The Montreal Alouettes had Friday, June 6 circled in their calendar after the 2025 CFL schedule was unveiled and had them open the regular season against the Toronto Argonauts. The Als had revenge to take after last year’s East Final and exacted it brilliantly with a 28-10 win in front of 21,480 fans.
Below are my thoughts on the game.
Davis Alexander responds
Davis Alexander did not have the preseason performance he envisioned. From his own words, it wasn’t up to his and the team’s standards. The pressure was on him to deliver during Friday’s season opener and he did from the get-go.
His first two drives should have ended with touchdowns. On the first one, he missed Tyson Philpot on a post route, which eventually led to a missed field goal by Jose Maltos. Alexander responded with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Philpot on the ensuing possession.
Those drives were mostly impressive because of the way they were built by Alexander: calm and composed with a mix of runs and passes. He didn’t panic and delivered precise throws under pressure.
Alexander finished completing 19-of-26 passes for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception. After the game, he told the media he wasn’t fully satisfied with his own performance.
“It was pretty good, but we left a lot on the table,” he said. “I’m most proud of my leadership, most proud of keeping the guys up and keeping the guys together. In the first and second half, we could have had more points.”
Alexander nearly suffered an injury in the third quarter, when Anthony Lanier fell on his leg after a play. He was able to finish the game and play through the pain, which impressed Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot.
“That’s a testament to how tough he is,” Philpot said. He elevates the room and he asks the best from us. We gotta make plays for our guy. I think that’s the start of the Davis Alexander era right there.”
Another stellar defensive performance featuring Adeyemi-Berglund
It shouldn’t seem surprising at this point, but the Montreal Alouettes defence was ready to go for the season opener. As a unit, the defence allowed 10 points and 276 net offensive yards, recorded three sacks, forced two interceptions and recovered one fumble for a touchdown. The only TD allowed came late in the game when the game was almost over.
The secondary had a solid showing, not giving much space for Argonauts receivers to work as Lorenzo Burns and Kabion Ento led the way.
However, the best player on the field was defensive end Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund. After being named the best Canadian in the East Division last year, he started the 2025 season with a stellar performance. He scored one touchdown and registered one sack along with four defensive tackles.
He applied a lot of pressure on quarterback Nick Arbuckle, who had to rush multiple passes. After the game, Adeyemi-Berglund gave credit to the whole defence for his performance.
“It felt good to do that for the team and for the defence,” he said. “This is exactly where we want to be: we’re running to the ball, we’re hustling, we’re making plays, and we’re trusting each other. That’s what we want from our defence.”
Capitaine Quebec ties a CFL record
Alexandre Gagne has flown under the radar since he’s played with the Alouettes. Used primarily on special teams, he is the one who gives pre-game speeches and is nicknamed “Capitaine Quebec.” He is one of the most appreciated players on the team and Friday night, he played the special teams game of his life.
Gagne recorded seven tackles on special teams, which set a single-game franchise record and tied the CFL mark that was last reached in 2019 by former Blue Bomber Mike Miller. He almost set the record on the last kickoff of the game, but defensive back Wesley Sutton got to the returner first.
“Honestly, I had no idea about the record,” he said. “It came to my ears at the end of the game, that’s when I found out. I wanted the last tackle as much as I wanted the first one.”
Controversial decision
At the end of the second quarter, Arbuckle seemed to have thrown an incomplete pass but the officials let the play go. Adeyemi-Berglund picked up the ball and scored a touchdown.
On the field, the officials ruled it a fumble and the call stood after review to the surprise of both teams that were ready for a punt. The explanation I got from the CFL was that the quarterback didn’t have possession of the football when he attempted to throw a pass.
Since the decision on the field was a fumble recovery, it needed clear evidence that Arbuckle had control of the ball when he “threw” the football.
For what it’s worth, I still believe it should have been an incomplete pass. The ball seemed to have slipped a little bit from Arbuckle’s hand, but the motion was still there, I don’t feel he “pushed” the ball.
Tyson Philpot erases any doubts
Tyson Philpot mentioned multiple times during training camp that he was anticipating his first game back from his left foot injury that kept him sidelined since August 10 last season. He didn’t look rusty at all as he created separation from defensive backs all game long.
He finished with four catches for 48 yards and one touchdown, but could have cracked the 100-yard mark had some Alexander passes been more precise. The Canadian receiver beat the coverage on three separate occasions other than his touchdown, but couldn’t get his hands on the ball.
Philpot will be a force to be reckoned with this season. He wants to prove he can stay healthy and be consistent for 18 games.
“It felt so good,” he said about his touchdown. “A testament to how hard I worked during the offseason. I didn’t know if I would be ready for the beginning of the season, I’m happy to be back”.
What’s next?
The Montreal Alouettes (1-0) head on the road for the first time in 2025 on Friday, June 13 against Ottawa (0-1) with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT.
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