Shovel a little more coal into the ol’ CFL predict-o-matic, boys. It’s late in the season and hoo-wee, we got some barn burners comin’ up!
Week 18 CFL Predictions
Montreal Alouettes at Ottawa Redblacks
Nick’s thoughts: Another Friday night game between the Redblacks and Alouettes. Jonathan Crompton made his first start for the Alouettes back on August 29 against Ottawa, winning 20-10; he then grabbed the second game, four weeks ago, 15-7 thanks to a powerful defence. The Alouettes are currently sitting in first in the East with a 7-8 record, tied with Hamilton and one win ahead of third place Toronto. With each divisional opponent left to be played against, the Alouettes need a win against a team that has 2 wins in 15 games. Their next two opponents will be tough match-ups, so Tom Higgins’ group looks to grow their four game winning streak against a fairly weak Redblacks squad. Any logical follower of the league would have to go with an Alouettes win.
Matthew Bin: Montreal 32 – Ottawa 6
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Montreal 22 – Ottawa 8
Steve Gifkins: Montreal 36 – Ottawa 21
Lance Keiser: Montreal 16 – Ottawa 18
Saskatchewan Roughriders at Calgary Stampeders
Lance’s thoughts: The Riders will be trying to pull out of this tail spin in Calgary; unfortunately Kerry Joseph can’t do it alone. Too many dropped passes by the Riders receiving corps contributed to the loss against Edmonton. The positive for the green and white is that Cornish will not be starting against the Riders. For Calgary it is all about limiting turnovers, do this and the Stamps should win the game. But the Riders are playing with life for a change, and on D that means forcing the issue as well as forcing turnovers. I’ll take the Riders in the one in a tight battle.
Matthew Bin: Saskatchewan 28 – Calgary 25
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Saskatchewan 10 – Calgary41
Steve Gifkins: Saskatchewan 35 – Calgary 31
Lance Keiser: Saskatchewan 26 – Calgary 24
Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Toronto Argonauts
Steve’s thoughts: Zach Collaros has found his stride at the right time leading the Ticats in wins in five of their last six games. The most impressive part is that he has done it without much contribution from his running backs. The Cats have averaged just 40 rush yards per game from running backs over that span. Meanwhile they’ve vaulted to second in the league in passing with 272 yards per contest. It’s desperation time for the Argos, as a loss would destroy their chances at winning the East and drastically reduce their chances of even making the playoffs. The Argos will live and die with the production of Chad Owens. Last week against Montreal he had 77 yards receiving on 7 catches but had a key fumble that was a large turning point in the game. The Ticats will win this one.
Matthew Bin: Hamilton 24 – Toronto 21
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Hamilton 27 – Toronto15
Steve Gifkins: Hamilton 28 – Toronto 21
Lance Keiser: Hamilton 23 – Toronto 29
B.C. Lions at Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Matt’s thoughts: B.C. has stumbled along all season; they’ve played adequate football but haven’t strung together a series of wins, or climbed significantly above .500. The days of easy road wins against Eastern teams are over, and they need to leapfrog a flagging Saskatchewan to get a West playoff spot, or fend off Winnipeg to get the crossover. Winnipeg, unfortunately, doesn’t have much to say about it either way; they are on a seven-game losing skid and don’t look like they’ve found anything to stop the bleeding. Winnipeg’s hopes to stay in the race depend largely on this game, but those hopes are likely to be dashed after this week. A rested and refreshed B.C. should take this in a walk.
Matthew Bin: B.C. 26 – Winnipeg 12
Nicholas Di Giovanni: B.C. 32 – Winnipeg 19
Steve Gifkins: B.C. 33 – Winnipeg 31
Lance Keiser: B.C. 28 – Winnipeg 19
Week 17 Notes
The LWOS crew were in lockstep last week, for the most part, leaving Matt, Nick, and Steve with perfect 4-0 records, while Lance’s faith in Toronto earned him an only slightly less impressive 3-1 score. Luckily a predictable week didn’t mean predictable football, as every game was at least a watchable affair.
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