CFL Previews - Week Three - July 16-18

Football Betting Lines

07/15/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -

BRITISH COLUMBIA LIONS (0-2) AT EDMONTON ESKIMOS (1-1)

DATE & TIME: Thursday, July 16, 9:00 p.m. (et)

GAME NOTES: As a team that has posted double-digit wins in each of the last seven seasons and made the playoffs every year since 1997, starting off with back-to-back losses is not where British Columbia envisioned itself at this point early in the campaign. As a result, the meeting on Thursday night against Edmonton on the road at Commonwealth Stadium becomes that much more important.

Last week the Lions, who played in the 2008 West Final versus eventual Grey Cup champion Calgary, were taken down by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a close 31-28 decision. The setback was a huge turn-around from what happened between the same two programs in the same venue a year ago when BC put up a 40-10 victory against a Ti-Cats squad that eventually finished with a mere 3-15 record.

Buck Pierce did all he could to keep the Lions competitive last week at home, converting 26-of-40 passing for 333 yards and three touchdowns, but he suffered a pair of interceptions along the way as well. Running back Martell Mallett proved to be a dual threat for the squad as he led the group with 82 rushing yards on 16 carries and also put up another 82 yards receiving on six grabs, yet it still wasn't enough to put BC into the win column for the first time in 2009.

The offense for the Eskimos stalled time and time again against Montreal last week, leaving kicker Noel Prefontaine to come up with a trio of field goals. It wasn't until late in the contest that Edmonton finally made it into the end zone on a one-yard run by Arkee Whitlock. The back finished the outing with 12 carries for a mere 29 yards.

From a passing standpoint, Ricky Ray hit on 19-of-33 passing for 280 yards, with Maurice Mann reeling in seven balls for a game-high 139 yards. Despite having a 1-1 record early on, Edmonton has to be somewhat happy knowing that it is all alone in second place in the West Division, trailing only an undefeated Saskatchewan group, while sitting ahead of both BC and Calgary which are off to 0-2 starts.

Ray had a huge year for the Eskimos a season ago when he led the league in passing with an astounding 5,661 yards, completing just under 70 percent of his attempts. However, even though he was third in the CFL with 26 touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 101.8, Ray also had to deal with the fact that he cost his team potential scoring opportunities by tossing a whopping 17 interceptions as well. Ray was also credited with five rushing touchdowns a year ago, but his 13 fumbles were again a costly byproduct.

As for Pierce, he split time at the QB position in 2008, which is why his production was not as great as Ray's, and yet Pierce still came up with 19 touchdowns through the air. Although the season is still in its infancy, BC's offense is producing a modest 327 ypg, the bulk of which is coming from a passing attack that has posted 259.5 ypg. However, a total of five interceptions thrown and nine overall turnovers surrendered means the Lions are hurting themselves far too much and will have to get a handle on mistakes if they are to earn wins on a consistent basis.

Since the start of the 2004 season BC owns a record of 10-6 in the series with the Eskimos, although the teams split a pair of meetings a year ago, with the Lions coming up with a 43-28 triumph in the most recent encounter in the middle of October.

Despite to get on track, British Columbia cannot permit the Eskimos from getting the upper hand in this contest, or else face the prospect of trying to climb out of a deep hole as the season rolls along.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: British Columbia 38, Edmonton 31

TORONTO ARGONAUTS (1-1) AT CALGARY STAMPEDERS (0-2)

DATE & TIME: Friday, July 17, 9:00 p.m. (et)

GAME NOTES: The 2008 Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders find themselves searching for their first win of the 2009 campaign, as they battle the Toronto Argonauts in the third game of the season at McMahon Stadium.

For a team that posted 13 regular-season wins a year ago, opening up at 0-2 is rather disappointing, but considering the target that the rest of the Canadian Football League has placed on Calgary, it might not be too telling this early in the season.

After beginning with a lopsided 40-27 setback to Montreal at home in the first week of the season, Calgary again stumbled and was dumped by double digits last week as well, bowing to Winnipeg on the road in a 42-30 decision.

As for the Argonauts, their 30-17 season-opening win versus Hamilton on the road was followed by a 46-36 defeat at the hands of the Saskatchewan Roughriders at home last Saturday. With the loss, Toronto enters play this week tied with both Winnipeg and the Tiger-Cats for second place in the East Division, trailing the undefeated Alouettes.

Kerry Joseph tried his best to get the Argonauts into the win column again last week, but even though he passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns, it was not enough against the Roughriders.

