The Canadian Press
TORONTO — Week 7 of the CFL season comes with one of the best matchups of the year with the best in the East hosting the best of the West.
Hamilton and Winnipeg highlight the week as the Tiger-Cats will try to deliver the Bombers their first loss of the season. Both offences are tops in the league in scoring so it could be a shootout on Friday night between the two sides. The Tiger-Cats are coming off their bye week but it’ll be interesting to see if the rest helps with Winnipeg (5-0) coming off a game that saw them give up just one point.
The week does start with the rare Thursday night doubleheader.
A Grey Cup rematch in Ottawa between the Stampeders and the REDBLACKS. Jonathon Jennings gets the start again for the injured Dominique Davis. Jennings struggled mightily against Winnipeg and it doesn’t get much easier with a strong Calgary defence visiting on Thursday.
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The Stampeders Nick Arbuckle wants to have a bounce back after his worst start since replacing the injured Bo Levi Mitchell. The Stamps still won last week but were tested by the winless Argonauts.
The second half of the Thursday night doubleheader has the Edmonton Eskimos hosting those same Argonauts.
Toronto is hoping to build on what they saw in the first half in Calgary, which was a one-point game against a decent team. The Eskimos, however, were dumped in Montreal last week and want to keep pace with Winnipeg, who stretched their division lead to two wins last week.
The week concludes the same way Week 6 did. The Roughriders and the Lions end off their home and home set after the Riders beat the Lions 38-25 last week.
It’s hard to win back to back games but we’re still waiting for Mike Reilly to have a huge night to carry the Lions to victory. We’ll see if taking on a team back to back helps to watch fresh film on an opponent.
Calgary at Ottawa
Thursday | 7:00 p.m. ET
LeoVegas Odds
Favourite: Calgary (-240)
O/U: 50.5 points
Ottawa REDBLACKS quarterback Jonathon Jennings drops back to throw (Freestyle Photography)
The Calgary Stampeders got by Toronto last week because the Argos again couldn’t help but get in their own way.
The Stamps aren’t the dominant force they have been but they are better than Ottawa going into this game.
The REDBLACKS were terrible last week but did play on the road against the best team in the CFL.
If the REDBLACKS can get any early momentum and protect the ball, they can beat the Stamps. They’ve consistently played the Stamps strong.
This could be Jonathon Jennings last chance to grab the bull by the horns for his career and re-establish himself.
The Stamps have to guard against an emotional let down on the road against a struggling team but the Argos surprising them early last week could have helped with that.
PICK: CALGARY (75% confidence bonus)
Toronto at Edmonton
Friday | 9:00 p.m. ET
LeoVegas Odds
Favourite: Edmonton (-625)
O/U: 51.5 points
Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Trevor Harris throws a pass against the BC Lions (The Canadian Press)
I’d hate to be the Argonauts this week. Not only are you 0-5 with a lack of confidence but you have to go on the road against a good team who just came off a disappointing loss.
Any chance the Eskimos have a lapse in motivation should be gone after their 20-10 loss to Montreal.
Trevor Harris especially will be looking to bounce back.
Toronto played better for a half last week but we saw the reason they’re 0-5 in the second half.
Toronto will not go 0-18 but I see 0-6 coming.
PICK: EDMONTON (90% confidence bonus)
Winnipeg at Hamilton
Saturday | 7:00 p.m. ET
LeoVegas Odds
Favourite: Winnipeg (-143)
O/U: 54.5 points
Hamilton Tiger-Cats receiver Brandon Banks in between plays (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Many already think this will be a Grey Cup preview. The Tiger-Cats are coming off a bye week and should be refreshed though they won’t have linebacker Simoni Lawrence, who begins his two-game suspension.
A fresh Ticat offence sounds dangerous, or at least should to the Bombers.
Sounds like Adam Bighill is closing in on the lineup. The Bombers offensively are finding new threats and weapons for Matt Nichols. Averages tell us Nichols will have to come back down from his epic performance last week.
We should just be ready to be entertained. Taking the fresher team in this one.
PICK: HAMILTON (50% confidence bonus)
Saskatchewan at BC
Saturday | 7:00 p.m. ET
LeoVegas Odds
Favourite: Saskatchewan (-182)
O/U: 52.5 points
Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Shaq Evans flexes during warm-ups (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
For three quarters the Lions were in it. Then Saskatchewan scored 20 unanswered points and made it look a lot more lopsided.
More injuries to the Lions offensive line won’t help matters but they should be able to get a game plan together to slow down Charleston Hughes.
But be careful. Too much attention frees up more room for all-star Micah Johnson to get to Reilly.
Lions got the run game going and need more of it in this one to control the game as the big plays from the Riders offence piled up.
The Riders’ offensive line is also getting juggled due to injury but they get Dariusz Bladek back to fill the hole left by Philip Blake.
The Riders defence appears to be coming into their own again and with more playmakers there, it’s going to be tough again for the Lions to get momentum. Although it’s so hard to win both in back to back sets.
PICK: SASKATCHEWAN (35% confidence bonus)
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Week 7 Lineup:
