Week 13 CFL Predictions
September churns on, and the CFL continues to edge closer to the playoffs. The power rankings saw some surges and falls, and strange outcomes still befuddle some of the best football minds in the country. But not the LWOS CFL panel! Take a look at our picks below.
Toronto Argonauts at B.C. Lions
Steve’s thoughts: The Argonauts roll into Vancouver on Friday night coming off the biggest collapse in franchise history. They had a 29-3 lead in Calgary on Saturday, but blew it and ended up losing 40-33. Head coach Scott Milanovich will have his work cut out for him getting his team to bounce back mentally after such an emotional loss. The return of Chad Owens would give the offense a boost, but it has not yet been confirmed that he will be dressed for this week. Another major advantage for the Lions: they’re playing their second home game in two weeks, while Toronto is playing their second road game out West in that same time. A great matchup to watch out for will be the Argos #1 ranked air attack against the #1 defense against the pass. The winner of that battle should go along way towards determining a winner on Friday night.
I like the Lions in a close game.
Matthew Bin: Toronto 19 – B.C. 25
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Toronto 21 – B.C. 26
Steve Gifkins: Toronto 24 – B.C. 28
Lance Keiser: Toronto 31 – B.C. 26
Edmonton Eskimos at Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Lots of questions here. Hamilton and Edmonton both have their starting QBs back; which one is in better form? The stadium woes that dogged Hamilton are fading away, but their injury woes are mounting elsewhere on the field, with emerging defensive star Brian Bulcke now out for the rest of the season. Will the return of Justin Hickman bolster their defence? Will the Cats’ secondary have any way to stop Adarius Bowman’s excellent season? Will Dexter McCoil foil Zach Collaros’s air attack? It’s a close call, but home field advantage will make the difference, and the Ticats will take another win in Hamilton.
Matthew Bin: Edmonton 21 – Hamilton 23
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Edmonton 35 – Hamilton 15
Steve Gifkins: Edmonton 33 – Hamilton 18
Lance Keiser: Edmonton 24 – Hamilton 21
Calgary Stampeders at Montreal Alouettes
Nick’s thoughts: The Argos’ 19-point lead at halftime last week wasn’t enough to stop Calgary en route to a 40-33 win. Meanwhile in the same province of Alberta, the Alouettes looked horrible and awful – horrawful – in Edmonton. The Alouettes will be celebrating Ben Cahoon’s Hall of Fame induction prior to the game. He was there during their glory years when a home game against Calgary was a guaranteed win. Now it’s almost a guaranteed loss. Even without quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, Drew Tate will step in and Jon Cornish will step around everyone else. Defensive back Keon Raymond called last week’s game a character win, but after a likely win against Montreal on Sunday, he might call it an old fashioned whooping.
Matthew Bin: Calgary 14 – Montreal 20
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Calgary 44 – Montreal 17
Steve Gifkins: Calgary 31 – Montreal 9
Lance Keiser: Calgary 36 – Montreal 17
Ottawa Redblacks at Saskatchewan Roughriders
Lance’s thoughts: This is going to be ugly, and Ottawa knows all about ugly games. Saskatchewan doesn’t seem to have any confidence with Sunseri behind center. Last week the young Rider back up did nothing right except tying his shoes and even that is under scrutiny. The Redblacks are coming off a bye week, which they needed in order to figure out the game of football is won by getting into that area called the end zone. However, with Saskatchewan at home, look for Sunseri to be calmer and the run game to come out harder.
Matthew Bin: Ottawa 25 – Saskatchewan 28
Nicholas Di Giovanni: Ottawa 6 – Saskatchewan 13
Steve Gifkins: Ottawa 23 – Saskatchewan 24
Lance Keiser: Ottawa 15 – Saskatchewan 21
Week 12 Notes
Matt and Steve were the top predictors last week, both ending with 3-1 records; Nick and Lance managed to keep it respectable with two right and two wrong apiece.
Commenter salty1264 ended up 2-2 again; however he’s definitely more accurate than I am about keeping his scores straight. Thanks for keeping me honest, Salty.
So those are the picks for this week. Think you’re smarter than us? Did you predict Toronto’s utter collapse at halftime? Did you expect Hamilton to boot Rider butt all over the field? Put your picks in the comments and we’ll see how you fare against the pros at LWOS.
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