Courtesy Montreal Gazette:

On a chilly field in Winnipeg tomorrow afternoon, the Montreal Alouettes will win a football game.

It doesn’t mean much, not in the context of Anthony Calvillo’s wife, Alexia, and the struggle she is going through - but the Als are going to beat the Blue Bombers and play the Toronto Argonauts a week from Saturday in the CFL East final.

How do we know this? By divining vulture entrails, by reading the clouds, by consulting earth, water, wind and fire.

And because the Blue Bombers don’t have a kicker.

Alouettes head coach and general-high-most-everything Jim Popp might have alienated kicker Damon Duval and a dozen other players (not to mention his coaching staff) with his tendency to run people down in public, but it won’t matter tomorrow: Duval can kick. Troy Westwood can’t.

End of story. End of game? Montreal 24, Winnipeg 21. The difference? A Duval field goal from 45 yards out. There is no proof Westwood can even see the goalposts from that distance, much less put a ball between the uprights from there.

By his standards, Duval did not have a sensational year kicking field goals: He was 32 of 45, but he led the CFL in punting with a 47-yard average.

(Actually, that’s the strangest phenomenon in the CFL this year: Virtually all the kickers went haywire at once. It’s not just Duval - field-goal percentages are down across the league.)

In the kind of tight, tough game this should be between evenly matched opponents, it will probably come down to the kicking game and in that department, the Alouettes are definitely superior. Westwood was 20 of 33, but if you saw last week’s yawner in Winnipeg, you know that doesn’t begin to tell the story. Westwood doesn’t miss by inches, he misses by yards.

I’ve seen bantam kickers look better than Westwood and given the weather forecast for tomorrow (5C with the possibility of rain and wind) it is not going to be a kind day, even for good kickers. In these conditions, Duval’s strong leg will carry the day.

Mind you, he’ll have help. The Alouettes have the biggest edge over the Bombers in the defensive backfield, where Randee Drew leads an outstanding young crop of defensive backs. The offensive lines are a push, and while Winnipeg might appear to have the edge at quarterback, with Calvillo tending to his wife and Marcus Brady starting, Kevin Glenn’s numbers slipped during the second half of the season and in the finale, he was missing wide-open receivers.

Winnipeg’s biggest edge is at wide receiver, because it has Terrence Edwards, Derick Armstrong and Milt Stegall. And once you get past Ben Cahoon, Kerry Watkins and Elijah Thurmon, the Als have a weakness you don’t want to see in a receiver: Catching the ball. Montreal’s defense is good enough to contain Charles Roberts and shut down Winnipeg’s offense and that will be enough.

Once they get past Winnipeg, the Alouettes are capable of beating the Argos in Toronto to make it to the Grey Cup. The running dimension Brady gives the offense can drive any defense nuts, including Toronto’s. The Als beat the Argos at the Rogers Centre to make it to the Grey Cup last year and they will do it again.

Can they beat B.C. or Saskatchewan and win it all? Not a chance.

Does this mean Popp should return as coach? Please. The players will take him to the Grey Cup this year, whether he deserves it or not.

After that, the man should return to the front office where he belongs and hire a real coach.