The Edmonton Elks will have a home date for their week 5 tilt when they host the Ottawa Redblacks.

The Elks, unfortunately, fell short in week 4 when they played Winnipeg.  Edmonton showed a lot of character in that game, pushing Winnipeg to a 23-23 tie entering the 4th quarter.  Edmonton would fail to cause an upset when Winnipeg scored an additional 13 unanswered points to secure the victory.  The positive was the fact that Edmonton played their best game of the season so far.  Hopefully, they close out the game when they host Ottawa, as they are the only winless team in the CFL. 

Game Details

Date / Location:  Sunday, July 6th, 2025 / Commonwealth Stadium / Edmonton, Alberta

Kickoff Time:  7:00 PM EST

Channel:  TSN / RDS2 / CFL + / CBS Sports Network

Weather Forecast:  11 Degrees Celsius.  It will feel like 10 Degrees Celsius.  Cloudy with a low chance of showers in the early evening to nighttime.  Wind gusts will be 26 kilometres per hour in a north-west direction. 

Odds

Spread:  Ottawa RedBlacks: (- 1.5) -110 / Edmonton Elks (+1.5) -110 

Money line:  Ottawa Redblacks (- 122) / Edmonton Elks (+102)

Over / Under: Over 52.5 (-105) / Under 52.5 (-115)

Via FanDuel Sportsbook

Edmonton Elks Depth Chart

Ottawa Redblacks Depth Chart

Edmonton Elks Injury Report

Edmonton has had the benefit of entering every week so far without being a victim of a long-listed roster being inactive, as will be the case in week 5.

Ottawa Redblacks Injury Report

The big roster return on this list is Dru Brown, who will be the spark Ottawa will need on the road.  Unfortunately for Ottawa, they are entering week 5 with an unbelievable 13 players listed as out vs. Edmonton. 

Players to Watch:  Edmonton Elks

RB – Justin Rankin

Edmonton has to incorporate Justin Rankin more often against Ottawa.  He has all the tools to break a game open.  Unfortunately for Edmonton, they have not been able to establish a running game this season as they would like to.  This could be the game where Justin Rankin carries the team on his back to break that trend.

L

B – Nick Anderson 

Expect Nick Anderson to be effective in big moments for the Edmonton defence. He is fully capable of shouldering the load of the defensive responsibilities as he leads by example.   

Players to Watch:  Ottawa Redblacks

Q

B – Dru Brown

It’s hard to shut down Dru Brown as he has the football IQ to dissect a defence.  For Edmonton, it will never be a question of when he can do it; it will be how many times he can do it.  If he gets into a mental zone, he will dismantle the Edmonton defence.

WR – Eugene Lewis

This will

be a revenge game for Geno Lewis, and he would love nothing more than to be one of the bright spots in the scoring department for Ottawa.  If the Elks’ defence cannot make the adjustments when needed, Dru Brown will feast on the Edmonton miscues.  Which in return, will open the door for the deep ball to Eugene Lewis. 

Keys to an Edmonton Victory:

Have a balanced offence.

For a tea

m that has struggled to put points on the board, with 65 total points this season, Edmonton is last in the CFL in this category.  Edmonton has to find ways to be creative in both the running game and the passing game when they play Ottawa.

Get Pressure on Dru Brown

Dru Brown is back under center for the Redblacks.  Anyone in this league knows how good Dru Brown is at quarterback.  The Edmonton front seven has to make it as difficult as possible for Dru Brown to face pressure and wear down the Ottawa offensive line.

W

in the Special Teams Battle

It never gets any credit in the game of football.  Special teams are just as important when an offence scores or a defence shuts down the opposition.  If Edmonton can engineer some points from their special teams, it will only help the offence, which needs ways to score points this season. 

Prediction

Something

has got to give.  Edmonton cannot afford to go winless post-week 5.  Otherwise, it will be another epic failure in trying to turn your season around post-Labour Day.  The hole will be too big to climb out of if they do not get into the win column sooner rather than later.

Edmonton Elks:  33

Ottawa Redblacks:  29

Edmonton

plays a football game with part inspiration and part desperation, and it pays off.  Dru Brown is effective against the Edmonton defence.  However, Edmonton shuts the door at key moments late in the game to secure the victory. 

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