Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca
TORONTO — When you’re a regular pick maker (regardless of your success at it), you likely have an eye out for the trap game.
When we see a successful team crossing paths with a struggling one, our minds either go to cakewalk win or in the opposite direction, where we think the underdog could be extra fired up to take down the top dog.
The CFL.ca writers have fallen victim to their share of trap games this season, too. Often, with teams like the Blue Bombers, the Argonauts or the Lions, the hot hand gets played across the board and most weeks, those picks pay off. Last week was a perfect example of the opposite happening.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders caught the Lions and many fans across the country by surprise with their fast start, opening up a 31-13 lead, then holding on to claim a 34-29 win. Exactly zero of the writers picked the Riders, throwing the perfect lob to their stellar social team to dunk home.
This week, the writers were almost unanimous in their picks, going fully on board with the Argos to top Calgary and for the Lions to bounce back and down the visiting Tiger-Cats. Are these trap games? Are the Bombers and Elks can’t miss picks this week as well? We’ll start to find out on Thursday.
Let’s get into this week’s picks.
RELATED
» Visit the Game Zone and play Pick ‘Em presented by Old Dutch
» Nye’s Weekly Predictor: Putting faith in the rested Argos
» MMQB: Argos’ Kelly leads mid-season award picks
» Power Rankings: Finding ways to win
» Landry’s five takeaways from Week 11
» Get your tickets for 2023 games now
MTL at WPG
Zach Collaros is practising with the Bombers, signalling a possible return to action for the two-time reigning MOP. Regardless, the Bombers remain a lethal team that can hurt you in any phase of the game, which has the majority of our pick makers leaning in the Blue and Gold’s direction.
The team they’re hosting is no joke, though. The Alouettes have endured injuries of their own and without Cody Fajardo (and a handful of talented others) in the lineup the last two weeks have still stacked their way up to a four-game win streak and sit second in the East Division. The last time these teams met, the Bombers rolled to a 17-3 win in Week 4. We expect a closer contest this time around.
PICK
Writers: 83% Winnipeg
Fans: 90% Winnipeg
CGY at TOR
It’s been a season of more downs than ups for the Stampeders, but the highlight of their 2023 campaign to this point was their Week 9 win over the Argonauts. Three weeks later, the two reunite at BMO Field. The Argos are the favourites in this one (9.5 point favourites, FanDuel says) but it’s difficult to count the Stamps out of Friday’s game. These are two teams that know each other well, with flecks of the Stamps’ past successes entrenched in this Argos’ organization. While the Stamps have been inconsistent, when Jake Maier and his offensive teammates are in sync, they’re a tough opponent. The writers and fans lean to the East on this one, but the Stamps are capable of surprise.
PICK
Writers: 100% Toronto
Fans:89% Toronto
HAM at BC
The Feline Bowl goes down on Saturday at BC Place, but it’s the Lions that have had the sharper claws all season. The Ticats make the cross-country trek on the heels of being the first team this season to lose to the Edmonton Elks. The second place Lions should be in a foul mood after dropping the Week 11 finale on Sunday to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Which team will use last week’s setback for a Week 12 comeback? The writers and fans overwhelmingly think it’s the Lions.
PICK
Writers: 100% BC
Fans: 93% BC
OTT at EDM
Could this be the week? Finally? The Elks’ home losing streak is the relentlessly unforgiving narrative that only grows louder in Edmonton the longer it persists. After Tre Ford led the Elks to their first win of the season in Hamilton in Week 11, he sets his sights now on that nightmarish 22-game dry spell that exists at Commonwealth Stadium. The Elks take that spark of momentum created last week and bring it to the visiting REDBLACKS, who have lost four in a row, after Dustin Crum brought some magic to the franchise with a pair of OT wins over Winnipeg and Calgary in Weeks 6 and 7, respectively. The majority of the writers are sold on the Elks finally getting that home W; it’s a different story with the fans, who give a slight edge to the Elks.
PICK
Writers: 83% Edmonton
Fans: 56% Edmonton
