Winless Ottawa hits the road looking to avoid history, but Winnipeg’s own quarterback questions make this one messier than the six-point spread suggests.<\/p>\n
This Week’s CFL Schedule<\/p>\n
Ottawa Redblacks<\/a> at Winnipeg Blue Bombers<\/a><\/p>\n WhenFriday, August 14 at 8:30 PM ET Ottawa is 0-8 and coming off a 20-42 beatdown at the hands of Saskatchewan, dropping five straight and looking every bit like a team searching for answers. Winnipeg is only 4-4 and stumbling too \u2014 losers of two straight, including a 30-52 clunker to Calgary \u2014 but this series has been all Bombers lately. Winnipeg has won four consecutive meetings with the Redblacks, though it needed overtime to get there back in Week 7, edging Ottawa 36-34 in the first game ever decided under the league’s new OT format.<\/p>\n Jake Maier has actually been the bright spot for Ottawa despite the losing streak, averaging 322 passing yards over his last four starts and dropping a season-high 344 on Winnipeg in that Week 7 shootout. The problem is nobody around him can finish drives, and Winnipeg’s defense is banking on a repeat performance against a Redblacks team that’s given up 289 points through eight games \u2014 worst in the league by a mile.<\/p>\n Players to Watch:<\/p>\n Jake Maier (Ottawa Redblacks, QB) \u2014 Averaging 322 yards a game over his last four starts, he’s the one Redblack capable of hanging points on the board. Injury Watch:<\/p>\n Zach Collaros (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, QB) \u2014 Questionable, neck. Pick: Winnipeg Blue Bombers 33-24. Ottawa keeps it interesting through Maier’s arm but the Bombers’ defense \u2014 allowing a league-best one big-play return all season \u2014 smothers a Redblacks team still hunting its first win, even with question marks swirling around both Winnipeg quarterbacks. Both clubs have been shaky against the number this year (Winnipeg 2-5-1 ATS, Ottawa 2-4-1 ATS), so don’t be shocked if this stays inside the spread late.<\/p>\n CFL Standings<\/p>\n TeamWLPFPA<\/p>\n Montreal Alouettes81321247 Quick Hits<\/p>\n Ottawa cut Jalen Jones (DB) this week and shuffled Josh Connors and Binjimen Victor to the practice roster while activating Habakkuk Baldonado (DL) off six-game injury. Standings<\/a> | Full Schedule<\/a> | League Leaders<\/a><\/p>\n Who wins this week? Drop your picks in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winless Ottawa hits the road looking to avoid history, but Winnipeg’s own quarterback questions make this one messier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-857863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857863","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=857863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWherePrincess Auto Stadium, Winnipeg
\nTVTSN
\nStreamWatch live on CFL+<\/a>
\nLineWinnipeg Blue Bombers -6 | O\/U 57<\/p>\n
\nBrady Oliveira (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, RB) \u2014 Needs 97 rushing yards to pass Willie Burden for 20th all-time and sits 35 receiving yards shy of 2,000 for his career, but he’s questionable with an ankle issue.
\nWillie Jefferson (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, DL) \u2014 Has a sack in four straight games; his next gets him to 84 for his career, tying Willie Pless for 20th all-time.<\/p>\n
\nDru Brown (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, QB) \u2014 Questionable, back.
\nBrady Oliveira (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, RB) \u2014 Questionable, ankle.
\nMichael Griffin (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, DB) \u2014 Doubtful, ankle.
\nAaron Casey (Ottawa Redblacks, LB) \u2014 Out, groin.
\nJulian Pearl (Ottawa Redblacks, OL) \u2014 Out, groin.<\/p>\n
\nSaskatchewan Roughriders62274215
\nEdmonton Elks63259248
\nWinnipeg Blue Bombers44204243
\nToronto Argonauts44253249
\nBC Lions45244251
\nCalgary Stampeders46378327
\nHamilton Tiger-Cats36211261
\nOttawa Redblacks08186289<\/p>\n
\nWinnipeg’s quarterback room is a mess heading into Friday \u2014 both Zach Collaros and Dru Brown carry questionable tags, which could push more of the offensive burden onto Brady Oliveira if he’s able to go.
\nIf you’re chasing fantasy points, Oliveira’s chase of Willie Burden on the all-time rushing list makes him worth a look even banged up, assuming he clears his ankle issue.
\nOttawa is still searching for its first win of the season, and this trip to Princess Auto Stadium against a Bombers team it’s lost four straight to isn’t the easiest spot to find one.<\/p>\n