3rd & 1: Six picks to consider for Week 5 of the CFL

We’re now a month into the Canadian Football League season and we’re down to one undefeated team and two winless teams.

The Toronto Argonauts are on another bye week, so they’ll remain undefeated for at least another week. I think there will still be at least one winless team going into Week 6 of the season.

Here are my three favourite plays for Week 5 in the CFL, as well as a few weekly specials on FanDuel that I’ll be sprinkling on this week.

BLUE BOMBERS -5.5

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers came through for us last week with a nice bounce-back victory over the Montreal Alouettes, and I think they grab another win this week against the injury-riddled Calgary Stampeders. All three meetings last season between the two were pretty close, but Winnipeg won all three games. The Bombers are currently 7.5-point favourites, and I think they can pull it off, but I’m going to play it a little safer after last week’s loss and buy a few points at -5.5.

REDBLACKS +2.5

Fresh off their first win of the season and first home win since 2021, the Ottawa Redblacks will try to keep the momentum going this week in Hamilton. I think there’s a good chance they improve to .500 on the season and move into a tie for second spot in the East. The Redblacks just lost quarterback Tyrie Adams for the season after he led them to their first victory of the season, but they’re getting a major boost with Jeremiah Masoli returning to the lineup. Masoli looked good at the start of last season before he got hurt, and if it wasn’t for Ottawa’s insanely tough schedule in the first four weeks they would have had a few wins. Hamilton has failed to meet expectations through the first month of the season, and I think the struggles will continue this week.

One of the weekly specials I’m eyeing this week is in this game. Redblacks running back De’Montre Tuggle broke out last week with 126 rushing yards and a touchdown against Edmonton, and I think there’s a good chance he leads the week in rushing yards. He’s averaging 6.9 yards per carry on 21 attempts and is listed at +750 on FanDuel to lead the week on the ground.

LIONS -5.5

The BC Lions came up short for the first time this season last week against the Argonauts, but I think they bounce back in a big way this week at home to the Alouettes. The Als looked decent in their first two games of the season, but Winnipeg brought them back down to the earth last week. I think the Lions defence will shine this week and get BC back in the win column. I think BC can cruise to a win in this one and cover the 7.5 points, but I’m going to do the same thing I did for the Bombers/Stamps game and take BC at -5.5.

The other two weekly specials that I like are both in this game and both on the Lions. For this game I’m looking at the most receiving yards special weekly market on FanDuel and I’m going to sprinkle on Alex Hollins at +6000 and Justin McInnis at +7000. Hollins currently sits second in the CFL in targets, averaging seven per game, while McInnis is tied for the seventh most targets this season, averaging six per game.

A parlay with Blue Bombers -5.5, Redblacks +2.5 and Lions -5.5 is +405 on FanDuel.

Share your CFL bet slips with us on Twitter (@TSN_Edge) and good luck this week!