Grey Cup Championship
By David Schwab
Grey Cup History · Playoff Results After a long and grueling 20-week regular season schedule followed by two rounds of playoffs, the stage has been set for this Sunday’s CFL Grey Cup title game between the East’s Ottawa Redblacks and the West’s Edmonton Eskimos.
This past Sunday, Ottawa punched its ticket to the big game with a thrilling 35-28 victory against Hamilton as a six-point home favorite, while the Eskimos pasted defending champion Calgary 45-31 in the West Finals as three-point favorites at home. Both of these games went OVER the closing total line.
This game will be played at Investors Group Field from Winnipeg and ESPN 2 will provide national coverage at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Sunday, Nov. 29
Ottawa Redblacks (13-6 SU, 13-6 ATS) vs. Edmonton Eskimos (15-4 SU, 12-7 ATS)
Point-spread: Edmonton -8 ½
Total: 53
Game Overview
The Redblacks completed an impressive three-game sweep of the Tiger-Cats both straight-up and against the spread in their last three games to first clinch the East Division regular season title and then earn a spot in this title game. Their current SU winning streak now stands at five games and they have covered ATS in their last four. The total went OVER 50 ½-points in Sunday’s win and it has now gone OVER in six of their last nine games.
Ottawa’s key to taking the final step to become the CFL Champion could hinge on the play of veteran quarterback Henry Burris. He ended the regular season with a league-high 5,703 passing yards while tossing 26 touchdown passes against 13 interceptions. The most impressive stat was a completion rate of 70.9 percent on an amazing 678 attempts. The big play in Sunday’s win was a 93-yard touchdown throw to Greg Ellingson to put the RedBacks ahead late in the fourth quarter.
Edmonton won three of four meetings against Calgary this season in a matchup between clearly the top two teams in the West. The Eskimos have now won their last nine games SU with a 6-3 record ATS during this run. They are a perfect 8-0 ATS in their last eight games when closing as favorites and the total has now gone OVER in six of their last seven games overall.
Mike Reilly may only be ranked fifth on the list in total passing yards in the CFL regular season with 2,449, but he made all of his 370 passing yards in Sunday’s win count. He threw three scoring strikes in that game while completing 31-of-39 attempts. He also showed his versatility as a runner with another 30 yards and two scores on seven rushing attempts. Derel Walker was his favorite target with 11 receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown and Adarius Bowman, who was the Eskimos’ leading receiver this season with 1,304 yards on 93 catches, added six more receptions to that total for 74 yards in Sunday’s win.
Betting Trends
— The Redblacks have now covered ATS in seven of their last 10 games against a team with a SU winning record and they are 5-1 ATS their last six games on the road.
— The total has gone OVER the closing betting line in eight of their last 11 games following a SU win.
— The Eskimos ran their record ATS to 19-9 over their last 28 games and they have now covered in four of their last five games against a team with a SU winning record.
— The total has gone OVER in five of their last six games following a SU win.
— In four previous matchups between these two over the last two regular seasons, Edmonton has won all four games SU and it has a 3-1 edge ATS.
— The total has stayed UNDER in three of the four games.