OttawaREDBLACKS.com
TORONTO — Week 5 of the CFL season kicks off on Thursday, with the Edmonton Elks visiting the Saskatchewan Roughriders, bringing us back into the standard four-game slate of action.
After back-to-back weeks of clashes of undefeated teams, things are starting to settle somewhat. The 3-0 Toronto Argonauts are the only team in the league with an unblemished record, but they’re on a bye week. The team that they mauled to stay undefeated, the BC Lions, are licking their wounds after a 45-24 loss at BMO Field on Monday. Coming out of Monday night’s game, the Lions’ attempt to get back on track against the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday could have stood as the most interesting match to watch this week; Jeremiah Masoli changed that.
The veteran QB will step back onto this field this week — marking a full year since he broke his leg and was lost for the 2022 season — and gets to do so in Hamilton, against the Tiger-Cats team he was with from 2013-2021. The 1-2 REDBLACKS could certainly use him, after the 2022 campaign spun out of control in his absence. A healthy and productive Masoli could elevate the REDBLACKS in an East Division that’s shaping up to be much more competitive than it was a year ago.
Let’s dive into this week’s offering of games and see how everyone is leaning with their picks.
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EDM at SSK
The focus will be on the Elks’ 0-4 record, but the Riders have a blemish of their own that they’ll want to address this week: this team is yet to win at home. They get a chance to make amends on that this week, when the Elks roll into Mosaic Stadium on Thursday. The Riders should expect a hungry Elks team. Despite their record — and what the writers and fans might think — they’re not to be taken lightly.
PICK
Writers: 100% Saskatchewan
Fans: 93% Saskatchewan
CGY at WPG
The Bombers will aim to give their fans at IG Field that familiar winning feeling, while the Stamps come out of the bye looking to get back on track after a tough OT loss to the Riders. The Stamps should have an advantage coming out of that bye, but the writers and fans almost fully agree that the Bombers won’t drop two in a row at home.
PICK
Writers: 100% Winnipeg
Fans: 92% Winnipeg
OTT at HAM
Jeremiah Masoli makes his long-awaited return to action and he does so in the perfect setting, in his old stomping grounds at Tim Hortons Field. Masoli’s readiness raises some questions with the writers this week, but the fans are more convinced that the REDBLACKS having their No. 1 QB back in the lineup will pay immediate dividends.
PICK
Writers: 50-50 split
Fans: 66% Ottawa
MTL at BC
In the span of a week, the Lions get to go from riding the high of playing the humblers to trying to recover as the humblees (if that isn’t a word it should be). Those making picks are fairly convinced that the Lions will bounce back at BC Place. They may also be thinking of the troubles that the Als have historically had making that long, cross-country, three-time-zone trip out West.
PICK
Writers: 85% BC
Fans: 88% BC
