CFL Betting Notes – Week 3
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
The favorites went 3-1 both straight-up and against the spread in Week 2 starting with Ottawa’s 40-17 romp over Saskatchewan on Thursday night as a slight two-point favorite at home. In the first of two Friday games, Winnipeg ran all over Montreal 56-10 as a three-point road favorite. Later that night, Hamilton pulled off the only upset of the week with a stunning 38-21 victory against Edmonton as a 6 ½-point road underdog.
Calgary closed out the second week of the CFL regular season with a 41-7 road victory against Toronto as a four-point favorite to successfully avenge last season’s loss to the Argonauts in the Grey Cup title game.
Thursday, June 28
Ottawa RedBlacks (1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS) at Calgary Stampeders (2-0 SU, 2-0 ATS)
Point-spread: Calgary -7 ½
Total: 57 ½
Game Overview
Ottawa looked pretty sharp in its season opener last Thursday behind Trevor Harris at quarterback. He suffered a lower body injury in the preseason, but that did not appear to be an issue against Saskatchewan. He completed 26 of his 36 passing attempts (72.2 percent) for 345 yards and two touchdowns, while spreading the ball around to seven different players. Greg Ellington led the way with eight receptions for 104 yards. William Powell did a good job running the ball with 94 yards and a score on 19 rushing attempts.
The Stampeders needed a fourth-quarter rally to get past Hamilton in their season opener, but they played much closer to form for all four quarters in Saturday’s romp over Toronto. Calgary built a 20-1 lead at the half against the Argonauts and never took its foot off the gas. Bo Levi Mitchell put the ball up 22 times in that game and he completed 20 of those passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns. The Stampeders also racked up 205 yards on the ground led by running back Don Jackson’s 123 yards rushing on nine carries.Betting Trends
-- Ottawa has covered ATS in the last three meetings overall and the total has gone OVER in the last four meetings in Calgary.
Friday, June 29
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1-1 SU, 2-0 ATS) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-1 SU, 1-1 ATS)
Point-spread: Hamilton -4 ½
Total: 54 ½
Game Overview
The Blue Bombers posted their first win of the season in impressive fashion by blowing the doors off of Montreal. Matt Nichols will not be back in the lineup at quarterback until later in July due to a knee injury. However, that may not matter given how well Chris Streveler has played in his place. After almost leading his team to an upset against Edmonton in Week 1, he completed 22-of-28 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns in the romp over the Alouettes. Bryan Bennett completed three of the four passes he threw and Darvin Adams went one for one to add another 26 yards to Winnipeg’s 343 total passing yards.
There is no quarterback controversy in Hamilton given the play of Jeremiah Masoli in his first two starts. After playing well in a season-opening loss to Calgary, he took things up a notch against Edmonton with 332 yards passing and three touchdown throws. He has the second-most passing yards in the CFL with 676 and he is completing 67.7 percent of his throws. Mercer Timmis also had a big night running the ball against the Eskimos with 133 yards and two scores on 17 carries.
Betting Trends
-- The road team has gone 7-2 both SU and ATS in the last nine meetings and the total has stayed UNDER the closing line in seven of those nine games.
British Columbia Lions (1-0 SU, 1-0 ATS) at Edmonton Eskimos (1-1 SU, 0-2 ATS)
Point-spread: Edmonton -6 ½
Total: 54 ½
Game Overview
The Lions are coming off a bye after beating Montreal 22-10 in Week 1 as 8 ½-point home favorites. The total stayed UNDER 49 points in that win. Quarterback Jonathon Jennings got the new season off to a good start with 183 yards passing and two touchdown throws while completing an efficient 20 of 24 passing attempts to seven different players. He also led BC in rushing with 57 yards on nine carries.
Edmonton squeezed past Winnipeg on a last-second field goal in its season opener on the road before coming up flat in last week’s loss to Hamilton in its season debut at home. Eskimos’ quarterback Mike Reilly led the CFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns last season and he has already thrown for a league-high 694 yards in his first two games this year. Against Hamilton last Friday night, he completed 20 of his 30 passing attempts for 286 yards and two scores against one interception in the losing cause.
Betting Trends
-- Edmonton has won six of the last seven meetings SU and it has covered the spread in the last three games. The total has gone OVER in three of the last four meetings in Edmonton.
Saturday, June 30
Montreal Alouettes (0-2 SU, 0-2 ATS) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (1-1 SU, 1-1 ATS)
Point-spread: Saskatchewan -10
Total: 45 ½
Game Overview
Montreal has been outscored a combined 78-20 in its first two games to continue last season’s dismal play that resulted in just three SU wins. Drew Willy was under center for most of the game against Winnipeg last week and he threw for 111 yards and one score on 16 completions. Tyrell Sutton ran the ball four times for 53 yards to help spark the Alouettes’ running game, but when you cannot get the ball into the end zone, you are not going to win all that many games in this league.
The big question mark for the Roughriders in this Saturday’s game is the playing status of quarterback Zach Collaros. He was knocked out of the game against Ottawa in the second quarter and he remains listed as questionable on the latest injury report. Brandon Bridge took his place and threw for 145 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Tre Mason led the team in rushing against the RedBlacks with 33 yards on seven carries.
Betting Trends
-- Montreal has covered ATS in five of its last seven road games against the Roughriders and the total has stayed UNDER in four of the last five meetings in Saskatchewan.
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