Morning Coffee: Riders, Alouettes set for CFL Week 9 showdown

What are the odds 3I/ATLAS is headed to Earth just to see all the betting options available on the FanDuel app?

Who could blame the Aliens if they just want a chance to make every moment more?

We’ve officially reached the point on the summer sports calendar when the entire TSN audience is just waiting for the switch to flip over the next couple of days.

Will the Toronto Blue Jays go all-in at the trade deadline?

When will we finally see the type of blockbuster NHL deal that the hockey community has been buzzing about on social media since they decided to hold down the fort once the TSN Hockey Insiders left for summer vacations?

Is there an NBA blockbuster none of us is expecting?

In just over 24 hours, those of us that are above the legal age in Ontario will get to watch our first wager on NFL game action since February unfold in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night on TSN.

In case you missed it, the TSN Betting team will also begin rolling out our 2025 NFL Season Preview content right here on TSN.CA as the countdown to kick-off continues.

In the meantime, we’ll find out if the Blue Jays can avoid a four-game series sweep in Baltimore, whether the Indiana Fever can beat a legitimate contender without Caitlin Clark in their lineup, and hopefully get word on some key injury concerns ahead of Week 9 in the CFL.

And just maybe, we’ll get enough breaking news to avoid being distracted by the potential for 3I/ATLAS to give us a real-world Space Jam scenario in the not-so-distant future.

This is Morning Coffee for Wednesday July 30th, 2025.

Riders, Alouettes Set For CFL Week 9 Showdown

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the CFL’s hottest team.

In case you missed it, I gave Bo Levi Mitchell his flowers as the MOP favourite, shouted Kenny Lawler and a talented cast of Tiger-Cats receivers, and gave out a FanDuel Best Bet for Week 9 in the CFL on Tuesday.

Nobody reads this column for my takes on aliens wanting the chance to see Connor McDavid go end-to-end in local shinny hockey leagues on Wednesday nights, so I guess I’ll take the time this morning to run it back with another FanDuel Best Bet for Week 9 in the CFL.

We’ve already covered the hottest team in the league.

Why don’t we talk about the team with the best record?

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have emerged as the class of the CFL with a league-best 6-1 record this season.

This week, the Riders will travel east to visit the Montreal Alouettes in a game that was initially billed as a potential Grey Cup preview.

Saskatchewan and Montreal are separated by one game at the top of the CFL standings entering Week 9.

However, the Alouettes will be without their starting quarterback Davis Alexander once again, and while McLeod Bethel-Thompson looked solid in last week’s win over the Calgary Stampeders, Alexander’s absence is still notable.

The same goes for the potential for Montreal to be without Austin Mack, Tyson Philpot, Daniel Oladejo, Joshua Archibald, Nate Beauchemin, and James Letcher.

All six of those players missed practice on Tuesday due to injuries.

Defensive back Najee Murray was limited by a hamstring injury.

The Riders defence is coming off a season-high eight sacks in last week’s win over the Edmonton Elks.

While we can’t expect a repeat performance in Montreal, the Saskatchewan defence has shown the ability to stop the run and get after the quarterback early this season.

The potential for Mack and Philpot to miss Saturday’s game will make a tough job that much more difficult for MBT against the Riders defence.

Meanwhile, Trevor Harris is in the MOP conversation thanks to a league-best 75.9 per cent completion rate and an 11-to-4 TD-to-INT ratio.

Saskatchewan leads the CFL in time of possession this season and will do its best to keep the football out of MBT’s hands in an intriguing road match-up this week.

Nobody is writing off the Alouettes with MBT at quarterback after he led them to an upset win over the Stampeders last week.

However, each of Montreal’s previous three games have been decided by two points or less, including a narrow comeback win over Calgary after Vernon Adams Jr. left that game due to injury.

The Riders aren’t a perfect team, but there’s a chance that Mack and Philpot could both join Alexander on the list of players that will miss Saturday’s game for the Alouettes.

I’m not convinced Montreal can beat Saskatchewan with three of its best players on offence potentially sidelined.

The Alouettes have found themselves on the right side of some narrow wins in recent weeks, but the Riders know how to win those types of games and deserve the edge as the healthier of the two teams.

I’ll go with the Riders -2.5 as a FanDuel Best Bet.

Hopefully, we can sweep our FanDuel Best Bets for Week 9 in the CFL.