Winless and reeling on defence, the Ottawa Redblacks host a Winnipeg team that just found its groove — with or without Zach Collaros under center.

Game Details

Odds

Spread: Winnipeg Blue Bombers -5
Moneyline: Ottawa Redblacks +190, Winnipeg Blue Bombers -230
Over/Under: 55

Ottawa is 1-2-1 against the spread this season with two overs and three unders. Winnipeg sits at 2-2-1 ATS with the same over/under split, two overs and three unders.

Overview

There’s no sugarcoating where the Redblacks are right now. At 0-5, they’re the only winless team left in the league, and last week’s 17-40 blowout loss to Edmonton — a game where Jake Maier threw four interceptions and the Elks buried them with 24 unanswered fourth-quarter points — was as ugly as it gets. Ottawa’s minus-58 point differential is by far the worst in the CFL, and the defence has been gutted by injury after injury heading into this one.

Winnipeg arrives at 3-2 and playing its best football of the season, fresh off a 30-21 statement win over Toronto that head coach Mike O’Shea’s group controlled from wire to wire. But the storyline shifts here: Zach Collaros has landed on six-game injury and Dru Brown is taking the reins full-time. Brown already looked comfortable in his first spot starts, picking apart Toronto’s secondary, and with Trey Vaval’s return game humming and Brady Oliveira still churning out yards on the ground, Winnipeg has more than enough juice to win this on the road even without their starting quarterback.

This is a big spot for the Redblacks to find literally anything — a lead, a defensive stop, a signature performance from someone on offence — but the roster crunch is brutal. Ottawa activated Keelan White, Blessman Ta’Ala, Josh Connors, Shakur Brown, Dionte Ruffin and Aaron Casey off various rosters this week just to have bodies, while Nyles Morgan, Jeremy Lucien, Habakkuk Baldonado, Adrian Frye and Cleyon Laing all went down to six-game injury. That’s a defence being pieced together on the fly against a Bombers offence that just dropped 30 on a good Argos team. The edge here goes to Winnipeg, even on the road, even breaking in a new starter under center.

Key Players

Jake Maier (Ottawa Redblacks, QB) — Threw four picks last week against Edmonton and needs to clean it up fast against a defence that will make him pay for mistakes.
Dru Brown (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, QB) — Making his first career start last week look effortless, he’ll now get his first CFL start with Collaros sidelined for the season’s stretch.
Brady Oliveira (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, RB) — 69 carries for 375 yards on the year, and against a banged-up Ottawa front seven this could be his best matchup yet.
Kalil Pimpleton (Ottawa Redblacks, WR/RET) — Ottawa’s top playmaker on both sides of the ball, doubling as a receiver and their return man; he has to be a factor for the offence to have a chance.
Trey Vaval (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, RET) — Coming off a franchise-record kick return last week, he’s the kind of explosive weapon that can flip field position on Ottawa in a hurry.

Keys to the Game

Ottawa has to protect the football — four picks from Maier last week can’t happen twice in a row against a Bombers defence that’s opportunistic.
The Redblacks’ patchwork linebacker corps and secondary need to slow Brady Oliveira and force Dru Brown into obvious passing downs.
Special teams could decide this one — Ottawa can’t afford to give Trey Vaval room to work after last week’s franchise-record return against Toronto.

Injury Report

PlayerTeamStatus

King Ambers (DB)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Habakkuk Baldonado (DL)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Greg Bell (RB)Ottawa RedblacksAvailable
Emeric Boutin (FB)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Aaron Casey (LB)Ottawa RedblacksAvailable
Adrian Frye (DB)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Amari Henderson (DB)Ottawa RedblacksQuestionable
Cleyon Laing (DL)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Jeremy Lucien (DB)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Nick Mardner (WR)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Nyles Morgan (LB)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Daniel Okpoko (DL)Ottawa RedblacksOut
Keelan White (WR)Ottawa RedblacksAvailable

Depth Chart

Ottawa Redblacks starters by position, built from the official Week 7 depth chart. Note this is a projected look and may not reflect final gameday decisions given the injury churn.

PositionOttawa Redblacks

QBJake Maier | McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Bryson Barnes
RBGreg Bell | Daniel Adeboboye
FBAnthony Gosselin
SB/WRJustin Hardy, Keelan White, Ayden Eberhardt, Eugene Lewis, Kalil Pimpleton
LTDino Boyd
LGDrew Desjarlais
CSean McEwen | Samuel Carson
RGGiordano Vaccaro
RTZack Pelehos
DECharlie Parks, Aidan John | Kemari Munier-Bailey, Michael Wakefield
DTJelani Stafford | Blessman Ta’Ala
WLBBenjamin Dobson | Brian Cole II, Lucas Cormier, AJ Allen
MLBJosh Connors | KJ Cloyd, Aaron Casey
SLBMarcus Barnes | CJ Reavis
CBShakur Brown, Eric Cumberbatch/Demerio Houston
HBDionte Ruffin, Amari Henderson (GTD)
SAlonzo Addae
K-PBrett Lauther | Noah Gettman
LSPeter Adjey
RETKalil Pimpleton, Cade McDonald

Score Prediction

Ottawa Redblacks 25 – Winnipeg Blue Bombers 30. Ottawa’s offence has shown it can move the ball and score points, but a defence missing this many bodies against a Bombers team riding momentum and a red-hot return game makes it tough to see the Redblacks pulling off the upset, even with the number staying respectable behind their own scoring.

CFL Standings | Full Schedule | League Leaders

Who takes this one? Drop your prediction in the comments.