CFL Week 7 predictions: best bets for Bombers at Riders, Lions at Stamps

We’re officially one-third of the way through the CFL season and some of the top teams in the league are starting to stand out from the rest — in a good way or bad way.

Last week was another tough week for me but we’re ready to get back on track in Week 7 with a battle of prairie rivals and one post-Stampede, Wild West shootout in Calgary.

Friday, July 19: Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders — 9:30 pm EDT

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are preparing for a pre-Labour Day tilt on the prairies in what has been a surprising start to the 2024 campaign for both teams — for entirely different reasons.

While the Riders are off to a hot start at 4-1, Winnipeg struggled to find their footing for the first month of action. A 41-point outburst last week seems to have at least gotten their offence back on track with Zach Collaros returning under centre.

The win was nice for the Bombers last week but the defence stumbled against the Stampeders, giving up 316 yards through the air to Jake Maier and another 131 yards on the ground to Dedrick Mills. Run defence has especially become a problem for the defending West Division champions, who have also given up relatively big games to Ryquell Armstead and William Stanback this year.

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That is hair metal to the ears of A.J. Ouellette as the mullet-sporting running back hasn’t started his Riders career the way anyone would have wanted, still looking for a true breakout game. There are signs that things are turning around for Ouellette, however, after a pair of touchdowns and 72 yards in the Green and White’s loss to B.C. last week.

Even with the Riders’ injuries along the offensive line, Ouellette could be in for a bit of a breakout game against a Winnipeg defence that is giving up 117.8 yards per game on the ground, the worst in the CFL.

Pick: A.J. Ouellette over 68.5 yards

Photo courtesy: Paul Yates/B.C. Lions

Sunday, July 21, 2024: B.C. Lions vs. Calgary Stampeders — 7:00 pm EDT

The Calgary Stampede is in the books, which means the Stamps can return home and welcoming them back to McMahon Stadium are the red-hot B.C. Lions.

While hundreds of thousands of people made their way to the Stampede Grounds, the Stampeders made the trek east for matchups with the Montreal Alouettes and Blue Bombers. Though both games were close, the Stamps ended up on the wrong side of both.

And in both, it was Calgary’s defence that left fans feeling frustrated. The Stamps currently sit last in the league in net defence, allowing close to a first down on every play (8.4 yards on average, last in the CFL). They also sit third-last in the league in passing yards allowed at 306.4 per game.

These challenges were on full display last week as they allowed 344 yards to Zach Collaros in their 41-37 loss to Winnipeg. It was only the second time Collaros had thrown for more than 250 yards in a game this season amid an uncharacteristically slow start.

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Those aren’t the type of numbers you want to allow when getting ready for a matchup with a QB on pace to threaten Doug Flutie’s single-season CFL passing record.

Vernon Adams Jr. has been incredible this year with over 500 passing yards more than the next closest QB, leading the league in passing in four of the six weeks in which he’s played this season.

The Oregon product has attempted 61 passes over 20 yards this year — among the league’s other quarterbacks, only Bo Levi Mitchell and Dru Brown have attempted even 30. The Lions’ passing attack has been aggressive and effective.

This has led to Justin McInnis and Alexander Hollins sitting one-two in the league in receiving and some big games on the scoreboard. The Lions are second in the league with 30.3 points per game and have scored 79 points in the last two weeks.

Even with Jake Maier putting up big numbers in the passing game for Calgary last week, this may be one wild west shootout in which the Stamps are outmatched.

Pick: BC Lions -4.5 AND BC Team Total Over 29

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