Lions Try For Home-And-Home Sweep
Well, in true BC Lions fashion, they made it more difficult on themselves than they had to on Friday night, defeating the Hamilton Ti-Cats 29-26 at home. Now the Leos head out on the road to take on that same Hamilton team. BC has now won three straight games against Hamilton but as mentioned, it hasn’t been easy.
The Lions are a perfect 5-0 at home so far this year but on the road a 1-3 record tilts the advantage slightly toward the Hamilton Ti-Cats in this one.
British Columbia Lions (6-3) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-5)
Date/Time: Saturday, September 7, 4:00 PM ET
Venue: Alumni Stadium, Guelph, Ontario
Broadcast: TSN & ESPN 3.com
Lions vs. Ti-Cats Betting Lines from Bodog
B.C. Lions pk -110 Ov 54 -110
Hamilton Tiger-Cats pk -110 Un 54 -110
The BC Lions had one of their best offensive games of the season last week – specifically Travis Lulay. He finally broke the elusive 300 yard barrier, passing for 359 yards and three scores while adding another TD on the ground.
Lulay was in total control throughout the game, which is a good sign going forward for this team. He hit six different receivers in the game, was picked off once and sacked just one time. Receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux led the way and caught four balls for a game-high 113 yards and a touchdown that came on a lengthy 80-yard pass play in the second quarter.
Will the Lions and Lulay look to the air once again? (Andy Clark/Reuters)
Inexplicably, Andrew Harris struggled for the second straight week Friday. The Lions as a whole rushed for just 65 yards and abandoned the run in favor of the hot passing game.
Harris vows to be more involved this week but if the Ti-Cats secondary is as leaky as last week, look for the Lions to fling it all over the park again.
For the second straight week the Lions defense looked suspect. The Montreal game two weeks ago was a disaster and last week’s 26 points allowed was not characteristic of what this defense can do. This team has to right the ship defensively and get back to their identity as games with the Western Division elite loom.
The Hamilton Ti-Cats hung around last weeks and displayed their “never say die” attitude; they almost pulled off the upset! This week they are back at home where they have been much better than on the road.
They proved last week that they can hang with BC – the confidence should be a good motivator to this team this week.
Henry Burris missed only seven of his 36 pass attempts, leading to 352 yards and two touchdowns last week. He continues to be Hamilton’s best player and is second in the CFL in passing yards.
His receiving crew has proven dangerous as well – Andy Fantuz, Dave Stala and the leader in the receiving corp. Greg Ellingson have proven to be a bit of a nightmare for opposing defenses to handle.
Hamilton’s defense continues to be a sore spot however. The team is averaging 25.4 points a game on offense, but the defense is allowing an average of 27.6 points – second-highest total in the CFL.
Dave B’s Free Won’t Cost You Anything Week 11 Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• BC are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 road games.
• Under is 40-15-2 in BC last 57 Sat. games.
• Under is 17-8 in BC last 25 games in September.
• HAM are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Sat. games.
• Under is 8-2 in the last 10 meetings in Hamilton.
I said it last week and I will say it again: BC has made a habit of playing close games and Saturday figures to be no different. This game will be close again with the QBs airing it out. The oddsmakers have listed this game as a pick ‘em so I am going to go with the Over.
If forced to choose between the teams I would take Hamilton on the Moneyline but the Over looks more appealing to me.
These teams put up a ton of points last week and made it look easy. The same happens this week!
Pick: the Over – 54 points
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