The Los Angeles Rams went 18-0 this offseason.
Unfortunately, the rest of the NFL heard all the noise about LA being the obvious Super Bowl favourite, and last night the rival San Francisco 49ers dared them to prove they deserved that hype on an actual football field.
From the opening kickoff, it was clear that the 49ers intended to punish the Rams on every single snap.
New defensive coordinator Raheem Morris never got a chance to enjoy his 50th birthday, but the way his unit played in the opener was certainly cause for celebration.
San Francisco ended LA’s streak of 42 straight games with a double-digit point total in a 27-7 upset win.
The seven points was the fewest scored by the Rams in 75 games with Matthew Stafford at quarterback.
The 49ers held LA to 2-of-9 on third down, forced three turnovers, added a couple of red zone stops, and held the reigning NFL MVP to 15-of-25 for 155 passing yards.
Meanwhile, Brock Purdy spread the football around with touchdown passes to veterans Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel Sr., and the former Ram Demarcus Robinson.
After all the offseason hype, the Rams will head back to North America looking up at San Francisco, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West.
LA won’t play again until a date with the New York Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 2 on September 21st.
As for the Niners, their odds to make the playoffs shifted from -130 to -200 as they return to California for a pair of home games against the Miami Dolphins and Arizona.
The Rams are still the NFC West favourite at +155.
Seattle remains the second choice to win the division at +180, followed by San Francisco at +210.
With the first two games of the NFL season in the books, the focus shifts to the weekend with a lot for football fans to look forward to on TSN.
Week 15 in the CFL features a quadruple-header on the network beginning at 1 PM ET.
We’ve also got a full day of NCAA action across the network, with No. 1 Ohio State set to play No. 4 Texas at 7:30 PM ET on TSN2.
Then we’re on to the first NFL Sunday of the season.
With so much to look forward to this weekend, it would be easy to forget the +1500 CFL ticket we will carry into Saturday’s CFL slate.
Plus, we get a highly anticipated rematch in the Battle of Alberta that will have major playoff implications.
Let’s dive into it in this Morning Coffee column for Friday September 11th, 2026.
Battle Of Alberta 2.0, Redblacks Drought In CFL Spotlight Week 15
The Edmonton Elks had the longest odds to win the 113th Grey Cup at FanDuel entering Week 1 of the season.
15 weeks later, the Elks are the third choice to win it all, with a chance to clinch their first playoff berth since 2019 with a win over the rival Calgary Stampeders on Saturday.
The Elks trailed the Stampeders by 18 points on Labour Day Monday, then rallied for a 38-28 victory.
Now they return home with a chance to crush Calgary’s playoff hopes and inch closer to a West Division title.
Edmonton is a 2.5-point home favourite at FanDuel.
As impressive as the Stampeders looked early on in Monday’s game, the Elks seemed to find all the answers in the second half and now they will get home field advantage for the rematch.
Can Calgary pull off the upset to stay in the playoff hunt?
The Battle of Alberta 2.0 has major playoff implications.
First up, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will attempt to close the gap on Edmonton atop the West as a 1.5-point road favourite against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Winnipeg nearly completed a dramatic comeback of its own before losing to Saskatchewan in OT in Week 14.
The Bombers are -102 to bounce back at home this week.
Then in the late game, the BC Lions will attempt to avenge last week’s loss to the Montreal Alouettes.
The Alouettes are 9-33-1 all-time in Vancouver.
With Davis Alexander nursing an injury, it will be interesting to see if they can take down the Lions as an underdog at FanDuel for the first time this season.
Finally, the CFL game I’ll be watching the closest this Saturday is the one that will kick us off at 1 PM ET.
The Ottawa Redblacks are coming off a bye with an 0-11 record as they visit the Toronto Argonauts.
In case you missed it, I have the Redblacks to go 0-18 in pocket at +1500 with seven games remaining.
While the Redblacks have had a couple of weeks to rest and regroup for another opportunity to end the drought, the Argonauts have plenty of reasons for motivation as Ryan Dinwiddie returns to BMO Field.
Chad Kelly is 4-1 all-time versus Ottawa.
Toronto extended its lead on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Division to 2.5 games with a 37-22 win on Labour Day Monday.
With two more games to play against the Redblacks, the Argonauts can pretty much clinch a playoff spot by winning their final two games versus Ottawa.
The good news for anybody who bet the Redblacks to go winless at +1500 is that they will be a massive underdog once again on Saturday in Toronto.
The Argonauts are currently a 10.5-point favourite.
Ottawa to pick up its first win of the year is +385.
If you want to hedge a bet on the Redblacks to go 0-18 you can take the 10.5 or put a small play on Ottawa to win outright pre-game or live at FanDuel.
The Redblacks to go 0-18 has already moved from +1500 to +1000 at FanDuel.
Looking ahead, Ottawa to pick up its first win of the season versus Hamilton on October 2nd is +340 – the shortest number for them to win any game this season.
The Redblacks to end the drought next week in Calgary is +460 at FanDuel.
Ottawa to get its first win of the year in a rematch against the Stampeders the following week is +410.
Would you bet on the Redblacks to go 0-18 at +1000?
If not, when do you think they will get their first win?
Make sure to give me a follow @Domenic_Padula on X and let me know your thoughts on Ottawa’s drought.
With a monster weekend of CFL, NCAA Football, and our first NFL Sunday of the season on deck, we’ll need a lot more coffee.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
