Montreal Alouettes -135 @ Winnipeg Bluebombers +115
Spread: Mtl -2 -110
It’s Week 6 in the CFL and though so far there’s been extreme parity league-wide with five of the eight teams sitting with 3-2 records and 6 points, two at 4 points, and only one (the Bombers) sitting 4 points back at 2, there is a still a wide degree in separation between these two clubs.
No doubt Montreal has not exactly roared out of the gates, and their 2-3 record and start to the season has left many long-time and recent Alouette fans scratching the heads, but this may just be a sign of the times in Montreal, as their days of steam rolling through the league may have past. The two straight losses are actually the first time they’ve dropped two in a row since 2008. But that doesn’t mean that they, and 39-year-old QB Anthony Calvillo who’s also moving along in his career, still can’t get the job done against weaker opponents.
Calvillo hasn’t been his best and he has been nursing a sore shoulder that you see him cringing from almost every time he gets knocked down lately, but amid those concerns he’s still managing to lead the league in passing with 1,633 yards. With Calvillo at the helm Montreal will always be in games and always have a chance to win.
The Alouettes’ aerial attack is by far ranked the highest in the league with 327 yards/game and should have plenty of opportunities to expose the Bomber D ranked 7th in the league (last in points) and dead last in passing, allowing 326 yards/game.
All the talk this past week has been of how Winnipeg finally got off the snide to record their first win vs. the Eskimos last week, but what isn’t being said is how narrowly they actually escaped with that win and how easily they could be 0-5.
Edmonton lead that game 21-11 in the third quarter and after stopping a promising Bomber drive, a punt block actually changed the course of the game and gave the Bombers life. On the ensuing punt that was blocked by the Eskimos, the ball was fumbled by the Esks and recovered by Winnipeg which eventually lead to a scoring drive.
Winnipeg went on to take the lead in the fourth and did hold that lead the rest of the way, but again was an Eskimo fumble away from losing in the final minute. With the seconds ticking down Eskimo QB Stephen Jyles took off on a run and just needed to fall on the ball to put the Esks into field goal range to kick the win, but instead fumbled the ball on his way down, turning the ball over and sealing the win for the Bombers.
We had action on Edmonton last week and even though it came up a loss, we still feel we had the right side and if Montreal had not lost two games in a row since 2008, what are the chances of now losing three in a row the next week. Alouettes will bounce back in a big way way tonight.
Take Montreal -130
