Week 6 is here in the Canadian Football League and while we’ve passed the quarter-pole of the season, many questions still remain about several teams across the league.
After a tough week last week, I’m looking at a couple of intriguing games to help me bounce back. Let’s get to the picks.
[metabet_core_odds_board site_id=”3downnation” league=”cfl” market=”spread” hide_consensus=”yes”]
Thursday, July 11: Toronto Argonauts vs. Montreal Alouettes — 7:30 pm ET
The Alouettes looked human for three quarters against the Stampeders last week before a late-game comeback kept them perfect on the year. They now face an East Division rival that’s stumbled in back-to-back games, including a tilt with the Als a couple of weeks ago.
Montreal’s offence woke up late in the third quarter, helping complete their comeback. It seems to be a different player stepping up each week for the team as they’ve reached 5-0 for the first time since 2006.
In Week 5, it was Walter Fletcher who had 104 receiving yards and another 56 on the ground. In Week 4, it was Cole Spieker who had eight receptions for 113 yards in Montreal’s 30-20 win over the Argos.
This week, they go up against an Argos defence that has dealt with injuries, including a new one to Jake Ceresna, and those holes have the Boatmen taking on water. Toronto has allowed 27 points or more in every game so far this season.
The offence, which was one of the pleasant surprises to start the season, recently came crashing down to earth. The struggles have led coach Ryan Dinwiddie to throw his support behind a quarterback who can’t even play for a minimum of five more games.
Cameron Dukes struggled against Saskatchewan, throwing four interceptions. Montreal’s defence, which is second in the league in forcing turnovers, isn’t the easy landing spot Toronto’s offence might need.
Montreal faced the closest thing they’ve had to adversity so far this season and passed that test. They now have a chance to run away from the rest of the division and I don’t think Cody Fajardo and company will miss it.
The picks: Montreal -6.5 AND Montreal team total over 29.5
[metabet_core_odds_board query=”557060″ site_id=”3downnation”]
Friday, July 12: Calgary Stampeders vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers — 8:30 pm ET
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers finally entered the win column this week and their Grey Cup-winning QB is back practicing ahead of this meeting with Calgary, a team that’s coming off of one of their worst performances of the year.
The Stampeders looked great right up until the point they didn’t last week against Montreal as the wheels fell off of the Stamps late in the fourth quarter. It was a double-edged sword: the offence couldn’t stay on the field long enough to give their defence a breather, and the defence couldn’t get off the field to let their offence go to work.
Jake Maier looked like he had taken a step forward this season but he struggled mightily against the strong Als defence, averaging just 3.8 yards an attempt. The offence seems capable of more, but this is a scary floor to set for a team looking to compete.
They face a Bombers defence that shut down the Ottawa Redblacks last week, holding them to just 15 points. Ottawa is having their own struggles on both sides of the ball but the Bombers’ defence has limited opponents a few times this season, only allowing 27 or more points once all year.
Winnipeg’s offence has been a work in progress. Brady Oliveira became a focal point of the offence again, going for 129 yards on the ground and adding another 37 through the air. The offensive line has been a tough spot for the reigning West Division champs. If they can get Oliveira going, it may not matter who is under centre this week.
This should be another close, low-scoring battle as it was a couple of weeks ago. Only this time, the Bombers get the job done.
The picks: Winnipeg -4 AND Under 47.5
[metabet_core_odds_board query=”557061″ site_id=”3downnation”]
Peter Klein is a Saskatchewan-born, Calgary-based CFL analyst. He is a lifelong fan who has been covering the league across multiple platforms for the last 17 years.
