Game Picks\u00a0 1-3 24-16 Player Props 0-0 6-6 Total 1-3 30-22 <\/p>\n
Some strange things happened on Labour Day that led to our first losing week since early July.\u00a0 The Labour Day Classic in Regina was as advertised, even if it shouldn\u2019t have been that close.\u00a0 Then I dared the Argos to show me something in back-to-back weeks, and sure enough, they did!\u00a0 It is now back-to-back years that I\u2019ve struggle to figure the Boatmen out on a weekly basis.\u00a0 They\u2019re on a bye but I\u2019m already wondering if it will stall the momentum they were building.\u00a0 Eight teams in action, I\u2019ll stop worrying about the team that isn\u2019t.\u00a0 Locking in.<\/p>\n
BC Lions at Ottawa Redblacks<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a minute since we\u2019ve seen either team.\u00a0 And don\u2019t be embarrassed if you need a minute to refresh your memory because both their last outings were forgettable.\u00a0 The Redblacks lost by 10 in Edmonton, allowing at least 30 points for the third straight game.\u00a0 While the Lions let the Argos feast on a fifty burger.\u00a0 On the bright side for Ottawa, Dustin Crum had his best passing performance in over two years with 277 yards and a touchdown through the air in addition to almost 60 yards and a touchdown on the ground.\u00a0 They still only managed 20 points and lost by double digits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As ugly as it got for the Lions defence two weeks ago in Toronto, there\u2019s reason to believe it can get better.\u00a0 What looked like a concerning injury report just a few days ago, especially coming off a bye, is considerably better closer to game time.\u00a0 Defending the Den is the Lions liability.\u00a0 On offence, they lead the league in yards per play and Rourke leads the league with almost 335 passing yards per game.\u00a0 His receivers are healthy, and the Redblacks secondary is exploitable.\u00a0 BC\u2019s bitten me before but here\u2019s a Haiku to prove I\u2019m not bitter.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve said this before\u00a0<\/p>\n
Feels like this spread could be more,<\/p>\n
They better restore the roar.<\/p>\n
THE PICK: LIONS -6.5<\/p>\n
Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Montreal Alouettes<\/p>\n
Secure your shoulder restraints and enjoy the ride!\u00a0 It\u2019s been a roller-coaster season for the Ti-Cats so far.\u00a0 Six straight wins sandwiched between a pair of losing streaks, the most recent of which sits at three.\u00a0 Even if they were winless this season, losing the Labour Day classic at home to the arch-rival Argos will always sting. Hamilton hasn\u2019t won since August 2nd\u00a0but is still first in the East, the second choice to win the Grey Cup, and Bo Levi Mitchell remains the favourite to win MOP after briefly being usurped by Vernon Adams.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Montreal is getting reinforcements returning on defence, which has been the only bright spot in the wake of all their injuries on both sides of the ball.\u00a0 Marc-Andre Duquoy anchors the secondary and Mustafa Johnson makes his season debut after being second on the team in sacks a year ago.\u00a0 All that said, the Als are still forced to start James Morgan at quarterback.\u00a0 The Ti-Cats defence couldn\u2019t stop Nick Arbuckle last week, but nobody\u2019s been able to recently.\u00a0 Morgan makes for an easier meal.<\/p>\n
THE PICK: TIGER-CATS -3.5<\/p>\n
Saskatchewan Roughriders at Winnipeg Blue Bombers<\/p>\n
I\u2019m inclined to take the best team in the league plus the points.\u00a0 The Bombers needed at least three unlikely events to occur late in las week\u2019s game just to cover the spread.\u00a0 But playing for the W is a real thing in Winnipeg.\u00a0 It\u2019s often called the best home field advantage in the league and it\u2019s hard to argue with another sellout expected for the Banjo Bowl.\u00a0 The Bombers have won five of these in a row dating back to 2019.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ll rely on the consistency of AJ Ouellette instead.\u00a0 The Riders running back has had at least 65 rushing yards in all but three games season.\u00a0 He\u2019s had at least 15 carries in six straight games.\u00a0 He just rushed 89 yards and a touchdown against this defence last week.\u00a0 I trust him to do it again in what should be another close game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PLAYER PROP: AJ OUELLETTE OVER 63.5 RUSHING YARDS<\/p>\n
Calgary Stampeders at Edmonton Elks<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not overthink things, eh?\u00a0 I got cute going with the Elks to cover in the first installment of the battle of Alberta.\u00a0 They lost by 21 points and the Stamps defence would have been comfortable if the offence was only able to score 8 points.\u00a0 It was lucky the Elks were able to score 7.\u00a0 Nothing against Elks fans but their presence isn\u2019t enough to make up 21 points.\u00a0 As currently constituted, it appears the Stamps D can do whatever it wants, including score points.<\/p>\n
THE PICK:\u00a0STAMPEDERS -6.5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Game Picks\u00a0 1-3 24-16 Player Props 0-0 6-6 Total 1-3 30-22 Some strange things happened on Labour Day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-123035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}