Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography

The Canadian Football League heads into Week 11, which means we’re somehow already at the halfway point of the year. The season is flying by, so we need to enjoy these weeks while we have them.

We went 1-1 last week, and we are back with another two-game ticket this week.

Ottawa Redblacks at Winnipeg Blue Bombers — Thursday, August 14 at 8:30 p.m. EDT

The Ottawa Redblacks head into Winnipeg to kick-off Week 11 in the CFL. Winnipeg is coming off another loss to the Stampeders, while Ottawa picked up a wild win over the Argonauts.

Ottawa has been slowed by injuries all season long, but last week was great to see — at least from an offensive standpoint.

Dru Brown had as many incompletions as touchdowns with five. He threw for 373 yards, allowing Bralon Addison and Justin Hardy to have 100-yard games and Eugene Lewis to put up a couple of majors. They combined that with William Stanback’s 84 yards on the ground, which seems like they were looking for when they put this team together.

They’re facing a Winnipeg team that blew a 17-0 lead against Calgary and are now 4-4 with a minus-8 point differential on the year. They are fifth in the league in net offence and are dead last in passing yards per game, somehow finding a way to have even fewer than Edmonton.

Winnipeg still has the league’s best rushing attack, averaging 118.9 yards per game, but they’ll face an interesting test in Ottawa. While not a strong defensive team, the Redblacks have been good against the run, allowing the third-fewest rushing yards per game this season.

On defence, the Bombers have the third-worst net defence in the league, ahead of only Hamilton and Edmonton. That is uncharacteristic from this Winnipeg team that turned things around with a strong defence last year.

My first reaction to this game was to assume the Bombers would win, and if this one doesn’t go well, it won’t be a wild mystery as to why it didn’t work out. But, there is just something off when I look into this matchup that has me leaning to the Redblacks’ side.

PICK: Ottawa +5.5
Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Saskatchewan Roughriders — Saturday, August 16 at 3:00 p.m. EDT

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will play a potential Grey Cup preview on Saturday as they visit the West Division-leading Roughriders in Riderville.

Saskatchewan is coming off its bye following a dominant win over Montreal, while the Ticats are looking to respond after falling to the B.C. Lions in a wild game last week.

Hamilton has moved into first in the East Division thanks to the high-level play of their offence. The Ticats are third in the league in net offence with their passing attack sitting second in passing yards per game this year.

Bo Levi Mitchell leads the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns and will face a Riders pass defence that has actually given up yardage, sitting second-last in passing yards allowed. However, Saskatchewan is middle of the pack in passing touchdowns allowed and has given up the third-fewest 30-yard-plus completions, so it has been a lot of bend, but don’t break.

Meanwhile, the Riders’ offence has been playing at a high level all season. They are second in the league in net offence and are in the top half of the league in both rushing and passing yards per game. They are going against a Hamilton defence that has the second-worst opponents’ net offence.

This has the potential to be a wild matchup at Mosaic Stadium, but I believe the Riders defence is going to slow down Bo Levi Mitchell just enough to pick up a win.

PICK: SSK -3.5