It’s the Edmonton Elks’ flip to attempt to do one thing no different CFL crew has but: hand Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander his first regular-season loss.
Montreal (2-0) visits Edmonton (1-0) on Saturday afternoon. Alexander has led the Alouettes to comeback wins in every of their first two contests to spice up his regular-season report to begin a CFL profession to 13-0.
With a win, Alexander would tie the CFL mark for many consecutive begins with a victory set in 2016 by Bo Levi Mitchell, then of the Calgary Stampeders. Nevertheless, Alexander and the Alouettes did style defeat in final 12 months’s Gray Cup sport versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the one lack of Alexander’s tenure in Canada.
Alexander, 27, has been spectacular to begin the ’26 season. The six-foot, 210-pound American has thrown for 777 yards and 4 touchdowns with no interceptions whereas finishing 56-of-80 passes (70 per cent).
A hamstring ailment restricted Alexander to simply seven regular-season begins in 2025. However to this point, he has been sacked simply twice and has solely two carries.
If there’s an early concern with Montreal, it’s the bottom sport. The Alouettes are final general in speeding (65.5 yards per sport), which places a lot of the onus offensively on Alexander’s robust proper arm.
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Canadian Tyson Philpot (16 catches, 269 yards, three TDs) and American Tyler Snead (14 receptions, 225 yards, landing) have taken turns main Montreal’s receiving corps.
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Edmonton hasn’t began 2-0 since 2019, which can be the final time it was within the CFL playoffs. Montreal is trying to go 3-0 for a 3rd straight 12 months.
Operating again Justin Rankin is an enormous a part of what Edmonton does offensively. He had 196 yards from scrimmage (102 yards speeding, 94 yards receiving) within the Elks’ 29-21 season-opening street win in Ottawa on June 6.
Montreal’s defence is permitting a CFL-low 3.9 yards per speeding try.
This marks the first-ever assembly between Alexander and Edmonton starter Cody Fajardo. Alexander is simply 1-0 versus Edmonton whereas Fajardo _ the ’23 Gray Cup MVP with Montreal _ is 5-1 all-time versus the Alouettes.
Fajardo accomplished 23-of-34 passes for 266 yards and a landing versus Ottawa.
Choose: Edmonton.
B.C. Lions vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Friday night time)
At Hamilton, the Ticats (1-1) come off final week’s 37-27 victory in Winnipeg. All-star cornerback Jamal Peters (head) is questionable however veteran linebacker Wynton McManis (knee) stays out. Mitchell threw for 287 yards and three TDs whereas Larry Roundtree ran for 124 yards versus the Bombers. B.C. (0-1) fell 31-27 to Saskatchewan final week. Nathan Rourke had 330 yards passing and ran for a TD, James Butler had two speeding scores and Justin McInnis recorded eight catches for 129 yards. However the Riders had 489 web offensive yards, together with 417 yards and three TDs passing. B.C. has received its earlier three video games at Hamilton Stadium.
Choose: Hamilton.
Toronto Argonauts vs. Ottawa Redblacks (Saturday afternoon)
At Ottawa, Ryan Dinwiddie faces his former crew for the primary time. Dinwiddie led Toronto to 2 Gray Cups over 5 seasons earlier than turning into head coach/GM with the Redblacks (0-1), who come off a bye after dropping their season opener to Edmonton. Chad Kelly had 445 yards passing and three TDs for Toronto (0-1) in final week’s 37-30 street loss to Montreal. It was his first motion since struggling a leg damage within the ’24 East Division closing versus the Alouettes that compelled Kelly to overlook all of final 12 months. Toronto has received 4 of its final 5 video games at TD Place.
Choose: Ottawa.
Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Calgary Stampeders (Saturday night time)
At Calgary, the Stampeders (0-1) have been 2-0 final season versus Saskatchewan (1-0) and have received five-of-six conferences between the 2. Additionally they haven’t began 0-2 since 2021 and are available off a bye following a 30-28 season-opening loss to Winnipeg on Sergio Castillo’s game-ending 38-year discipline objective. It got here after quarterback Vernon Adams scored on a three-yard to place the Stamps forward with 1:04 to play. The Riders started their Gray Cup title defence final week with a 31-27 residence win over B.C. Trevor Harris threw for 417 yards and three TDs, all to Samuel Emilus. Saskatchewan has began 2-0 the final two seasons below head coach Corey Mace.
Choose: Saskatchewan.
Final week: 1-2.
Total: 1-5.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed June 17, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press