Canadian Press photo
With three weeks left in the CFL regular season, the race for $5,000 atop the #TotalPickEm leaderboard is heating up in tandem with the playoff race in the standings.
tigercats4ever remains in the lead, with a handful of players directly behind them.
Let’s take a look at this week’s matchups — with a friendly reminder our picks are 8-0 in the last two weeks.
Friday | Hamilton at Ottawa
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats travel to the nation’s capital for the first game of a huge head-to-head series against the REDBLACKS.
Both teams are 8-7, and the next two weeks could very well decide who finishes first in the East Division and gets the bye.
There’s little doubt the Ticats are the hotter of the two squads, having comprehensively beaten BC (40-10) and Toronto (34-20) in their last two outings; Ottawa, on the contrary, gave up 20 unanswered points en route to a disappointing 34-16 defeat in Edmonton last week.
PICK: Hamilton, because Jeremiah Masoli seems to have found another level of chemistry with his receiver group, running back Alex Green is expected to return to the lineup for the Tabbies and Ottawa was just so, so flat in Edmonton.
Friday | Edmonton at BC
There are big late-season games, and then there is Friday.
The implications are out in the open for all to see: Wally Buono’s BC squad can book a playoff spot with a win, a mere few weeks after being rooted to the bottom of the West and on the outside looking in at the postseason picture. Jason Maas’s Edmonton squad — even with last week’s win — is still very much in danger of missing the playoffs.
Both offences received boosts last week; BC in the form of bruising running back Tyrell Sutton, Edmonton via QB Mike Reilly’s return to form.
PICK: BC, because the splits — BC is 6-1 at home, Edmonton 2-6 away from Commonwealth — don’t lie, and this is a Lions defence that really seems to be rounding into form at the right time.
Saturday | Montreal at Toronto
In a meeting of two teams that haven’t won since weeks 12 and 10 respectively, Saturday will be all about players trying to secure jobs for 2019.
Thus don’t be surprised if it turns out to be an enthralling game, with players throwing caution to the wind in an effort to attract eyeballs for next season.
Johnny Manziel is still looking for his first CFL win; John Franklin is looking to earn the Argos their first victory since mid August.
PICK: Montreal, because Rich Stubler’s defence did a pretty solid job against Bo Levi Mitchell and the Stamps in its last outing, and Manziel has shown more start-over-start progress than Franklin.
Saturday | Saskatchewan at Calgary
Oh boy.
This is a matchup of two teams reeling after Week-18 performances that disappointed for different reasons — Saskatchewan played off the field in a 31-0 loss in Winnipeg, Calgary’s offence stalled out in their first home loss of the season — and a potential West Final preview.
Both the Riders and Stamps have already clinched playoff spots, but will want to use the final three weeks of the regular season to iron out offensive kinks; especially Saskatchewan, which has relied on its defence for much of the 2018 campaign.
PICK: Calgary, because you’d expect Bo Levi Mitchell and that offence to snap out of their recent funk sooner rather than later, and the Riders offence has been subpar for most of the season.
Week 18: 4-0
Season: 45-24 (.652)