Unfortunately, Joseph also suffered a sack in the end zone in the second quarter, a score that began what was a 30-0 blitz in the period for Saskatchewan. The signal-caller also registered 37 rushing yards on five attempts. Jamal Robertson was asked to carry much of the load on the ground, finishing the contest with 10 rushes for 80 yards and a score.

Last season, Joseph was fourth in the league in passing yardage for the Argos with his 4,174 yards, but he ended up with a QB rating of just 82.0 because he logged nearly as many interceptions (14) as he did TD passes (17) on more than 530 pass attempts.

Further down the field, Reggie McNeal recorded game highs with five catches for 114 yards, finding the end zone on a 30-yard play to begin the game's scoring in the first quarter.

While the final score represented just a 12-point difference against Winnipeg last week, the Stampeders never truly threatened the Blue Bombers. In fact, if not for a 20-point outburst in the final quarter, the loss would have been far more lopsided for Calgary.

Quarterback Henry Burris managed to complete 25-of-39 passing for the visitors, resulting in 247 yards, yet he failed to get his squad into the end zone and was guilty of three interceptions, prompting the Stamps to turn to backup Barrick Nealy at the tail end of the contest. Of Nealy's five completions during that short span, two went for touchdowns to Jermaine Copeland and Teyo Johnson, respectively.

Getting hit with 14 penalties for 132 yards certainly didn't help the Calgary cause either.

The defense for the Roughriders has managed to force six turnovers thus far, but permitting an average of 41 ppg has hurt the group far too much to take advantage of the miscues presented by the opposition. Above all else, Burris needs to regain his confidence as he settles back into the position as leader for the Calgary offense. As one of three quarterbacks in the league to throw for at least 5,000 yards a season ago, Burris has proven he can put up big numbers.

Last season these two teams played each other in back-to-back weeks in September, with the Stamps laying claim to wins in both events. For the most part, Toronto was less than competitive in either contest, losing 34-4 on the road and then 44-16 at home the following week.

Playing in front of a favorable crowd and having the added incentive of needing a big win in order to get back in the mix in the West Division, expect the Stampeders to put it all together this weekend and find their way into the win column for the first time.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Calgary 35, Toronto 20

MONTREAL ALOUETTES (2-0) AT SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (2-0)

DATE & TIME: Saturday, July 18, 3:00 p.m. (et)

GAME NOTES: Despite being just the third week of the regular season in the CFL's 2009 campaign, already there stands a matchup that could have significant implications as the year wears on. As the lone undefeated teams to this point, the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders saddle up for a meeting at Mosaic Stadium.

Last season the Roughriders, who finished with a 12-6 mark for the second straight campaign, failed to return to the Grey Cup title game after winning it all in 2007, but the squad and head coach Eric Tillman are hoping a third straight 2-0 opening will get the group back to where it wants to be.

For the Roughriders last week, putting up 30 points in the second quarter was key to the 46-36 victory over the Toronto Argonauts on the road. The period provided a mixed bag of action for Saskatchewan, as quarterback Darian Durant threw a pair of touchdowns, Hugh Charles made it into the end zone on a two- yard run, and the defense produced a safety and a touchdown on a blocked punt.

Durant converted 18-of-28 passing for 205 yards and three TDs overall, while Charles picked up 78 yards on 15 carries coming out of the backfield.

Durant has now been given the keys to the offense and already has nearly half the number of passing yards in 2009 (518) as he had in 2008 (1,122) with Saskatchewan. Running the ball is an area in which the Roughriders need to expand their efforts, averaging just 96 ypg on the ground thus far.

In addition to getting more production out of Durant and other ball carriers, it wouldn't help for coach Tillman to make sure his offense has something to say in the second half, especially after the team has scored just 12 combined points in the second half in two games. By comparison, the squad has logged 18 combined points in the first frame and another 44 in the second period.

Being slow starters could be problematic for Saskatchewan, given that the team has not scored a single point in the third period through two outings.

Defensively, the Roughriders forced a total of five turnovers to offset giving up 465 yards of offense to the Argos. Thanks to the effort, Saskatchewan stands all alone in first place in the West Division standings, a story that also rings true for the Als over in the East Division.

Leading the Alouettes to their second win in as many games was signal-caller Anthony Calvillo, who threw a pair of touchdowns and ran for another as the squad picked up a resounding 34-point win. Calvillo converted 24-of-32 passing for 343 yards through the air, while Avon Cobourne also reached the end zone on one of his 10 carries, leading to 65 yards.

