A week ago, I told you all eyes were on Edmonton.
After back-to-back losses, the pressure was on the Elks to prove that their early-season surge wasn’t a mirage.
In case you missed it, Edmonton delivered a statement win against the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday night.
Cody Fajardo went 25-of-31 for 301 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.
Justin Rankin piled up 108 combined rushing and receiving yards with a touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Elks defence forced six turnovers – two interceptions, two fumbles, and two turnovers on downs.
27 of Edmonton’s 42 points were off takeaways.
The bounce-back was emphatic.
Hours later, Elks fans had even more reason to celebrate when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the CFL season with a 26-19 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Hamilton’s upset opened the door for Edmonton to pull ahead of Saskatchewan by a half-game atop the CFL West Division standings.
The Elks to win the Grey Cup was cut from +480 to +460.
Edmonton remains the third choice behind the Montreal Alouettes (+200) and the Roughriders (+450) at FanDuel.
The CFL regular season is a marathon, and plenty can still change before the playoffs begin on October 31st.
That doesn’t change the fact that the Elks needed an answer following consecutive losses, especially with a key home-and-home against the rival Calgary Stampeders right around the corner in early September.
While the CFL season is long enough for each contender to face its own unique challenges, there is one team that has struggled to answer the bell week in and week out.
The Ottawa Redblacks remained the CFL’s only winless team following a 33-21 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday Night Football.
The Redblacks have been the perfect team to fade on the moneyline at FanDuel all season, and they haven’t been any better against the spread of late with three straight ATS losses dating back to Week 9.
How much worse can it get for Ottawa this season?
With a date against the Grey Cup favourite on deck, the Redblacks will be a popular fade again in Week 12.
Let’s dive into the numbers in this Morning Coffee column for Monday August 17th, 2026.
Redblacks Remain Easiest Fade In CFL This Season
The Redblacks are 0-9 entering Week 12 in the CFL.
While they managed to hang around in a 37-35 loss to the Alouettes in Week 4 and in a 27-22 loss to the Riders in Week 5, they’ve only covered once in their last five games dating back to July 9th.
Ottawa has been the perfect team to fade this season.
Entering the second half of their regular season schedule, the prospect of an 0-18 season lingers.
The Redblacks defence ranks near the bottom of nearly every meaningful statistical category, which led to the dismissal of former defensive coordinator Will Fields, and the release of defensive backs Amari Henderson and Demerio Houston.
Meanwhile, the offence has struggled with consistency all season, with turnovers as well as poor execution in short-yardage and red-zone situations plaguing them.
No team has scored fewer points than Ottawa (207).
Meanwhile, no defence has allowed a higher points per game than the Redblacks (35.7).
The Elks have been the CFL’s biggest surprise for all the right reasons, as they enter Week 12 needing one more win to become the first team to clinch the over on their regular season win total (7.5) at FanDuel.
Ottawa has been the CFL’s biggest surprise for all the wrong reasons – one loss away from clinching the under on their regular season win total (8.5) at FanDuel.
Anybody who faded the Redblacks on their regular season win total will likely cash that bet in Week 12, as they travel to Montreal on a short week.
The Alouettes have won six in a row to improve to 8-1 – the best record in the CFL.
Montreal has also covered the spread in five in a row, improving to 7-2 ATS this season.
Ironically, the last time the Alouettes failed to cover the spread was back in Week 4, when they secured a narrow 37-35 win over the Redblacks as a 9.5-point favourite.
What will the spread be for this week’s rematch?
What about the Tyson Philpot receiving yards prop?
It’s hard to imagine Ottawa pulling off the upset against a rested Alouettes side this week.
With games versus Montreal, the BC Lions and the Toronto Argonauts on deck before a home-and-home series against Calgary in September, things could get worse before they get better for the Redblacks.
Unfortunately for their fans, Ottawa has officially become the easiest fade in the CFL this season.
All things considered, I’m interested to see how high the FanDuel traders set the number for this week’s lopsided matchup between the Redblacks and Alouettes on CFL Thursday Night Football for Week 12.
Have a great day, everyone!
