PICKS
FRIDAY AT 7:30 P.M. ET
B.C. (4-6) at Montreal (3-8) The Lions have been total homers this year with all four wins generated in the cosy confines of B.C. Place Stadium. The inclination then is to figure in an L whenever the Leos hit the road. But the Als have two of their three wins on the road and have been basic pushovers at Molson Stadium, outscored 178-62 in their four home losses. So which geographical posit will hold sway this week? Since the Als are coming off back-to-back wins and have found themselves a mobile, confident quarterback in Johnny, er, Antonio Pipkin, they look like a team with momentum. Then again, the Als most recently beat the lowly Toronto Argonauts and a slumping Ottawa squad that also just lost to the Lions. So it’s not as obvious as one would hope. In fact, the early line favoured the Lions by 31/2. When in this much doubt, go with the home team regardless of trends. Montreal by 2
SATURDAY AT 4 P.M. ET
Calgary (9-2) at Hamilton (6-5) Here’s the game of the week; best in the West versus the (finally) emerging beast in the East. The teams appear to be moving in slightly opposite directions, which makes for an even more interesting scenario. Calgary has lost two of its last four games and showed signs of mortality on both sides of the ball in the shootout loss at Edmonton. They turned the ball over seven times and gave up 48 points and 462 yards of offence to the Eskimos. The Tabbies are on something of an upswing, winners of their last three, though two of those came at the expense of the troubled Argonauts. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli did, however, make it through an entire afternoon against Toronto without throwing a pick, and managed a ninth game with 300-plus yards passing. The early line favoured Calgary by 11/2, but the Ticats are more or less rolling. Hamilton by 3
SATURDAY AT 9:30 P.M. ET
Ottawa (6-5) at Saskatchewan (7-4) The Redblacks’ offence was folded, spindled and mutilated by the B.C. defence last week and will now face an even tougher, deeper, more aggressive unit in Riderville. If the Ottawa offensive line doesn’t suddenly find a way to withstand pressure, quarterback Trevor Harris will look even worse than he did in B.C., which is to say really bad, and the sack totals for Riders Willie Jefferson and Charleston Hughes are going to get a serious boost. That said, the Riders’ offence didn’t score a touchdown in the Banjo Bowl win over the Bombers. Quarterback Zach Collaros was injured late in that game, but cleared concussion protocol and might start against Ottawa. That development would favour Saskatchewan as the Riders were ineffective earlier in the year with backups Brandon Bridge and/or David Watford at the helm. Riders by 7