Week 18 Playoff Picture

MontrealAlouettes.com

MONTREAL – Put the champagne back on ice. At least for two more weeks.

Two days removed from a tough loss in Winnipeg which saw Marc Trestman‘s squad miss out on a chance to seal first place in the East, the Alouettes’ hopes of hosting this year’s Eastern Final at Olympic Stadium aren’t over just yet.

With two weeks left in the regular season everything remains up for grabs in the CFL these days. In fact, like in Major League Baseball this year, where teams were jockeying for position right up until the final day of the regular season, the Als may very well have a similar photo finish of their own in store for fans.

Montreal hosts the Stampeders on Sunday and ends the regular season on the road against B.C. on November 5. Winnipeg meanwhile, plays at home against Toronto on Friday and travels to Calgary to close their season.

Anything besides a Winnipeg win combined with a Montreal loss this weekend, and that first weekend in November gets interesting in a hurry.

And while a late-season dogfight for positioning may be unfamiliar territory for an Alouettes team that is used to wrapping up the division early, veteran defensive end Anwar Stewart remains optimistic, welcoming the adversity.

“We like where we are right now because this team has a lot of character and it’s situations like these that build that character,” confirmed the Alouettes all-time sack leader. “We’re going to be fine. We’ve just got to get everybody to continue to push and strive towards excellence. Then we’ll see what happens. Will we host the Final at the Big O or will the road to the Grey Cup run through Winnipeg? I don’t know, but we’re grown men, and if we’ve got to go back there to get it done, then that’s what we’ll do.”

Here’s a look at what the Als need to do moving forward: