The Redblacks are 6.5-point favorites at Sports Interaction.

Betting Analysis

Were the BC Lions in the CFL’s East Division, they would be tied with Ottawa and Hamilton in first place, Alas, they are in the tougher West and two games behind first-place Calgary. On the updated Grey Cup odds, the Redblacks are +800 and Lions +1400. Only Montreal (+4000) has longer odds than BC.

Early betting action for this one has a slight lean on BC getting the 6.5 points with a heavy lean on the under 53 points. The under is 3-0-1 in the past four meetings in Ottawa.

On the race to 10 points, Ottawa is -167 and BC +125. First team to score, the Redblacks are -152 with a touchdown the leader at +275. BC is +108 to score first and a touchdown is the favoured market at +375. On the winning margin prop, Redblacks by 7-12 points (+325), 1-6 points (+450) and 13-18 points (+450) are all favoured over Lions by 1-6 (+600).

Last season, the Redblacks won both meetings over the Lions by nearly identical scores. It was 31-24 in Ottawa in Week 10. That score was a bit misleading because BC outscored Ottawa 21-0 in the fourth quarter when the game wasn’t in doubt. Trevor Harris threw for 326 yards and a touchdown for Ottawa. Mossis Madu caught the scoring pass and also rushed for one. Brett Maher kicked for field goals. Jeremiah Johnson rushed for a score and caught one for BC. More on him below.

BC Lions

The Lions ended a two-game losing streak (both on the road) last week with a 20-17 win over visiting Winnipeg – BC still has yet to score more than 22 points in a game this year and has been outscored by 26 overall. The Lions trailed the Blue Bombers 17-7 entering the fourth. Travis Lulay connected with Shaq Johnson with two minutes left to tie (after the conversion) and Ty Long hit the game-winning 16-yard field goal in the final seconds. Lulay was named one of the CFL’s Top Performers of the Week as he was 28 for 41 for 326 yards and that score. It was Lulay’s 17th career 300-yard game and he’s now 816 passing yards from becoming just the third QB in franchise history to reach 20,000 career.

The news wasn’t all good from the game as Johnson left in the first quarter with an ankle injury and is very doubtful for this one. Chris Rainey and Brandon Rutley would fill the role at tailback. The Lions have covered just one of their past seven following a win and one of their past eight on the road.

Ottawa RedBlacks

Ottawa is surely thrilled to be done playing Calgary this regular season as the Redblacks are 0-2 against the CFL’s best team and 2-0 against other foes. Ottawa was shut down last week at home by the Stampeders in a 27-3 loss. The Redblacks managed just 169 total yards, including 35 rushing – they had one first-half first down. Trevor Harris passed for only 93 yards and was picked off twice, while backup Danny Collins also had an interception in his first action of the season. Ottawa has been outscored by 34 points in the two Calgary losses while winning its other two games each by double digits. The Redblacks have covered their past five after a loss.

Lions vs. RedBlacks Prediction