3DownNation CFL picks: B.C. Lions look to cover wide spread against Calgary Stampeders

Photo courtesy: Paul Yates/B.C. Lions

Week 2 of the 2024 CFL regular season is almost here, bringing a full slate of games, many of which feature wide point spreads.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions are heavy favourites despite being off to 0-1 starts, the Edmonton Elks are wide home underdogs to the reigning Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are road underdogs for the second straight week despite being undefeated.

3DownNation contributors Troy Durrell, Santino Filoso, and Peter Klein fared well in Week 1, going 3-1 against the spread. If you’re looking to tail anyone’s picks this week, they could be smart options.

Without further ado, here are our picks for Week 2 in the CFL.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

Thursday, June 13: Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Ottawa Redblacks — 7:30 p.m. EDT

The Blue Bombers will be without offensive stars Brady Oliveira and Kenny Lawler this week, though Adam Bighill is expected to play after missing last week’s loss to Montreal. The Redblacks opened the season with a bye, though their new starting quarterback, Dru Brown, has plenty of experience competing against Winnipeg’s defence as he spent three seasons in Bomberland before becoming Ottawa’s starter this off-season.

 

ABBOTT: A Mike O’Shea-led team can’t come out flat two weeks in a row, can it? Even with the missing bodies, I expect a Bomber bounceback.

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Ottawa.

BALLANTINE: If Winnipeg doesn’t win here, and do so handily, there may be trouble in Bomberland.

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Winnipeg.

DURRELL: The loss of Brady Oliveira and Kenny Lawler will make this tough on Winnipeg, but we haven’t seen the Bombers look poor in back-to-back weeks in several years. 

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Winnipeg.

FILOSO: The Bombers are banged up and Ottawa has a ton to prove. Plus, that spread is just too many points. Bob Dyce’s squad plays everyone tough.

Straight-up: Ottawa. Against the spread: Ottawa.

GASSON: This is just a gut feeling, frankly. I could be wrong, but last week’s loss felt like more than early-season rust for Winnipeg.

Straight-up: Ottawa. Against the spread: Ottawa.

GRANT: Ottawa’s defence matches up surprisingly well here. Brown will have the Redblacks ahead in the fourth, and I haven’t seen enough fight from Winnipeg this year to think they can answer the bell.

Straight-up: Ottawa. Against the spread: Ottawa.

HERRERA-VERGARA: Despite the injuries, I don’t see the Bombers losing two straight games to start the season.

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Winnipeg.

HODGE: The Redblacks will keep this one close but the Blue Bombers can’t start the season 0-2, right?

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Ottawa.

HOSKINS: The Bombers need to bounce back. Ottawa keeps it close as they start blending their new group.

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Ottawa.

KLEIN: The Redblacks are a much better team than they were last year — but not “beating a pissed-off Bombers team” better.

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Winnipeg.

MCGUIRE: To steal a quote from Roy Shivers, “Having potential means you’re not any good yet.” Dru Brown has potential but Zach Collaros has the resumé and two bad weeks in a row just doesn’t seem likely.

Straight-up: Winnipeg. Against the spread: Winnipeg.

TOTALS STRAIGHT-UP: Winnipeg 8, Ottawa 3.

TOTALS AGAINST THE SPREAD: Winnipeg 5, Ottawa 6.

Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks

Friday, June 14: Montreal Alouettes at Edmonton Elks — 9:00 p.m. EDT

The Alouettes proved they’re the top dogs in the CFL with an emphatic win over Winnipeg to open the year, keeping the Blue Bombers out of the end zone for the first 59 minutes of action as Cody Fajardo hit deep shots to Tyler Snead and Tyson Philpot. Meanwhile, Edmonton suffered yet another season-opening loss as they squandered a late lead to Saskatchewan and showed a severe lack of discipline, taking 11 penalties for 101 yards.

 

ABBOTT: The Elks are better on offence than they were last year, but still won’t be good enough to make a dent against the Alouettes.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

BALLANTINE: Edmonton couldn’t hold the lead against Saskatchewan late. The defending champs will carve them up.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

DURRELL: Edmonton showed me more than expected in Week 1, but the defending champs will continue their dominant start to 2024.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

FILOSO: I’m not picking Edmonton until they give me a reason to believe.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

GASSON: How will the Elks lose this one?

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

GRANT: Montreal looked dominant last week and, while I do like this Edmonton team, I’m not picking against the Alouettes until they give me a reason to.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

HERRERA-VERGARA: The Alouettes’ defence will be a problem for McLeod Bethel-Thompson. I don’t see the Elks winning this one.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

HODGE: The Alouettes play mistake-free football, while the Elks are mistake-ful (is that a word?). The home side keeps it close but Montreal moves to 2-0.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Edmonton.

HOSKINS: Mistakes against the Riders cost them last week. Montreal is a better team. The Elks can’t seem to get out of their own way.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

KLEIN: Montreal’s defence is going to be too much for Edmonton to deal with. I expect the Alouettes to pull away early and not look back.

Straight-up: Montreal. Against the spread: Montreal.

MCGUIRE: Edmonton looked for real in Week 1 and I can’t wait to see how McLeod looks after another week of practice with this new group.

Straight-up: Edmonton. Against the spread: Edmonton.

TOTALS STRAIGHT-UP: Montreal 10, Edmonton 1.

TOTALS AGAINST THE SPREAD: Montreal 9, Edmonton 2.

