CFL Week 2 Picks: Why We Like The Lions And Riders

We got the 2017 CFL betting season off to a winning start on Thursday with our bet on the Saskatchewan Roughriders +7.5 at Montreal. Saskatchewan gave the Alouettes all they could handle, threatening to pull off the outright upset before falling by 1 point to easily cover the spread.

We sat out the rest of the Week 1 CFL action. The Stampeders and Redblacks played to a 31-31 stalemate Friday in a rematch of the 2016 Grey Cup; the Eskimos spoiled the Lions’ home opener with a 30-27 upset Saturday night in B.C.; and the Argos surprised the Tiger-Cats with a 32-15 triumph over their bitter rivals Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

Let’s take a look at the betting odds for this week’s CFL matchups and then make our Week 2 CFL betting picks.

 

Week 2 CFL Betting Lines

After closing as 6-point favourites in Ottawa in the season opener, the Stampeders are now listed 8-point chalk to beat the RedBlacks as the home-and-home series shifts to Calgary Thursday night.

If home field advantage is worth 3 points to the line, this point spread should have been at least 4 points higher, indicating either oddsmakers or bettors are putting a lot of stock in the overtime tie these teams played to in Week 1.

It’s also a bit of a surprise to see the Argonauts as a short home favourite over the B.C. Lions. Toronto was a 3.5-point underdog to Hamilton at home last week and is now favoured to beat one of the best teams in the West? The Lions should be hungry after losing their season opener at home.

Montreal beat Saskatchewan in its season debut but it was hardly in impressive fashion, and the Alouettes are the biggest underdog of Week 2 as they’re catching 8.5 points in Edmonton. The Eskimos are coming off a nice victory in B.C. but this line still seems a bit high at first glance.

The Week 2 slate concludes Saturday as the Blue Bombers play their first game of the season with a visit to Saskatchewan. Winnipeg posted a winning record last year but also benefited from a ridiculous turnover ratio, and we think they might be the most overrated squad coming into 2017.

However, last week’s loss for Saskatchewan was more of the same for the Roughriders – good enough to compete, but not quite able to pull out the tight victories.

 

Week 2 CFL Betting Picks

1. Lions At Argos Betting Pick

A very impressive win for the Argos in their first game under Jim Popp and Marc Trestman. Toronto dominated the Tiger-Cats, outgaining them by 264 yards through the air and 287 overall. To put that into perspective, Toronto was outgained in its final 4 games of 2016, 3 times by 135+ yards.

The Lions, meanwhile, moved the chains nicely last week against Edmonton (27 first downs to the Eskimos’ 17) but struggled to stop the big play, allowing nearly 9 yards per snap. That could spell some trouble this week against Toronto QB Ricky Ray, who threw for 506 yards and averaged 12.3 yards per completion against Hamilton.

We’re going to downplay last week’s results a bit and instead go with the motivational angle here. B.C. should have a focused week of practice and play with desperation this week knowing that it can’t afford to start 0-2 in the tough West Division, while the Argos may be feeling a bit too good about themselves, especially early.

Pick: Lions (First Half) +0.5 -110 at Pinnacle.com

2. Blue Bombers At Roughriders Betting Pick

We love this spot for Saskatchewan. They’re coming off a solid performance in the season opener in Montreal, when they outgained the Als 401-332 in yards and 25-16 in first downs but still stayed under the radar with a 17-16 loss. Now they play their first game in new Mosaic Stadium against a Blue Bombers team that has yet to get its feet wet this year after having a bye in Week 1.

As we mentioned earlier, Winnipeg’s 2016 record was drastically inflated by its good fortune when it came to turnovers. The Bombers committed the second-fewest turnovers in the league on offence, which isn’t anything crazy, but their defence intercepted 30 passes (nearly double that of any other team) and forced 25 fumbles, one behind league-leading Montreal. That masked a stop unit that ranked near the bottom of the league in yards allowed.

Look for a motivated and proud Roughriders team to come up with a big win against a Bombers team we think is overrated and could be rusty.

Pick: Roughriders +1.5 -110