We waited six full months for the NFL to return.
Nothing says the NFL is officially back like our first bad beat of the season.
The Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders combined for 41 points through the first 40 minutes last night.
They combined for two missed field goals, a near-red zone turnover on downs, and didn’t score a single point over the final 20 minutes to burn over 41.5 on the hook.
All six NFL pre-season games went under the total.
Fortunately, the Tennessee Titans did enough to pick up a win over the San Francisco 49ers, which means we need a Winnipeg Blue Bombers win over the Ottawa Redblacks tonight to cash another FanDuel Best Bet.
The Titans won that game despite a sub-par performance by second-year QB Cam Ward, who failed to connect on any of his three targets to rookie first-round pick wide receiver Carnell Tate.
Meanwhile, Carson Beck didn’t play for Arizona due to a shoulder injury, but the top two choices to win AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at FanDuel both showed flashes of their impressive skill sets in Las Vegas.
Turning the page this morning, we’ve got three more NFL exhibition games on deck, in addition to CFL Friday Night Football from Winnipeg.
Nathan Rourke and the BC Lions upset the Calgary Stampeders 30-26 in last night’s CFL Week 11 opener.
Two wins separate the first-place Saskatchewan Roughriders from the Lions and Stampeders at the bottom of the CFL West Division this morning.
Will the Bombers close the gap on the Riders with a win over the Redblacks tonight?
Let’s set the stage for tonight’s game in this Morning Coffee column for Friday August 14th, 2026.
Collaros Set To Return For Bombers Versus Winless Redblacks
The Redblacks are the team to fade in the CFL.
Hopefully, we can capitalize on the league’s most obvious betting angle once again on Friday Night Football.
Ottawa’s defence was torched for 401 passing yards and five total touchdowns in last week’s 42-20 loss to the Riders, resulting in the release of two defensive backs.
The Redblacks have allowed an average of 344.5 passing yards per game this season.
Cue the return of Zach Collaros in Winnipeg.
After back-to-back double-digit losses to the Stampeders and Lions, the Bombers went are coming off a bye week with an excellent opportunity to get their season back on track as a 6.5-point favourite versus Ottawa at FanDuel.
A defence that was torched for 377 rushing yards in a loss to BC will attempt to shut down running back Greg Bell and make the Redblacks defence one-dimensional.
Meanwhile, Collaros is expected to play for the first time since Week 5, and the expectation is that the Winnipeg offence will be a lot better with its starter back.
While Collaros and head coach Mike O’Shea have had a lot of positive things to say this week, the Bombers have struggled with consistency on offence, particularly in the red zone where they have stalled far too often.
Perhaps the biggest surprise has been Winnipeg’s struggles at Princess Auto Stadium.
The Bombers are 1-4 at home compared to 3-0 on the road this season.
With only two wins separating first to worst in the loaded West Division, Winnipeg can’t afford to let any more wins slip away.
Six teams have shorter odds to win the Grey Cup than the Bombers at +1500 FanDuel this morning.
Ottawa is one of only two teams that aren’t ahead of Winnipeg on that list.
A Titans win on Thursday night means anybody who tailed my FanDuel Best Bets in Morning Coffee needs the Bombers to win outright tonight.
Hopefully, we can finish off the week with a winner.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
