Get ready, it’s the return of Johnny Football. The Alouettes confirmed that Manziel will be back under center this Friday, facing a Bombers team that hasn’t won a game in five weeks.

Oddsmakers have the Blue Bombers as 10.5-point favourites in this game.

Betting Analysis

These two teams met back on June 22 (Week 2) with the Blue Bombers crushing the Alouettes 56-10 in Montreal. Backup quarterback Chris Streveler was the quarterback of record in the victory. These two teams had two high scoring games last season, both resulting in Bombers wins. First in Winnipeg in Week 6 with the Blue winning 41-40, then the return game in Week 10 needed overtime with the Bombers prevailing 34-31. Overall, the Bombers enter this game on a four-game winning streak against the Als dating back to the 2016 season. The Bombers are 8-3-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last 11 games against teams with losing records.

Montreal Alouettes

The Alouettes were horrendous this past Friday night, falling to the BC Lions 32-14 on home turf. The offence under quarterback Antonio Pipkin did not register a touchdown. Pipkin threw for a dismal 95 yards – not a misprint – 95 yards the entire game. Pipkin also threw four interceptions in the loss, “I played terrible, I just played terrible,” Pipkin told the Montreal Gazette. His effort will open the gate once again for the return of Johnny Football to the starting ranks. Many were surprised that he did not play at some point in the Friday night loss. Manziel did miss practice earlier last week, but appears healthy and ready for another shot. So far this season, Manziel has struggled with the Canadian game, having a quarterback rating of 39.4 percent, 272 passing yards in two games, four interceptions, and has yet to throw a touchdown pass.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Bombers are coming off a bye week, and maybe, just maybe the timing is perfect for the struggling football club. The team has had a dismal last month, losing the last four games. In fact, the Blue and Gold have not won a game since Aug. 10  and now they find themselves tied for last place in the West division. The biggest question going into the week in practice was which quarterback will get first team reps? Matt Nichols started but did not complete the Banjo Bowl, being replaced by Chris Streveler at the start of the third quarter. That question was answered Monday afternoon in practice, as Nichols was working with the first team offence. There is good news on the horizon for Nichols. It appears that receiver Weston Dressler and offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick are ready to play, as both were at practice Monday and will help the offence. However, Maurice Leggett (lower-body) and Jackson Jefferson (upper-body) will miss this game.

Alouettes vs. Blue Bombers Prediction