Weekly Predictor: Will the Lions and Ticats bounce back?

TORONTO — Pick ‘Em players and CFL.ca’s Jamie Nye had a tough Week 3, with two road teams coming out winners and a game that ended in a tie. Nye looks to get back on track this week with his Weekly Predictor.

CFL Pick ‘Em returns with more up for grabs than ever before because this season more than $130,000 in combined cash and prizes up for grabs.*

Pick 30 in a row, win $30,000; pick 40, win $40,000; think you can pick 50 straight? You’re looking at $50,000. *View rules regarding streaks and prizing.

Here’s Jamie Nye with his picks for Week 4:

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OTTAWA @ TORONTO

Chris Williams hopes to help the REDBLACKS stay undefeated this week against the Argonauts (The Canadian Press)

The game features the number one offence against the number nine offence in terms of yardage. Nobody has been able to cover Chris Williams of the REDBLACKS and Trevor Harris gets to go up against his former team that chose to run with Ricky Ray.

You likely already know where I’m heading with this, but the Argonauts do have the advantage of this being an extremely short week for Ottawa, who played to a tie against Calgary on Friday. The Argonauts do look like a team coming together after winning back to back games on the road.

But I’m not going to pick against the top offence in the league when both teams have similar defences, although there is a lot more hesitation with the pick than there would have been last week.

» PICK: OTTAWA (50% confidence)

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EDMONTON @ WINNIPEG

Adarius Bowman and his Eskimos look to continue their success from Week 3 against the Bombers (The Canadian Press)

The trend in the CFL is go with the away team, with only three home teams winning thus far through the first three weeks. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are back home after beating Hamilton last week. They were the underdog and will be just that this week against Edmonton.

The Eskimos are coming off another overtime game, losing one and now winning one. They have some defensive deficiencies, allowing a league high 40.5 points per game through just two weeks. Their offence is number one in scoring to balance things out. Meanwhile, Winnipeg is seventh and seventh in the same categories in the league.

Oh, here is another stat that led to Winnipeg’s first win of the season; six. Six turnovers by the Tiger-Cats in the Bombers win. I don’t see the Eskimos doing that.

» PICK: EDMONTON (75% confidence)

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HAMILTON @ MONTREAL

Jeremiah Masoli looks to get back in the win column this week against the Montreal Alouettes (CFL.ca)

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are finding out why it’s been so hard for the Saskatchewan Roughriders to win the last year and a half. Without your number one quarterback, the struggle is real. And until Zach Collaros comes back behind centre it’s going to be a mystery which Tiger-Cats team is going to be on the field. The one that lit up the Argos in week one or the team we saw the last two weeks.

Montreal, however, is without a few top receivers and depending on Duron Carter’s availability it’ll be an interesting line-up of receivers to go up against the Tiger-Cats defence which actually is second in the league in yards allowed per game.

Whatever shortcomings the Tiger-Cats have on offence in the form of turnovers this week, I think the defence will make up for it.

Another road win as well for this week.

» PICK: HAMILTON (33% confidence)

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BC @ SASKATCHEWAN

Darian Durant and his offence will face a tough BC Lions defence in Week 4 (The Canadian Press)

This is a tough game to read after what happened in BC last week with Jonathon Jennings being yanked in favour of Travis Lulay. It’s early in the week but all indications are Jennings isn’t close to losing his job as the starter. For that, I like the Riders defence, who have been pretty good. Some of the big scores are equally on turnovers by special teams or the offence as they are on the Riders defence.

On the flip side, I see Darian Durant just getting going as quarterback for the Riders again. Over 600-yards in two games and five touchdowns with no interceptions. BUT – yes, a big one – the Lions defence is still tops in the league in most categories. After three strong weeks, I think it’s more likely the Lions have a lapse on defence, allowing the Riders offence to put up some points but this game has the makings of another classic finish.

I’ve got the Riders by a field goal.

» PICK: SASKATCHEWAN (25% confidence)

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CFL on DraftKings

With CFL now on DraftKings, Nye checks in with his weekly fantasy roster. Set your lineup today!

Thanks to some stellar performances from players with low value, you can easily find ways to keep Chris Williams on your team and expect to get some $$$, because you’re not seriously thinking he’s going to be stopped do you? On the flip side, I think the Ottawa/Toronto game could be a shootout so make sure you have an Argo receiver in your line-up. Shaw might be a good value play but I’m going to side with Hazelton in this one.

Nic Grigsby’s debut with the Ottawa REDBLACKS was enough for me to play the well travelled running back. Jace Davis has similar return but now the Bombers play an Eskimos defence who has given up a lot of yards and points, enter Andrew Harris as a great flex play as well this week.

I’m also going with the Roughriders defence in a home game against the BC Lions. Yes, the Riders have given up a lot of points but that’s partly due to the offence turning over the ball and giving the opponents decent field position. They clean that up and this Riders defence is one of the best in second down situations, conversely has given up the second fewest first downs by opponents. They are also the least penalized team.

I know taking Darian Durant against the best defence in the league is a risk, but I think it’s risk worth taking after he’s gone two games without throwing an interception and throwing for five touchdown passes. I think he’s just warming up after a year off the field.