Recent Play Details

1H Total Under 23.0 (-110)….(5%) – 4% any lower. 

Defence will be the name of the game in this Grey Cup featuring the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Montreal Alouettes Sunday night. Montreal shocked the world by winning outright as 10 point underdogs against Toronto last week, and a lot of that was due to their defensive performance. The Alouettes caused nine turnovers last week, NINE. Whether it be interceptions or huge third down stops, the Alouettes defence showed up in the playoffs once again, and I expect them to create a lot of pressure on Zach Colloras and come up big with some big stops in this one, especially early on. For Winnipeg, often you hear people only talk about their scoring ability, but nobody seems to give their defence enough credit. The Bombers just held Vernon Adams Jr and the B.C. Lions to 13 points in the western finals. B.C. was one of the most electrifying offences in the entire league, but Winnipeg was able to shut down their run game and pressure Vernon Adams so he was forced to make difficult decisions. 

The Grey Cup is being played in Hamilton, Ontario, a Unique stadium where Wind seems to always be a factor. Teams elect to punt a lot more to pin their opponents instead of looking for a long field goal try, as well as keeping the offence simple and not airing the ball out as much. 

As Montreal enters this one on a massive seven game winning streak, I give a lot of credit to how they have simplified their offence. The Alouettes look to run the ball as much as they can as they have done well on the ground with Stanback and a few different RB's all season long, but they've also simplified the passing game, electing to throw more screen passes and shorter 10 yard passes, letting the receivers do the work once the catch is made. Cody Fajardo has become a solid game manager for the Alouettes, but I don't trust him to throw the ball deep, and I don't think the Alouettes do either. 

With my expectation being that both teams run the ball quite a bit early in the game, and with how strong their defences are looking entering this game, I'm expecting a lot of big defensive stops and a lot of punting in this ball game, especially early on. 

The Pathway to victory for the Alouettes is a strong run game and limiting turnovers, and the advantage here for Winnipeg is their experience, having been here many times in recent years. Montreal scored many points last week off turnovers and pick-sixes, I wasn't too impressed with their offence, and Winnipeg seemed to have their way with B.C through the air, but I expect the pressure that Montreal puts on Zach Collaros to casue him some trouble. 

Play the UNDER int he first half.