronto met five straight times in the division finals between 2002-06 (four times in Montreal) and the Argos only beat the Als once (in 2004). However, Toronto has momentum and is confident. If Boyd breaks out and Owens breaks a big return or two, it may be just enough to edge out Calvillo and the Alouettes.
Final word: Toronto pulls the upset, 33-28.
Adam Martini - Adam Martini is a freelance sports writer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has more than 15 years of writing experience, most recently as ...
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