The Betting Perspective - EDM @ OTT

Edmonton (-8) @ Ottawa: TOTAL 43

A matchup of completely unknown quarterbacks kickoff Week 9 of the Canadian Football League season, as the Redblacks host the Elks in Ottawa Tuesday night.

Ottawa will start Louisiana-Monroe alum Caleb Evans this week while Edmonton answers with rookie Taylor Cornelius, who chucked three interceptions in his first CFL start.

For the Elks, the situation is dire considering an awful 2-4 start to the season and veteran quarterback Trevor Harris remaining out with injury. Edmonton lost to the Redblacks in the season opener 16-12, in that contest the Elks failed to reach the endzone and handed a major score to Ottawa via an interception return for a touchdown. Taylor Cornelius will need running back James Wilder Jr to have a big day, in order to alleviate some pressure on the young quarterback's shoulders. Cornelius struggled against the Bombers in his debut, throwing three picks on 19 of 33 passing attempts. The Oklahoma State alum will definitely get some relief in terms of the opposition, the Bombers are the best defense in the league while the Redblacks are dead last in points given up through six games played.

On the other side, we'll see if Caleb Evans can give Ottawa some life after the combination of Dominique Davis and Matt Nichols failed miserably against Hamilton last time out. Evans threw 58 touchdown passes against 34 interceptions in four seasons at Louisiana-Monroe, he also added over 2000 rushing yards in his collegiate career. Another struggle for the Redblacks have been their lack of a ground attack, they have the fewest ground yards in the CFL in 2021. Now the addition of Evans into the lineup may help diversify Paul LaPolice's offense and improve a disappointing 4 yards per carry efficiency. On the defensive side of the ball, Ottawa have held their own but trying to overcome an offense throwing a pick-six in back-to-back games has been an impossible task.

The betting line for this game has seen some movement, it opened at Elks -6.5 and now sits at -8.5 in some spots. The public are pouring in against a Redblacks team that have failed to cover a spread since that big Week 1 win against Edmonton. The last seven contests between these two teams have gone under the number, so it makes sense for those total bettors to ride that trend once again.

As for the spread, we may only get a handful of opportunities to get more than a touchdown spread with a home team going up against a quarterback like Taylor Cornelius. If Caleb Evans can hold it together enough to not turn the ball over multiple times, the Redblacks are the play here.

Pick Ottawa +8