WINFO #12

THREE-DOWN FOOTBALL
104th GREY CUP
Standing between the Ottawa
Redblacks and their first Grey Cup
in franchise history is a team being
called one of the best ever.
The Calgary Stampeders have lost
two games all season. They’ve
clearly been the class of the league
and nothing about that changed last
weekend, when they easily handled
the BC Lions. After all the talk about
rust, and bye weeks, and not having
played a competitive game in a month,
the Stamps put it all to rest from the
opening whistle.
Now they arrive in Toronto as 9-point
favorites over an Ottawa team making
a return trip to the big game. Last
November QB Henry Burris and the
RedBlacks were dealt a heartbreaking
loss by the Edmonton Eskimos.
There’ll be a lot of talk of unfinished
business and not settling for second
place again, but reality can be a cold
one. This 2016 Stampeders team
THERE’LL BE A
LOT OF TALK
OF UNFINISHED
BUSINESS AND
NOT SETTLING
FOR SECOND
PLACE AGAIN,
BUT REALITY
CAN BE A
COLD ONE.
Even without their touchdown horse, the Stampeders should have plenty to celebrate.
present real challenges to the whole
“unfinished business” narrative.
That said, we appreciate Ottawa
are not coming to Toronto with any
thoughts of “just being happy to be
here”, which does account for something.
However, what it doesn’t account
for is the fact Calgary has an edge over
them in virtually every key head-tohead
matchup. Oh, and the Stampeders
will also not be giddy about simply
making the Grey Cup and feeling like
they accomplished something by just
punching that ticket. This is a team that
has been on a collision course with the
final game of the season since back
in June. At no point has anyone in this
organization thought an appearance
here constitutes a successful season -
it’s gotta be a win or this will feel like a
real letdown.
The big underdog role suits Ottawa
just fine. They’ll embrace the storyline
and try to use that for motivation. The
Lions did the same last week, talking
about proving people wrong and that
whole “us against the world” routine.
It didn’t matter and we don’t see it
making much difference after kick-off
on Sunday.
The Stampeders depth, preparation
and execution will serve them well.
This is a lot of points to lay in any
game, but particularly one of the
championship variety. We’d love to
make a case for the underdog, but
breaking everything down, the crazy
thing is, laying only nine looks like it
offers value. The Stamps win a lot and
cover the points a lot (19-7 against
the spread in their last 26 games). It’s
going to be tough for Ottawa to hang
in there.
Suggested Grey Cup Play:
We’ll lay the points and take the
Stampeders.
14