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Edgar Chaput
RedBlacks vs. Argonauts Prediction: CFL Week 19 Point Spread, Odds
So begins the end of 2023 for the Ottawa RedBlacks. The club’s thin playoff hopes went out on a whimper on Thanksgiving Monday in La Belle Province when they were crushed 29-3 by the Alouettes. In contrast, the Toronto Argonauts are biding time and fine-tuning things in the lead-up to the inevitable East Division final which they will host. Their latest dress rehearsal was a 35-12 drubbing of the Edmonton Elks.
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CFL Odds and Betting
The CFL schedule makers waited a long time to complete the season series between these regional rivals. With only three weeks left on the calendar – including 19 – this is only the second of three meetings, with the final match happening in two weeks’ time in the Nation’s Capital.
Given the vastly dichotomous trajectories each franchise has gone on this year, the Argos unsurprisingly took the first match 44-31.
Things are bad in the standings for the RedBlacks at 4-12, but they aren’t much better against the spread. At 6-10, it hasn’t been a great season all around. Ottawa has only covered three of its last 10 spread opportunities and has earned a single outright victory over that span as well. They were exciting for a while during the summer, but an autumnal chill has set itself over the club.
The Toronto Argonauts keep on minding their own business as the playoffs grow nearer by the week. Their resplendent 13-2 record in the standings has translated to a strong 11-4 tally ATS. One of their rare failures to cover was in Week 17 when they visited the Blue Bombers sans Chad Kelly, so even one of their few stains didn’t have much to be chalked up to.
Ottawa RedBlacks
One supposes Monday afternoon’s tilt in Montreal was played in a fitting climate. Thanksgiving in the Quebec metropolis was cloudy, windy, and wet. The RedBlacks promptly saw their postseason ambitions get rained out 29-3 in a contest that never lived up to the billing.
The reason for this sense of inevitability had a lot to do with the increasing sense that the Dustin Crum chapter was little more than an admittedly fun flash in the pan. Montreal’s defence dominated the RedBlacks the week before in Ottawa and it was more of the same in the latest clash. A total of 180 won’t get teams anywhere. Crum was eventually benched for Nick Arbuckle. The running game never got going – itself far too dependent on Crum at times this season. Ottawa could only muster 11 first downs to Montreal’s 23 and amassed an alarming 123 yards worth of penalties.
With due respect, the RedBlacks resembled and played like a squad that already knew that all hope was lost.
Toronto Argonauts
On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, the Toronto Argonauts celebrated 150 years of the franchise’s existence with a 35-12 spanking of the Edmonton Elks in front of an appreciative BMO crowd.
Former team legends such as Ricky Ray, Chad Owens, and Raghib Ismail got front-row seats to witness in person how the current iteration of the club is in very good hands. Funnily, Edmonton out-gained Toronto through the air (178 to 164) but no one who attended this contest left under the illusion that the Elks were on the same level as the Argos. As has often been the case this season, Toronto’s success was predicated on a ground-and-pound approach, as they tallied 151 yards rushing. A.J. Ouellette, Daniel Adeboboye, and Deonta McMahon formed the committee that made Edmonton’s defence pay. WR Damonte Coxies (four catches for 83 yards) continues to be a big-play receiver. Even backup QB Cameron Dukes got in on the fun for some goal line scores because why not?
It’s fair to say that the true test of Toronto’s steel will come in the East Final and, pending that result, the Grey Cup. Right now, they’re in a class of their own. End of story.