3rd And 1: Best Bets for CFL Week 16

Six weeks left in the regular season as we get set to kickoff Week 16 and three teams are enjoying their final byes. Unless of course the Riders, Lions, or Bombers can catch the Elks for first in the West, then they would skip the Semi-Final. It’s odd to have an odd number of games in a week, but it won’t happen again until the 113^TH Grey Cup in Calgary.

All but one of the league’s nine teams has five games left to secure their spot for the second season. Fitting that the odd one out is the only one that’s already been eliminated. But before going on about Ottawa’s ineptitude, let’s focus on the Grey Cup favourite ahead of Friday Night Football. The Als are angry birds.

Montreal Alouettes at Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Montreal has lost two of its last three games following seven straight wins. They were embarrassed getting blown out in BC last week. But it was the low blows that ruffled their feathers. The game got ugly and Josh Hagerty was suspended two games while Liam Talbot is out for the year after surgery for a potentially permanent injury. Too often people chuckle when someone takes it in the cherries but there was nothing funny about Hagerty’s actions that Glen Suitor called “way beyond the code.” Tough timing for the Ti-Cats.

THE PICK: Alouettes -5.5

Player Prop: Stevie Scott Under 74.5 Rushing Yards

The Als backup running back had nine carries for 50 yards against the Lions league-leading run defence last week. But with the Leos leading, they were happy to let Scott run the ball. He had 10 carries for 65 yards in his only other game this season back in week 4 against the Redblacks. So, in two appearances this season, he hasn’t come close to this total. In fact, Scott has only gone over this number once in his career. With injuries to Theis and Talbot, Scott will get his opportunities. However, Hamilton’s defence has been among the CFL’s best all season despite playing on a tilted pitch most of the time. They have the league’s fifth ranked run defence even though they’ve trailed for a vast majority of their games. Even if the Als run the ball 20 times, Shomari Lawrence will be involved as well. And something tells me Davis Alexander will be doing most of the damage in this game.

Edmonton Elks at Toronto Argonauts

The Elks are a slight favourite on the spread, but this is a pick’em on the moneyline. Edmonton has a chance to take a six-point stranglehold on the West division lead. They showed a killer instinct last week. In their last meeting with the Argos in week 11, they won by 30 points. Not only did the Argos barely beat the Redblacks last week, their QB became the first one in fifteen years to throw 20 interceptions in a CFL season, and he’s still got five games to go. I don’t think there’s any doubt who the better team is, even if they’re without Justin Rankin for this one.

THE PICK: Elks moneyline (-110)

Ottawa Redblacks at Calgary Stampeders

Ottawa’s lone goal is to win a game after 18 straight losses going back more than a year. They almost beat the Argos last week coming off their final bye. Was it something to build on? Or will it be the closest they come to a victory for the rest of the season? This is the first of back-to-back games with the Stamps and next week at home could be when the losing streak ends. Hopefully not, if you got in early on them to lose their remaining games at 15-1, now down to +950 at FanDuel. The problem is that the Stamps haven’t been much better of late. I wondered last week whether they could rally for a strong ride to the finish. The Elks ate their lunch instead. Calgary can still save face with a 7-point win, while the Redblacks cover the spread.

THE PICK: Redblacks +7.5