The Edmonton Eskimos look to become the first crossover team in CFL history to advance to the Grey Cup when they battle the Ottawa RedBlacks on Sunday in the Eastern final as two-point betting favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Sunday afternoon’s Eskimos vs. RedBlacks matchup at TD Place Stadium represents a rematch of last year’s Grey Cup game, which Edmonton won 26-20 as seven-point chalk.
The Eskimos struggled to defend their crown in the first half of the season, going 5-7 straight up (SU) through 12 games, 3-8-1 against the spread (ATS). But the club has caught fire since then, winning six of seven SU overall, four on the road, including last week’s 24-21 win over Hamilton in the Eastern semifinal as three-point road chalk.
The RedBlacks, meanwhile, return to action after enjoying a bye last weekend on the strength of their first-place finish in the East. Ottawa finished as the best of a bad lot in the East, topping the standings with a mediocre 8-9-1 record.
The RedBlacks have been particularly weak at home, finishing eighth in the CFL with a 2-6-1 SU record, and a brutal 1-8 ATS mark. The silver lining comes in the form of Ottawa’s two SU wins over the Eskimos this season, including a 23-20 victory as 3.5-point home chalk in early August.
However, those wins have done little to move the RedBlacks’ odds to win the Grey Cup, which sit at +500 alongside both Edmonton and the BC Lions.
The Lions have a mountain to climb when they take on the Calgary Stampeders in Sunday’s Western final as heavy 7.5-point underdogs. B.C. has enjoyed a solid stretch run, winning four straight, 3-1 ATS, including a narrow 32-31 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as five-point road chalk in last weekend’s Western semifinal.
However, the Lions have had trouble keeping pace with the high-powered Stampeders in recent tilts, losing a pair of regular-season meetings, most recently suffering a 37-9 blowout loss as 2.5-point home favourites in August.
That dropped B.C. to 1-7 SU in their past eight games against Calgary, but the Lions have covered the spread in two of their past three meetings.
The Stampeders take the field on Sunday perched as heavy -150 favourites to claim their second Grey Cup championship in three years. Calgary set a CFL record with 14 straight SU victories en route to a league-best 15-2-1 record, but failed to produce offence in a 17-8 loss as eight-point road chalk in their regular-season finale against Montreal.
