It might be true that the quarterback gets too much credit when a team wins and too much blame when it loses.
It’s also true that the Montreal Alouettes are unbeaten when Davis Alexander is their starter, and he will be under center Monday afternoon when they host the Ottawa Redblacks.
The Alouettes improved to 9-0 when he starts after they hammered Calgary 38-20 on Sept. 26. Alexander threw for 350 yards and a touchdown in his return from his second hamstring injury of the season.
Montreal (8-7) is 5-0 with him as a starter this season and 4-0 last year when he filled in for the injured Cody Fajardo.
“I think our whole team feels different now that he is back,” Alouettes head coach Jason Maas said. “He’s the guy we deemed to be our starting quarterback. Shoot, he has won every game he has started for us. It’s hard not to believe when he’s out there.”
That belief has Montreal making a late push for first place in the East. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are 10-7 but missed a chance to clinch Saturday with a home loss to Calgary. If the Alouettes sweep their last three games and the Tiger-Cats lose on Oct. 24 to Ottawa, they will win the East.
First, Montreal has to take care of business against the Redblacks (4-11), who have nothing to play for other than pride and contractual obligations. They’re coming off a 20-13 defeat to Saskatchewan Oct. 3 that eliminated them from playoff contention.
It’s been a serious regression for Ottawa, which made the playoffs last year and appeared to be an ascending team. But a slow start to the season, injuries and persistent slow starts in games have scuttled their campaign.
Quarterback Dru Brown (knee) has been shut down for the season and Dustin Crum, who replaced him in the third quarter against the Roughriders, will take over. Crum has scored a league-high 11 rushing touchdowns while completing 71.7 percent of his 205 passes.
“I think this is a fantastic opportunity to continue that growth and move forward as he establishes himself,” Redblacks coach Bob Dyce said of Crum.
–Field Level Media
