CFL Betting: Rock You Like a Renegade

READ MORE: CFL Betting, Ottawa Renegades, Sasketchewan Roughriders

9:05 p.m.

Ottawa Renegades (SU: 2-3, ATS: 2-3)

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Saskatchewan Roughriders (SU: 3-2 ATS: 2-3 )

Best Line:Ottawa Renegades+9, 52.5 O/U

Tonight’s first game of the CFL double-header pits two teams coming off losses last week; the Riders dropped a 44-18 decision at Calgary last weekend while the ‘Gades lost 29-21 to the West conference leaders Edmonton Eskimos. The line opened with the Roughriders as a nine point favorite but that number has been bouncing between 7.5 and 8 points depending upon where you shop. Paopao’s Renegades failed to cover the spread as a 5.5 point home-dog in that contest. By contrast Danny Barretts’ Roughriders were a 4.5 point road ‘chalk’ in their upset loss.

Saskatchewan is eager to show their fans that they are better than they showed last weekend. The Roughriders will be buoyed tonight by the return of Nate Davis, Daved Benefield and Jackie Mitchell. However their return might not be enough to stop Ottawa from keeping this game close. Last week, Ottawa was at a serious disadvantage in their kicking game as kicker Matt Kellett was held out of the game due to a groin injury sustained in the pre-game warm-up. Punter Pat Fleming had to handle both jobs and made one of the three field goals he attempted.

A few keys for Ottawa if they hope to cover the spread tonight is to establish the run early with Josh Ranek and Ka’Ron Coleman. They will need to key on Corey Holmes while blitzing QB Nealon Greene to disrupt his rhythm. If they can do this, the Renegades might just surprise the Roughriders.

PICK! Ottawa Renegades +9 and Over 52.5

CFL YTD 2-2

CFL Breakdown: It’s Autumn in Canada

READ MORE: CFL, Edmonton Eskimos, Impaler, Ottawa Renegades

Has baseball been beating you up this summer as well? We’ve had steaks on our shiners all summer. And it’s much too hot to have spoiled meat on our face. So we’ve decided to embrace the chilly mountain embrace of our continental bunk buddies Canada and start paying a little more attention to their football season. Our season is coming soon, don’t worry, but for now we have the football league with the oddly named teams and the weird goal posts. After the jump, let Oddjack guest line crank Impaler throw down the mallet on tonight’s frosty battle between the Ottawa Renegades and the Edmonton Eskimos.

Edmonton Eskimos (3-1 ATS, 3-1 SU) v Ottawa Renegades (3-1 ATS, 2-2 SU)

COLD MARCH OF THE RENEGADES

The turnaround for Joe Paopao’s Renegades this CFL season came when Ottawa eliminated a 23-point deficit against Montreal on July 1 to win in overtime 32-29. With the stellar play of QB Kerry Joseph and featuring one of the CFL’s most exciting running backs, Josh Ranek, the Renegades look to avenge their 41-16-blowout loss at Edmonton in the first game of the season. However, they might find their top rated (2nd best with 147.5 ypg) ground game much tougher against the Eskimos than they did last week against Calgary. Another interesting trend to note is that the Renegades are 16-7-0 ATS in their last 23 home games.

DEFENSE BUILDS IGLOOS

Edmonton brings one of the stingiest defenses in the league to Frank Clair Stadium on Thursday night. Danny Maciocia’s Eskimos are giving up an average of 198 total yards with 165.8 yards passing per game. The Eskimos have the league’s highest sack total at 16. Perhaps Edmonton was caught looking ahead to this match-up in their match with the Blue Bombers last week. The Eskimos were installed as a prohibitive 18-point favorite in that game and needed a last minute field goal to win 14-12. The 26 points secured the under total of 53. When these two teams met earlier this year, the Eskimos easily covered the 11.5 spread in their season opener and the over 55 point total cashed.

YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO COUNT THIS HIGH

Tonight’s match-up has been set at 55.5. This game will be high scoring because the sides match-up well against each other’s weaknesses. On the Eskimos side of the ball it is against their run game where the average 62.3 yards a game-this should force the Sacramento State product QB Ricky Ray to toss the ball downfield quite a bit. Meanwhile, Ottawa is weak against the pass (despite a league leading 5 INTS) and should allow more than a few aerial TDs.

EXHALE

We look to the Eskimos to return to form and cover the 5.5 points on the road. The point total should also soar over the 55 points.

Game On: Esk vs. Renegades [Edmonton Sun]