The Als also picked up touchdowns from Larry Taylor on a 68-yard punt return and Cory Huclack who returned an interception 38 yards for a TD. The team as a whole registered 232 yards on kick returns, helping to offset seven penalties which resulted in 104 yards of lost field position.

Receivers Kerry Watkins and S.J. Green kept the Edmonton defense on its heels as the duo posted 14 catches for a combined 232 yards and two scores.

Calvillo, who was second in the league last season with an impressive 5,633 yards passing and led the way with 43 touchdowns through the air, will have another threat at his disposal this weekend after Montreal acquired the services of wideout Chad Owens, a former standout with a potent offense at the University of Hawaii.

Calvillo and the Als are averaging just under 300 ypg through the air, completing three-quarters of their passing attempts and suffering just a single interception along the way.

Since 2004 these two teams have split their 10 meetings right down the middle at 5-5. In the most recent encounter in late September the Als put up a 37-12 win at home, snapping what had become a four-game win streak for the Roughriders in the series.

Already proving to be a wildly successful group when it comes to scoring, averaging 45 ppg early on, the Alouettes will be tough to get hold of this weekend, even if they are on the road in hostile territory.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Montreal 42, Saskatchewan 35

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (1-1) AT HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (1-1)

DATE & TIME: Saturday, July 18, 6:00 p.m. (et)

GAME NOTES: As two of the three teams in the East Division of the CFL chasing an undefeated Montreal club, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger- Cats clash at Ivor Wynne Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Tiger-Cats, a squad that has won just three games each of the last two campaigns and has just a single winning season (2004) in the last seven years, bounced back from an opening-week loss to Toronto at home by posting a 31-28 victory on the road last week against British Columbia.

Last year Quinton Porter was bounced around in the pocket by the Lions, suffering an incredible 10 sacks in what became a 30-point setback for the Ti- Cats, but this time around Porter was up to the challenge as he threw for 222 yards and what was the winning touchdown in the three-point victory over BC in Vancouver.

Porter missed on just five of his 24 pass attempts and picked up another 55 yards and a touchdown on six rushing attempts. Rookie running back DeAndra' Cobb stepped in and produced a game-high 100 yards rushing on 14 attempts, adding 75 yards on five catches, one of which was the crucial score in the final frame. For his efforts, Cobb was named the Offensive Player of the Week as Hamilton beat BC on the road for the first time since the 2004 season.

The Ti-Cats have leaned heavily on the passing attack, averaging 225.5 ypg while completing better than 70 percent of passes, but with Cobb exploding with a strong effort last week there may be room to insert more running plays into the plans for head coach Marcel Bellefeuille and take some of the heat off Porter in the process.

Giving up 280 ypg through the air is rather lofty for the Hamilton defense, but considering the unit also has 10 sacks to their credit, they might be comfortable with that sort of a trade.

Pitted against the defending Grey Cup Champions, a Calgary team that had lost its opener, the Blue Bombers figured to have their hands full last week, and yet the home team still gave the local fans something to cheer about with their 42-30 triumph, moving them to 1-1 on the season, which is where Toronto also stands in the division after two games.

Quarterback Stefan LeFors made good on just 13-of-27 passing for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but his hard-nosed play was more than enough motivation to fire up the rest of the Blue Bombers.

Lavarus Giles carried the ball only six times, yet twice he found his way into the end zone on the ground for the club, while receiver Terrence Edwards had three catches that translated into 40 yards and two TDs also.

Just as important, the defense for Winnipeg rattled Calgary QB Henry Burris, forcing him into three interceptions, one of which was returned 36 yards for a score by Siddeeg Shabazz in the fourth quarter. Shabazz was credited with six tackles and numerous heavy hits as he earned the CFL Defensive Player of the Week award.

From an offensive standpoint so far this season, Winnipeg is averaging just under 300 yards per game in total offense, with a strong balance between the running attack (152.5 ypg) and the passing game (165.5 ppg). However, the defense has been beaten up, at least in the secondary, with 314.5 ypg permitted through the air. The squad has come up with four interceptions to try and stem the tide, but Hamilton will still likely try to expose what is perceived as a weakness down the field.

Dating back to the 2004 campaign, Winnipeg leads the series with the Tiger- Cats by a count of 9-5, with the Blue Bombers taking all three meetings a season ago.

With Winnipeg's defense allowing just 61 ypg on the ground, this will be a good test to see just how good Cobb and the Hamilton rushing attack might be moving forward. Given that the Blue Bombers seem to have the edge over the Ti- Cats recently, the trend should continue.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Winnipeg 33, Hamilton 21

Season Record: 2-2; Last Week's Record: 2-6.