CFL Betting: It is matchup of struggling teams on Friday night as the Montreal Alouettes host the Toronto Argonauts. The Alouettes come into the game at 1-3 while the Argonauts are 1-4. Despite the poor records, neither team is in that bad of shape because the entire East Division is a mess with three teams tied for first with records of 1-3. Here is a look at Friday’s game and CFL picks.
Argos in Crisis Mode
Even though they are only a half game out of the lead in the East, the Toronto Argonauts are in serious trouble. They have the worst defense in the league, allowing 29.8 points per game and one can make a case that despite their offensive ranking of 5th in the league that the offense is actually the worst in the league as well. The offensive numbers are skewed because of their one good game against Saskatchewan in Week 2. Ricky Ray had been playing pretty well but last week he struggled and if Ray struggles this team is hopeless. Ray has thrown four interceptions in his last two games and to give you an idea of how unusual that is, he threw just two interceptions all last season. “I’ve got to do a better job,” Ray said, “I made a poor decision on the first one (interception) and just didn’t protect the ball on the second one.”
Alouettes Need a Quarterback
To win in the CFL you need a top quarterback and right now the Alouettes don’t have one. Head coach Tom Higgins had not even named a starting quarterback for Friday’s game. Quarterback Troy Smith has been awful this season but he still might be their best option. The backup is Tanner Marsh who has not seen much playing time.
Game Notes
The Argonauts are 1-4-1 ATS vs. a team with a losing record. The Argonauts are 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven vs. the East. The Argonauts are 0-4-1 ATS in their last five road games. The Under is 4-1 in the Argonauts last 5 road games. The Under is 4-0 in the Alouettes last four vs. the East. The Under is 8-1 in the last nine meetings.
We’ll look for the recent trends on the total to continue and for this game to go under the total.