Canadian Bacon: Elks Keep Losing

With a loss to Winnipeg, the Edmonton Elks fell to 0-7 for the season. The team is the only winless team this 2023. Going back to last year, the Elks have now lost 11 straight games. That’s not all. The Elks are currently in the middle of a historic home-losing skid: 20 straight losses dating back to 2019. At this point, a win would constitute earth-shattering CFL news.

By the Numbers: Elks Losing Streaks

1,386: the number of days between the Elks’ last home win (October 12, 2019) and their next home game (July 29, 2023). The last time Edmonton won at home, the Calgary Stampeders were the defending Grey Cup champions, Tom Brady was a Patriot, and COVID-19 was not yet a global pandemic.

Five: the different starting quarterbacks the Elks have gone through since 2019. Incumbent starter, Taylor Cornelius, started 20 games in 2023. Trevor Harris started 27 games, followed by Trevor Harris at 21 (19 in the regular season and two in the postseason). Others to start are Nick Arbuckle (3), Tre Ford (3), and Logan Kilgore (5).

Four: the head coaches that have led Edmonton since 2019. Chris Jones is the current coach with a 4-21 record going back to last year. Jaime Elizondo compiled a 3-11 record in 2021. And Jason Maas was the team’s last coach to win a home game in 2019. Scott Milanovich was the head coach in 2020, but the season was cancelled due to the pandemic.

+30000: the Elks’ current sportsbook odds to win the 2023 Grey Cup. Teams that start the season 0-7 have never won the Grey Cup. Two champions, the 2000 BC Lions and 2001 Calgary Stampeders, were four games under .500 at some point. If the Elks somehow go all the way, it would be unprecedented.

Any Hope for Edmonton?

Most CFL predictions have written off the Elks this season. Never mind winning the Grey Cup. Fans would be ecstatic if the Elks can finally win at home. You have a young generation of fans that see the Elks, a franchise that once won five straight Grey Cups, as the perennial losers of the CFL.

It won’t be easy, as Edmonton faces the BC Lions next. The Lions are 4-1-0 against the spread (ATS) this season and shut out Edmonton 22-0 in their last meeting. The team’s only defeat has come against the defending champions, the Toronto Argonauts, who are also undefeated.

Those betting online on Edmonton can instead take them on the spread. The Elks narrowly covered 14½ points in the 28-14 loss to Winnipeg. The team is 2-5-0 ATS as a CFL pick this season and still does not inspire much confidence.

Taylor Cornelius remains turnover-prone as the team’s starting quarterback. He’s thrown seven interceptions to four touchdowns. In all but two games, he has coughed up the ball. Running back Kevin Brown has shown some flashes, with 337 yards and a touchdown with just 68 attempts.

But Brown’s efforts will be minimized if Edmonton keeps playing from behind. The team is outscored by 80 points (an average of over 11 per game). The defense gives up nearly 27 points per game.

Then after the Lions, Edmonton rematches Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers may be fading since they lost the Grey Cup. But they proved they are still a formidable team and kept Edmonton at bay.

Perhaps Edmonton’s best shot at snapping the skid, if they lose to these two teams, will be against Ottawa in Week 12. The Redblacks upset Winnipeg in Week 6 but are still just 2-3 for the season and 9-28 since the season resumed in 2021.

Fans should not hold their breath. Though it might be worth a bet online if Edmonton opens at another large number.