Photo courtesy: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions

Saturday, June 15: Calgary Stampeders at B.C. Lions — 7:00 p.m. EDT

Calgary is coming off a season-opening win over Hamilton, though the team will be in tough this week as they enter hostile territory in Vancouver. The Lions will have over 50,000 fans on hand as rap icon 50 Cent performs before kickoff. For the team to continue its recent dominance in home openers, B.C.’s offensive line will have to be much better than a week ago when they allowed six sacks against the Toronto Argonauts.

 

ABBOTT: The Lions will have more than 50,000 reasons to make a statement on Saturday, but this spread feels too wide for a team with so many question marks.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: Calgary.

BALLANTINE: This spread is too big and the Stampeders have the best QB in the league according to Pro Football Focus.

Straight-up: Calgary. Against the spread: Calgary.

DURRELL: The Lions are coming off a hard-fought Week 1 loss to Toronto, but with 50,000 people in attendance, they’ll make a statement.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: B.C.

FILOSO: If the Lions hope to play in the Grey Cup in November, they won’t get a better dress rehearsal than 50,000 fans in the home opener. The crowd propels them to a win, but Calgary keeps it interesting.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: Calgary.

GASSON: I expect the Lions to bounce back in front of a huge home crowd.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: Calgary.

GRANT: The Lions will respond well to their humbling loss in Toronto. Calgary doesn’t have the trench play to disrupt B.C. the same way and they lack the firepower to keep it close.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: B.C.

HERRERA-VERGARA: I expect a huge bounce back from VA in this one. He will lead the charge for a big win.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: B.C.

HODGE: 50 Cent has 21 questions and they’re all about B.C.’s offensive line. The Lions will win a tight one here — if VA survives the night.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: Calgary.

HOSKINS: This game will likely be closer than it should be, but I like the Lions to come back in a big way.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: B.C.

KLEIN: A win over Hamilton isn’t enough for me to take the Stampeders seriously here. If they can keep things close with the Lions, I’ll have to rethink that but, for now, I think the Lions win easily in their home opener.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: B.C.

MCGUIRE: There’s no way the Lions blow it in front of this big crowd, plus Vernon Adams Jr. will be playing angry. I don’t expect this to be close.

Straight-up: B.C. Against the spread: B.C.

TOTALS STRAIGHT-UP: B.C. 10, Calgary 1.

TOTALS AGAINST THE SPREAD: B.C. 6, Calgary 5.

Courtesy: Kevin Sousa/CFL

Sunday, June 16: Saskatchewan Roughriders at Hamilton Tiger-Cats — 7:00 p.m. EDT

Saskatchewan overcame a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Edmonton last week as Shawn Bane Jr. tied a franchise single-game record with three touchdown catches, while the Tiger-Cats lost their season-opener to Calgary. Hamilton’s receivers dropped several passes last week, including a would-be 47-yard touchdown from Bo Levi Mitchell to Tim White. The good news for Steeltown is that Mitchell looked healthy and effective, showing much better mobility than he has for several years.

 

ABBOTT: Bo looked good in Calgary but the emotional whiplash could be powerful. I expect a return to the mean.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

BALLANTINE: If Hamilton can hang onto the ball, they’ve got a real shot. The Riders are still in the early stages of rebuilding culture.

Straight-up: Hamilton. Against the spread: Hamilton.

DURRELL: This will be a close matchup but I think Saskatchewan has enough talent to get it done on the road.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

FILOSO: How Saskatchewan is yet again the underdog baffles me. Hamilton has no business being favoured here.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

GASSON: The Riders got some help from Edmonton last week. This is often a tough trip for the Green and White.

Straight-up: Hamilton. Against the spread: Hamilton.

GRANT: I don’t like taking a team playing in back-to-back road games, but I have no idea how anyone would confidently pick Hamilton after what we saw last week.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

HERRERA-VERGARA: The Riders should play another good game and Trevor Harris should dominate Hamilton’s defence.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

HODGE: Everyone’s talking about Corey Mace changing the culture in Saskatchewan but the Riders looked undisciplined last week in Edmonton.

Straight-up: Hamilton. Against the spread: Hamilton.

HOSKINS: Hamilton did not show anything to impress me last week. The Riders will get better as they play more.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

KLEIN: Saskatchewan’s defence got better as last week went on. I think they’ll shut down Hamilton and spoil another team’s home opener.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

MCGUIRE: There seems to be plenty of good feelings around Riderville and their new head coach these days. Tiger Town? Not so much. Saskatchewan is going to win.

Straight-up: Saskatchewan. Against the spread: Saskatchewan.

TOTALS STRAIGHT-UP: Saskatchewan 8, Hamilton 3.

TOTALS AGAINST THE SPREAD: Saskatchewan 8, Hamilton 3.

Records to date (straight-up)

FILOSO — 3-1
KLEIN — 3-1
BALLANTINE — 2-2
DURRELL — 2-2
GASSON — 2-2
GRANT — 2-2
HERRERA-VERGARA — 2-2
ABBOTT — 1-3
HODGE — 1-3
HOSKINS — 1-3
MCGUIRE — 1-3

Records to date (against the spread)

DURRELL — 3-1
FILOSO — 3-1
KLEIN — 3-1
ABBOTT — 2-2
BALLANTINE — 2-2
GASSON — 2-2
GRANT — 2-2
HERRERA-VERGARA — 2-2
HODGE — 2-2
MCGUIRE — 2-2
HOSKINS — 1-3