CFL Week 9 action runs from Thursday through Sunday and I'm picking three wagers from three different games.
The pregame narrative: I like the Saskatchewan Roughriders to cover against the worst team in the CFL, the Edmonton Elks. Elsewhere, I'm backing the Montreal Alouettes to cover while fading offence in Calgary.
Check out the best CFL Week 9 picks for August 1-4.
CFL Week 9 picks
Best Bet: Roughriders -5.5 (-110)
I'm backing one of the league's best (the Riders) to easily handle the CFL's worst (the Elks) at home.
The Roughriders are undefeated on home turf, and they come in as the heaviest favourites this week. It's easy to see why.
Most of Saskatchewan's success has come from its remarkable defence and how good it is against the run.
The Riders have allowed the fewest rushing yards through the first seven games in franchise history (335) and have held their opponents under 100 yards rushing in each of the first seven games for the first time ever.
They have completely neutralized teams' ability to move the ball on the ground.
Edmonton, on the other hand, hasn't won a game all year (0-7).
The Elks are still searching for their first win after firing general manager and head coach Chris Jones. They have turned to second-year pivot Tre Ford, a Canadian who will be making his first start of the season over McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
I'm backing Saskatchewan because Edmonton sits at or near the bottom in most major categories on both sides of the ball. Also, Saskatchewan beat Edmonton, 29-21, back in Week 2.
Key stat: Saskatchewan has covered in all but one of its five wins this season.
Quick picks
Argonauts/Stampeders under 49.5 points (-110): I'm backing the under out in Calgary with two poor offences matching up.
The Stampeders simply haven't been a good offensive team this season. They sit eighth in points per game (23.6) and sixth in yards per game (338.4).
While Toronto ranks fourth in the CFL in points per game (27.7), that number has been trending down in recent weeks. The Argos sit dead-last in yards per game (318.4) and passing yards per game (220).
Toronto and Calgary are also coming off poor offensive showings last week. The Stamps only scored three points against the Ottawa Redblacks, while the Argos squeezed out 16 points in their overtime win over Winnipeg.
Another factor is that it's also unclear who Toronto will deploy at quarterback moving forward. Cameron Dukes and Nick Arbuckle split reps at practice all last week before Dukes was pulled after only the first quarter against the Bombers.
Arbuckle played the remainder of the game but wasn't much better than his counterpart.
Alouettes -4.5 (-110): I like the Alouettes to beat up on a bad Hamilton Tiger-Cats team.
This game will come down to whether the Ti-Cats can outscore their problems like they have all year. They will face their biggest challenge to this point, however, against this Montreal defence.
Regarded as the best unit in the CFL, Montreal sits at the top of most per-game defensive categories, including points (21.7), passing yards (223.1) and total yards (317.3).
The Alouettes have also only allowed more than 23 points twice since Week 14 of 2023, and only once this season.
Combine that with Hamilton's spotty defence and Als starter Cody Fajardo back in the lineup, and I like Montreal to cover.
Picks made at 2:00 p.m. ET on 07/31/24.
