Once again, the LWOS CFL crew makes their picks and predictions for the upcoming week.
CFL Predictions – Week 8
Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Toronto Argonauts
Matt’s thoughts: Toronto is a conundrum: they look like they should be winning more games, and Ricky Ray looks like he should be at the helm of a stronger team. But other than their surprise blowout over the Riders, the only team they were capable of beating was the sad sack Alouettes – and let’s face it, the Oshawa Senior High School Selects can be competitive against Montreal. Winnipeg, meanwhile, lost last week to a surging Riders team but has shown far more power offensively than Toronto. In this first of two games this week for Toronto, they’ll still be competitive but Winnipeg will take the win home.
Matthew Bin: Winnipeg 24 – Toronto 20
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Winnipeg 23 – Toronto 21
Steve Gifkins: Winnipeg 28 – Toronto 24
Lance Keiser: Winnipeg 23 – Toronto 28
Edmonton Eskimos at Ottawa Redblacks
Nick’s thoughts: Edmonton looked like they were ready for battle in the Grey Cup with their performance against Montreal, only two hours’ drive east of this week’s matchup in Ottawa. Obviously the Redblacks will once again be pumped by their home crowd at TD Place Stadium but the Eskimos offence will be too hot to handle. Mike Reilly is playing football like the best in the league, only in his second season as a starting QB. Like last week, you might expect a blowout by the visiting team, but Ottawa could keep it close early on before letting it slip through their hands.
Matthew Bin: Edmonton 33 – Ottawa 10
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Edmonton 41 – Ottawa 21
Steve Gifkins: Edmonton 18 – Ottawa 26
Lance Keiser: Edmonton 27 – Ottawa 30
Calgary Stampeders at Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Lance’s thoughts: Calgary is rolling along right through the season with only a minor hiccup so far on their record. The Ticats just can’t seem to catch a break. The last time these two clubs met it was a snooze fest, 10-7 final. While both teams have learned their lessons, Calgary may have learned this most important on: don’t take teams lightly, even if they are from the East. This game will feature big plays from all phases of the game. Expect a heavy dose of designed draws to Lefevour, and great returns on the Ticats special teams. This one could go either way, but that’s the problem Hamilton has not yet figured out: how to make games go the other way. Surely they won’t get there this week.
Matthew Bin: Calgary 15 – Hamilton 21
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Calgary 22 – Hamilton 25
Steve Gifkins: Calgary 21 – Hamilton 27
Lance Keiser: Calgary 26 – Hamilton 21
Montreal Alouettes at Saskatchewan Roughriders
Steve’s thoughts: No mistaking it: Montreal is a bad football team right now. In recent weeks they have brought in several new assistant coaches, including Don Matthews and Jeff Garcia, to help out the offense. Now they are a bad football team with more coaches. That said, they are still professionals with plenty of pride, so I don’t expect them to roll over just because they are going into a hostile environment against the defending champs. Saskatchewan seems to have found their groove, winning three in a row heading into this week. No reason for the streak to stop now.
Matthew Bin: Montreal 7 – Saskatchewan 31
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Montreal 19 – Saskatchewan 38
Steve Gifkins: Montreal 12 – Saskatchewan 35
Lance Keiser: Montreal 15 – Saskatchewan 38
B.C. Lions at Toronto Argonauts
Steve’s thoughts: Quietly the Lions have been rolling, winning 4 of their last 5 games. Kevin Glenn is never afraid to sling the ball downfield to let his receivers make big plays. Problem, however, is that those 50- 50 balls often land in the arms of the opposition. Glenn is running away with the interception lead, tossing 11 picks so far. On the other side, Ricky Ray is putting up another efficient season with a QB rating of 96. No matter who his weapons are, Ray just keeps making passes. B.C. travelling across country also works in the Argos’ favour.
Matthew Bin: B.C. 28 – Toronto 14
Nicholas Di Giovanni: B.C. 38 – Toronto 9
Steve Gifkins: B.C. 19 – Toronto 31
Lance Keiser: B.C. 25 – Toronto 31
Week 7 Notes
The favourites all came through this week, so our experts all ended up with a high score; however, only Nick got them all right, putting up a 4-0 score against 3-1 for Lance, Steve, and Matt. Commenter salty1264 also ended at the 3-1 mark. Is everyone getting better with their predictions, or was it just dumb luck? We’ll see this week.
Remember to add your picks in the comments. The LWOS CFL writers can’t possibly predict the scores better than you, can they?
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