Wednesday's Best CFL Bet
By Charles-André Marchand
Calgary Stampeders at Toronto Argonauts (5.5, 48.5)
This will be a second road game in five days for the Calgary Stampeders. They claimed a short 23-22 victory in Hamilton against the Tiger Cats, thus beginning the season with a 2-0 record for the first time since 2000. The Argos also picked up a win in Week 2 - a 36-34 victory in Winnipeg that brought to a halt a nine-game regular-season losing streak.
These two teams met to start the 2010 season in Calgary where the Stamps took a 30-16 victory, their fifth in a row against the Argos. Despite some encouraging signs of improvement and the surprise win against the Blue Bombers, the Argonauts will again find it difficult to match skills with the Stampeders.
Even in a somewhat ordinary offensive performance against Hamilton, Calgary managed to total 385 yards with two touchdowns and 23 points on the board. As for quarterback Henry Burris, he completed 65 percent of his passes for 257 yards and the two TDs.
Although young quarterback Cleo Lemon picked up the first win of his CFL career Friday night, his numbers are far from impressive. After two games, he has a total of 354 yards with only one touchdown and one interception. Fortunately, the Argos can diversify their attack schemes with the addition of rookie running Cory Boyd, who rushed for 109 yards against Winnipeg after being held to only 32 the previous week against Calgary.
These Stampeders can also run the ball. Joffrey Reynolds rushed for 98 yards against the Tiger Cats. He already has 214 yards rushing after two games and, if history matters, Reynolds gains an average of more than 90 yards a game against Toronto.
The Argos now have a real head coach after the Bart Andrus fiasco and are a much-improved team in comparison with last year. But far from enough to beat the Stampeders, not even in the Queen City.
Pick: Calgary
CALGARY (2 - 0) at TORONTO (1 - 1)
Top Trends for this game.
TORONTO is 12-24 ATS (-14.4 Units) in all games over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 12-24 ATS (-14.4 Units) in all lined games over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 9-19 ATS (-11.9 Units) as an underdog over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 5-16 ATS (-12.6 Units) when playing with 6 or less days rest over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 4-16 ATS (-13.6 Units) off a division game over the last 3 seasons.
TORONTO is 6-18 ATS (-13.8 Units) in home games in July games since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
CALGARY is 4-1 against the spread versus TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
CALGARY is 5-0 straight up against TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
4 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
CALGARY vs. TORONTO
Calgary is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Calgary's last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 6 games at home
Toronto is 1-14 SU in its last 15 games at home