Edmonton Eskimos (1-5) will have their hands full tonight when they visit the surging Calgary Stampeders (5-1). These two teams are in completely different positions at this point in the season, but both teams should be equally fired up for tonight’s game. Both teams also have next week off, which should make this game even more exciting. Edmonton and Calgary have one of the biggest rivalries in the CFL and it’s always a good game when these two meet-up.

Calgary struggled a little bit in the 1st quarter last week, but they ended up beating the Lions 27-22. Burris played great and didn’t have many mistakes last week, as he threw 22 completions on 32 attempts for 238 yards with 2 TD’s and 1 INT. Reynolds and Cornish also had a good game last week. Reynolds ran the ball 10 times for 67 yards while Cornish ran the ball 5 times for 24 yards, but neither running back was able to find the endzone.

Ricky Ray played great against the Argonauts last week, but it was all for nothing, as the Eskimos lost the game 29-28. Ray ended the game with 24 completions on 35 attempts for 272 yards and 1 TD. Edmonton RB Whitlock also had a breakout game with 147 rushing yards and 1 TD on 16 carries. With the offence having such a good game last week it was a shame to see the defence collapse in the final minutes of the 4th quarter.

There is no doubt that Calgary has more talent then the Eskimos, but they need to show it on the field if they want to have a 6-1 record before their bye week. I really wouldn’t mind seeing the Stampeders run the ball a bit more. They have two excellent running backs in Reynolds and Cornish, but they haven’t been getting the ball enough lately. If Calgary relies to heavily on Burris it could start becoming a problem sooner rather then later.

Betting Lines

Edmonton Eskimos +8.5 vs. Calgary Stampeders –8.5
Edmonton Eskimos vs. Calgary Stampeders O/U 52.5 Points

Betting Picks and Predictions

The point spread has been set at –8.5 points for Calgary and I think they’ll be able to cover the spread tonight. Edmonton is falling apart right now and will be in even worse shape today, as their leading receiver Fred Stamps won’t be in the line-up after injuring his shoulder against Toronto last week. Stamps is 2nd in the league right now in receiving yards and without him in the line-up I can’t see the Eskimos doing much on offence tonight.

Edmonton has also struggled over the past few seasons when playing the Stampeders. The Eskimos are only 6-13 ATS in the last 19 match-ups between these two teams and 2-5 ATS when playing in Calgary. With the point total set at 52.5 points at the moment it’s hard to say whether or not the game will go over or under. Edmonton has been an over machine as of late and have gone over the point total 4 times in their last 5 games.

What scares me is the fact that these two teams have gone under the last 4 times that they’ve played against each other in Calgary. With Stamps out for the Eskimos, I can’t see them putting up very many points today and they’ll most likely settle for a few field goals. Calgary can always put up points, but I can’t see them scoring more then 30 points tonight and therefore I’m going to go with the under.

My CFL Betting Picks – Stampeders –8.5 & Under 52.5 Points