CFL betting odds — Winnipeg at Montreal
Posted on 7/2/2008 11:38:03 PM
By Guy LaPierre
The BetOnline.com Sportsbook likes Montreal by a hair in this one after it laid an absolute thrashing on the Hamilton Ti-Cats last week. Anthony Calvillo was the hero of the day, throwing two touchdown passes and nearly 300 yards in a 33-10 win. Calvillo left the Alouettes late last season when his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
Now that his wife is responding well to treatment, Calvillo has returned and is enjoying football more than ever. That's a bad sign for every other team in the CFL. He become the league's second-leading passer in the Hamilton win, and it seems there's a lot of juice left in that arm yet. If he can stay healthy, we're betting Montreal racks up a lot of points?and wins?in 2008.
Winnipeg, on the other hand, looked shaky in a 23-16 loss to the Toronto Argonauts. Turnovers killed the Blue Bombers, as they gave away the ball four times. The score could have been even worse if Argos kicker Mike Vanderjagt hadn't missed three field goals, and the only Bomber touchdown came with barely a minute to play. Kevin Glenn did manage 321 passing yards, but he was intercepted three times.
It's tough not to call Montreal the favorite in this one. The Alouettes pounced on two fumbles in the romp over Hamilton, and Winnipeg was turnover prone in its season-opening loss. If the Bombers don't fix that problem, this game is already over. The key will be getting the ball into running back Charles Roberts' hands. Roberts had just 13 carries against the Argos; he's a game-breaker and needs to be more prominently involved in the game.
A positive for Winnipeg is it held the Toronto quarterbacks in check. Anthony Calvillo is the best in the game, though, and Montreal will likely try to get Kerry Watkins a lot of action. Watkins snagged six passes for 102 yards and a pair of scores against the Ti-Cats.
Montreal overwhelmed Hamilton in every aspect last week. Winnipeg certainly is a better team than Hamilton, so the outcome shouldn't be so bad, but odds are the Alouettes get another “W”. They looked like a complete team in Week 1, while the Bombers still have a ways to go. They should cover the spread and then some.
Check out the BetOnline.com Sportsbook for all your CFL betting odds.
A Laval, Quebec native, Guy LaPierre grew up rooting
for the Montreal Alouettes. Now he gets to handicap them for a living as our
resident CFL expert. Guy enjoys the game South of the Border, but three-down
football is his specialty. Thoughts or
questions? Email Comments@BetOnline.com.
