The BC Lions fell prey to the Edmonton Eskimos in a preseason game this year. They have a shot of avenging that loss and at the same time win their first game of the season this Friday when they pay the Trevor Harris and company a visit at the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. Will the Lions break finally break in the 2019 season win column? Or will the Eskimos open their campaign with two straight wins?
Forget about the Lions you watched in 2018, as the roster that team had a year ago barely looked the same than the one BC is parading this year. Quarterback Travis Lulay has retired, while another, Jonathon Jennings, has jumped ship to Ottawa, just to name a couple of players who departed BC over the offseason. Also, the Lions have a new head coach in DeVone Claybrooks, whose first regular-season game as the team’s sideline boss resulted in a 33-23 home loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers back in Week 1. Although Lulay is gone, the Lions replaced him with Mike Reilly, who topped the league last year with 5,562 passing yards to go with 30 touchdowns (18 interceptions). Reilly showed his arm in the loss to his former team, passing for 324 yards with a touchdown, albeit with two interceptions. There seem to be some issues with chemistry with his receivers, but that should be ironed out more as the season progresses. The Lions also need more from their ground attack, which produced just four rushing yards against Winnipeg.
The under is 4-2-1 in the Lions’ last seven games away from home.
Betting on the Edmonton Eskimos (1-0)
Despite losing Reilly over the offseason, Edmonton’s passing game is looking great — at least after their Week 1 win over the Montreal Alouettes at home, 32-25. Trevor Harris, who played for Ottawa in 2018, had a sparkling debut for the Eskimos, as he passed for a dizzying total of 447 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions on 32-for-41 throws. Montreal had a hard time containing Harris partly because the Alouettes also had to mind Edmonton’s ground attack. Running back C.J. Gable, who had over 1,000 rushing yards last season, ran for 154 yards against Montreal on 20 carries. Harris, meanwhile, scored a touchdown on the ground on seven carries and 12 yards, adding to his fantastic night. Having seen how BC’s defense was gutted by Winnipeg’s passing offense in Week 1, the Eskimos will enter Week 2’s game against the Lions confident that they could do the same against Edmonton’s seemingly shaky stop unit.
The over is 2-0 in Edmonton’s last two home games.
