Blue Bombers vs. Roughriders Picks & Predictions - CFL Week 2

Week 2 of the 2023 CFL season is already underway and Friday night’s showdown features a pair of West Division contenders, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Read on for our top Blue Bombers-Roughriders picks and predictions based on the best CFL odds.

This once storied prairie rivalry has been anything but in recent years. The perennial powerhouse Winnipeg Blue Bombers have rolled off seven consecutive victories against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, including ending the Riders season in the 2019 and 2021 West Finals.

Of course, Big Blue has been winning at will since Zach Collaros was acquired at the 2019 trade deadline. The 12-year veteran has led Winnipeg to a 34-5 regular-season record, which is also anything but blue, and Collaros is the betting favorite in the CFL Most Outstanding Player odds to take home the hardware for a third consecutive season.

This is the Roughriders'  home opener and hopefully it proves to be enough of a distraction from the fact Saskatchewan quarterback Trevor Harris is a game-time decision with a hip injury. It could quickly become a long night if he’s unable to go or aggravates the injury during the game, and the Riders have to turn to backup Mason Fine.

Here are our best Blue Bombers vs. Roughriders picks and predictions (odds via our best sports betting apps; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).

Blue Bombers vs. Roughriders pick

Spread: Blue Bombers -6.5 (-110 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐

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I’m anticipating Collaros crashing the party in Regina on Friday. 

The Saskatchewan defense had its way with the Edmonton Elks on Sunday, but the Big Blue attack is a serious uptick in class. And it’s also a short, five-day turnaround for the Riders.

Add the iffy health of Harris and I don’t expect Saskatchewan to put enough points on the board to hang with Winnipeg. The Riders scored a single touchdown in Week 1, and they actually had fewer yards per play (5.3) than the Elks (6.0). 

For comparison, Collaros chucked three touchdown passes in the first quarter against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Bombers finished with 8.3 yards per play.

Blue Bombers vs. Roughriders odds

Blue Bombers vs. Roughriders odds analysis

This spread opened at Winnipeg -5 at a lot of shops, so when you also factor in that Harris (hip) is a game-time decision, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Big Blue trading as at least a touchdown favorite by kickoff.

FanDuel and PointsBet have already moved the vig further in the Winnipeg direction, too. Plus, as noted, the Blue Bombers have won seven consecutive games against Saskatchewan.

I also value that Pinnacle is listing Winnipeg -6.5 with a -112 price, so we're landing a fair number at -110.

Blue Bombers vs. Roughriders game info

• Date: Friday, June 16. 9 p.m. ET
• TV: TSN
• Location: Mosaic Stadium, Regina, SK
• Weather: 68 degrees F, 0% chance of precipitation, 10-mph SW winds

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