3DownNation CFL Week 20 predictions: best bets for Riders at Bombers, Elks at Lions

It may feel like we’re just getting ready for the start of the year, but we’re quickly nearing the end as we’ve made it to Week 20 of the Canadian Football League season.

As we head into the penultimate week of the CFL season, the playoff picture is starting to take shape with some key games on the schedule, so let’s find some winners.

Saskatchewan Roughriders at Winnipeg Blue Bombers — Friday, October 17 at 8:00 p.m. EDT

The week starts with a classic rivalry as the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This game has a significantly different meaning for these two teams, with Winnipeg battling for its playoff lives while the Riders have clinched everything they possibly can this time of year.

Even with this game meaning more for one club, I imagine that the effort will be similar on both sides. The next meaningful game for the Riders will be the West Final on November 8, and while I’m sure they would love to be able to sit everyone without developing and signs of rust, that’s not how humans work. Saskatchewan will be resting some players this week, though I still expect to see quite a few regulars for this game.

The outcome of this game will really depend on which Winnipeg team shows up. The Blue Bombers dominated Hamilton in Week 17 with a 40-3 win, then followed that up with a dud against Edmonton.

The Blue and Gold have been a tough team to get a read on all year because of injuries and inconsistency. The ups and downs have this team right in the middle of a lot of stats, as they have the fifth net offence and defence in the CFL, they rank sixth in points for, and fourth in points allowed.

As always, the big matchup when these two teams play is in the run game. Brady Oliveira has averaged almost 108 yards per game on the ground in his last four games, though he’s averaged 53.5 yards in the two games against Saskatchewan. The Riders will be resting a few key pieces on the defensive line, including Micah Johnson, so there could be a chance for Oliveira to have a big day, though the Riders’ depth there has been a strength all year.

The Green and White are resting enough key players that I believe Winnipeg wins this game, but Saskatchewan’s deep enough and will keep enough starters in that I believe they keep this one to a close, low-scoring affair.

PICK: Saskatchewan +7, UNDER 48.5

Edmonton Elks at B.C. Lions — Friday, October 17 at 10:30 p.m. EDT

The B.C. Lions host the Edmonton Elks in a massive game for both teams — B.C. is playing for a home playoff game and Edmonton is just trying to get into the postseason at all.

Every year, we hear about teams getting hot at the right time and the Lions are that team this year. They’ve won four in a row and are heading into this matchup with their offence putting up 38 points or more in three of those four games.

Nathan Rourke has been a big part of that success as he’s thrown for over 300 yards in three of four games, while throwing seven touchdown passes in that time. As such, this seems like a pretty good time to face the team that has given up the most passing yards per game in the league this year: the Edmonton Elks.

Rourke has faced Edmonton twice this season and he’s thrown for over 320 yards in each outing with five touchdowns and just one interception, both of them wins for the Lions.

The Elks came up with their biggest win of the season last week against Winnipeg, which kept their playoff hopes alive. Before that, it was three very close losses to Saskatchewan, Hamilton, and Toronto, so they have shown that they can hang with high-level teams.

Overall, with the Lions playing at this level, I just can’t imagine picking against them. Many readers have noted that I’ve left B.C. out of a lot of my picks this year. The reason was simple: I couldn’t figure them out.

Nathan Rourke is one of the most talented players in the CFL, but I was concerned about some of the other pieces they had, so it was tough to get a read on them. Now, I think it is clear this is just a really good football team.

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