Game Preview: Edmonton Eskimos at Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Ricky Ray and the Edmonton Eskimos are still in search of their first win of the CFL season. Will they get it as a pick ‘em on the road Saturday in Winnipeg?
Former West Division rivals duke it out at Canad Inns Stadium in the first half of a doubleheader of CFL betting action. This game will be shown live on the NFL Network.
The Eskimos are the last CFL team standing that is in search of its first win of the season. After losses to the British Columbia Lions, Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders to start the year, the Eskimos find themselves ranking dead last offensively in the league with just 53 total points scored. The defence hasn’t been significantly better, as the 82 points allowed is just third in the West.
Quarterback Ricky Ray is averaging 296.0 passing-yards-per-game, which ranks him third in the CFL amongst starting signal callers. Should he keep up at this pace for the rest of the season, Ray would have yet another 5,000+ yard season, a number in which he has gotten to three times in his career.
The problem Ray has right now is that he isn’t throwing touchdown passes. Only one in three games is absolutely inexcusable for an offence that has this many weapons. Coming into this week, Ray had the two best wide receivers statistically in the CFL. Though Kelly Campbell has a very impressive 21 receptions for 301 yards, it is Fred Stamps that is really stealing the show. He leads all receivers in the league with 24 catches and 399 yards. He 16.6 yards-per-carry average ranks him eighth in the league.
Running back Arkee Whitlock has the second most carries amongst running backs in the CFL with 44 and he has a total of 264 yards on the ground, third in the CFL. Whitlock is one of five players in the CFL that has a pair of rushing touchdowns on the season.
"The problem Ray has right now is that he isn't throwing touchdown passes"
The Bombers have two of those men with two rushing touchdowns, but both are quarterbacks. Backup Steven Jyles has two scores on the goal line on just nine total carries. Starter Buck Pierce only has 13 carries on the year, but he has absolutely made the most of them. Pierce has rushed for 192 yards, giving him an average of 14.8 yards-per-carry, tops in the CFL.
More conventionally through the air, Pierce has led a lethal offence this season. He is completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 774 yards and five touchdowns against just two picks.
Keep a close eye on wide receiver Terrence Edwards, as he is second in the CFL in receiving with 318 yards. On Montreal’s Kerry Watkins has more touchdown receptions (4) than Edwards on the season (3). Edwards is also fourth in the league in yards-per- catch average at 19.9, largely because of a 90-yard touchdown reception against Hamilton the first game of the season.
The Bombers enter Saturday one and a half games behind the Alouettes for first place in the East Division. They have the second highest scoring average in the East and the third highest in the league at 30.0 points-per-game. The defence hasn’t been great though, as allowing 31.0 point-per-game isn’t going to cut it to get Winnipeg into the playoffs.
Last season, the home team took both games SU in this series, but the Bombers snatched both victories against the CFL odds. Winnipeg won 27-17 at home as four point pups, while it also stuck in front of the number in a 19-17 defeat at Commonwealth Stadium late in the season.
Dating back to 2005, Winnipeg has covered seven of the last ten in this rivalry. The Blue Bombers are also 9-4-1 ATS in their last 14 games against teams with a losing record.
If you’re looking for a ‘total’ trend on the game, keep an eye on the ‘under.’ It has cashed in three straight clashes of the Eskies and Bombers, and five out of six as well. ‘Under’ betters are 6-2 in Edmonton’s last eight games overall.
The CFL betting line features a pick ‘em. The ‘total’ has been lined at 54.
Courtesy of SBRForum.com.
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Category: CFL Betting
Damn right!