Edmonton Elks vs Montreal Alouettes CFL Picks, Odds, Predictions 8/14/21

The Montreal Alouettes and Edmonton Elks meet Saturday in week 2 CFL action at Commonwealth Stadium. The Montreal Alouettes will make their season debut after finishing 10-8 in 2019. The Edmonton Elks look for a bounce back showing after losing their opener to the Ottawa Redblacks.

The Montreal Alouettes enter the second year under coach Khari Jones and the team should be a lot more comfortable under his leadership. Vernon Adams returns at quarterback after throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 24 touchdowns. Quan Bray and Jake Wieneke is a returning receiving duo that combined for 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns. William Stanback returns after leading Montreal with 1,000 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Defensively, Patrick Levels returns after 86 tackles, Antonio Simmons had three sacks and Greg Reid had three interceptions. The Montreal Alouettes have the pieces in place to be a good team this season, especially on offense with so much production still intact. Montreal just needs its defense to take a step forward, as the Alouettes struggled at times to get off the field and found itself in a lot of shootouts.

The Edmonton Elks have lost four of their last five games overall. Trevor Harris is completing 75 percent of his passes for 333 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions. Harris has one touchdown pass and five interceptions in his last two games. Derel Walker and James Wilder have combined for 170 receiving yards on 17 catches while Greg Ellingson has five receptions. The Edmonton Elks ground game is averaging 110 yards per contest, and Wilder leads the way with 89 yards on 15 carries. Defensively, Edmonton is allowing 16 points and 127 yards per game. Aaron Grymes leads the Edmonton Elks with seven tackles, Kwaku Boateng has two sacks and Mike Moore has two sacks.

The Alouettes are 13-4 ATS in their last 17 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Elks are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 home games and 2-9-1 ATS in their last 12 games overall. The over is 4-1 in Alouettes last 5 games overall. The over is 4-1 in Elks last 5 home games. The Alouettes are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 meetings in Edmonton and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 meetings.

The Edmonton Elks didn’t look great in their season opener and Harris has to be sharper with the football. However, at least the Elks have a game under their belt to get the blood flowing. The Montreal Alouettes haven’t played a game since November of 2019 and that’s a major layoff. I need to see Montreal on the field and showing something before I can back this club with confidence. We’re not being asked to lay a lot with the Elks at home. I’ll lay the small chalk.