2025 CFL Week 9 Picks and Betting Odds: Potential Grey Cup preview in Montreal
With two full months in the books for the 2025 CFL season, it should be no surprise to see injury issues popping up all around the league. We’re doing our best to work through the question marks and predict how Week 9 will go.
Let’s jump in.
Calgary Stampeders at Ottawa RedBlacks
Winners of four of their last five games, the 5-2 Stamps will look to take advantage of a RedBlacks squad with the worst record in the CFL at 1-6.
Calgary stumbled with a close loss against Montreal last week after quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. left early with an injury. The Stamps will be forced to play without Adams again in Week 9. He joins a long list of receivers dealing with injuries, so expect running back Dedrick Mills to be the main feature of the Stampeders’ offence in Week 9.
Ottawa’s only win this season came against Calgary, so there’s a bit of optimism in the nations capital. After using three quarterback last week, who all threw interceptions, Dru Brown is expected to start on Thursday. That’s a big QB advantage over Stamps’ backup P.J. Walker.
I generally like taking the points when I expect a low scoring game and I think that’s exactly what we’re in for this week.
Pick: Stampeders +3.5, Under 49.5
Toronto Argonauts at Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Before the season, this could have been seen as a potential Grey Cup preview, but Winnipeg at 3-3 and Toronto at 2-5 have each had a disappointing start to the year.
The Boatmen received some bad news this week as quarterback Chad Kelly hit the six-game injured list and looks nowhere close to making his season debut. However, Nick Arbuckle stepped up in last week’s win against the Bombers, throwing for 316 yards and two TDs with no interceptions, channelling the form that saw him win Grey Cup MVP in 2024.
Winnipeg is in a bad place at the moment as they’ve suffered three straight double-digit losses for the first time since 2014. To make matters worse, franchise quarterback Zach Collaros missed the second half of last week’s matchup with an undisclosed injury and his status for this week’s game is unknown.
I think this is a get-right week for Winnipeg. The Bombers are the better team regardless of Collaros’ status and Arbuckle has been far too inconsistent to count on back-to-back stud performances.
Pick: Blue Bombers -3.5
Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Edmonton Elks
The Ti-Cats are on fire as they aim for a sixth straight win against Edmonton, who sit dead last in the West Division standings.
Hamilton’s offence has been electric, averaging over 35 points per game on their current win streak. It all starts with quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who leads the CFL by a wide margin in both passing yards (2,201) and passing TDs (15).
The major concern for the Elks is a defence that has allowed over 30 points in five of six games this season. The offence isn’t much better as quarterback Tre Ford barely ranks within the top-10 in passing yards (984) and passing TDs (five), while the O-line just gave up eight sacks last week against Saskatchewan.
This game has all the makings of a blowout, I’m riding with the Tabbies before the number goes any higher.
Pick: Tiger-Cats -4.5
Saskatchewan Roughriders at Montreal Alouettes
Saskatchewan has been lights out this season with the best record in the CFL at 6-1. They’ll get a tough test in Week 9 as they face the 5-2 Alouettes.
The Riders have been the best team in the CFL through the first two months of the season. The big question mark this week is the status of receiver Samuel Emilus, who hit the century mark in receiving yards last week before leaving early with yet another injury. The 27-year-old has been limited to four games this season with various injuries and he didn’t practice on Tuesday.
In the absence of franchise quarterback Davis Alexander, the Alouettes’ defence stepped up on the road last week, limiting Calgary to 21 points and 323 net yards. Alexander is on the six-game injured list, so it will be McLeod Bethel-Thompson’s team for the foreseeable future.
This is the toughest game to pick this week as both teams are dealing key injury issues. However, I think Montreal’s defence can do enough to slow down Trevor Harris and the Riders’ offence.
Pick: Alouettes +2.5
