CFL Previews - July 14-17 - Week Three

Football Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -

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

DATE & TIME: Wednesday, July 14, 7:30 p.m. (et).

GAME NOTES: With their nine-game losing streak now a memory, the Toronto Argonauts try to continue their strong play on Wednesday night as they host the Calgary Stampeders at the Rogers Centre.

Getting an early jump on the third week of the season, due to a soccer game set between Manchester United and Celtic FC on Friday, Toronto has plenty to be pleased about following its narrow 36-34 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last Friday night at Canad Inns Stadium.

Quarterback Cleo Lemon threw for 162 yards and ran for a touchdown, while running back Cory Boyd carried the ball 19 times for 109 yards and a score. The win on the road came in a familiar place as Manitoba was also one of just two locations outside of Toronto where the Argos were able to pick up victories in 2009.

Kicker Grant Shaw was huge for the Argonauts as well, knocking through all four of his field goal attempts including a 13-yard effort late in the fourth frame to put his team far enough ahead to secure its first win of the season. Also on special teams, Chad Owens reeled in a missed 45-yard field goal attempt by Alexis Serna and raced nearly untouched 117 yards for another touchdown for the visitors.

As for the Stampeders, they too leaned heavily on their special teams unit as new kicker Rob Maver converted a 23-yard boot with 10 seconds left on the clock to secure his team's thrilling 23-22 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the road. Maver was good on all three of his field goal chances in the meeting, turning Calgary into one of only two teams in the CFL to start the season a perfect 2-0, the other being Saskatchewan which is also in the Western Division.

Henry Burris was a bit shaky at times, yet the quarterback still made good on 24-of-37 passes for 257 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while moving beyond his one interception and lost fumble. Nik Lewis and Romby Bryant caught touchdown passes of 15 and 17 yards, respectively, while Joffrey Reynolds ran for 98 yards on 15 carries, easily outgaining the entire Hamilton squad which finished with a mere 48 yards on 17 attempts.

An established champion in the CFL, Burris has been one of the most consistent passers during his career, especially in the last six seasons when he's thrown for at least 4,200 yards. Already having set the standard for the most passing yards and completions in a Stampeders uniform, Burris also notched the 200th passing score of his career over the weekend. However, even though the signal- caller has connected on 66.2 percent of his throws over the first two games, among the regular starters in the league, he is the only one without a completion of at least 40 yards. In fact, his longest pass to date has been only 28 yards and that might be something that the Toronto pass defense centers on this week.

Ironically Reynolds, who is third in the league at the moment with 214 yards rushing through two weeks, has a long run of 28 yards to match the effort of Burris thus far.

As for the running attack of the Argonauts, Boyd bounced back from a weak first game when he gained just 32 yards on eight carries, but if not for one 23-yard burst he would have the lowest average per carry among starting backs in the league in the early going.

With Lemon still learning the finer points of Canadian Football, the Toronto offense is only going to take what the Stamps defense gives it and that may not be very much this week. Nevertheless, chances are Lemon will still perform much better than the quarterback contingent that tried to move the ball for the Argonauts last season, a group of gunslingers who combined to rank second- to-last in the league with 4,128 yards through the air with a league-low 14 TDs and a lofty 25 interceptions.

Working in Lemon's favor is the fact that Calgary had one of the weaker pass defenses in the league last year, registering just 13 interceptions and permitting 408 completed passes (second-most behind Winnipeg).

In 2009 these two teams also met during the third week of the campaign, with Calgary crushing the Argos by a score of 44-9 at home. Six weeks later the matchup was much tighter as the Stamps slipped by with a 23-20 final on the road. As far as the regular-season series is concerned, Calgary has used a six-game win streak against Toronto to push its advantage to 41-36-1 overall, thanks in part to a 30-16 win in the first game of this season.

A short week to prepare probably doesn't help either team and the fact that Calgary didn't bother to return home after defeating Hamilton means the Stamps are following along what Burris referred to as an NHL schedule. But don't expect Calgary to be caught off-guard in this meeting, knowing that a win would put huge pressure on the rest of the division this early in the campaign.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Calgary 38, Toronto 24

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (1-1) AT HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (0-2)

DATE & TIME: Friday, July 16, 7:00 p.m. (et).

GAME NOTES: All alone in last place in the East Division, the Hamilton Tiger- Cats again shoot for their first win of 2010 as they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

Add the team's 34-27 overtime loss to British Columbia in the final outing of 2009 and Hamilton is looking at a three-game slide at the moment. Head coach Marcel Bellefeuille had a hard time finding anything positive to talk about after his club's 23-22 setback against the Calgary Stampeders last week. Perhaps most disappointing was kicker Sandro DeAngelis who missed a pair of field goals, but it also didn't help that the squad allowed a 105-yard return of a missed kick and could not get into the end zone on a first-and-goal at the two-yard line in the final period.

The bright spot for Hamilton was again the strong play of Marcus Thigpen who, on his first touch in his new home stadium, raced 93 yards on a punt return for a touchdown. Thigpen earned special teams player of the week honors following the opener in which he became the first player with two return touchdowns in a game since Keith Stokes of Montral did so in 2002, which means he is two shy of tying the record for return TDs by one player in a single season.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn connected on 26-of-34 passes for 356 yards and a score, the lone aerial TD landing in the hands of Thigpen as well. Receiver Arland Bruce III turned his seven receptions into a game-high 104 yards, but it failed to make up for the fact that the running game registered just 48 yards altogether.

As for the Blue Bombers, they saw their quarterback have a career game with 103 rushing yards and another 366 through the air, tossing three scores and scoring one of his own on the ground, yet Buck Pierce could not hold off a relentless Toronto squad all by himself in what turned into a disappointing 36-34 setback at home. Terence Jeffers-Harris did all he could to get Winnipeg into the win column again, capturing seven passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, all of which were game highs.

Pierce has clearly shown that he can operate the offense for the Bombers, but one has to wonder if he is putting himself in harm's way a bit too much in the early going. As someone who is no stranger to injury, Pierce continues to lay it on the line for his team and actually ranks among the league leaders in rushing after two games with his 192 yards on just 13 attempts. Thanks to a 43-yard romp, Pierce is averaging a whopping 14.8 yards per carry.

Playing for British Columbia during his first five years in the league, Pierce didn't exactly set the league on fire last year when he tossed just 10 TDs and was guilty of a career-high 12 INTs, but at least he is off on the right foot this time around with five TDs and just a single pick, with his aggressive manner of play earning the respect of his coaches and teammates alike.

In just his first year, Jeffers-Harris how shown why he is considered one of the top offensive options for the Blue Bombers, averaging 17.2 yards per catch, but already we have seen two sides of him with just 20 yards on three catches in the first game of 2010.

Pierce and Jeffers-Harris might not have to look far for some additional offensive help as the Bombers signed receiver/returner Markus Howell on Monday. Twice named Special Teams Player of the Week while with Calgary during a four-year stretch Howell, who played for Winnipeg from 2000-2004, could spread the field a bit for Pierce, giving the signal-caller not only additional passing lanes but also a bit more room to advance the ball down the field himself.

As a part-time starter for Hamilton last year, Glenn showed strong play in the pocket as he completed 62 percent of his attempts for more than 3,000 yards and, more importantly, delivered 18 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. Getting Bruce the ball down the field so he can create plays is certainly a key to the offense for the team, but the manner in which Marquay McDaniel has exploded onto the scene is tough to ignore. Even Bruce recognizes how dominant McDaniel has been, now just in his second season in the CFL. Last year McDaniel led the league in combined yards with 2,535, but this time around the coaching staff might see the significance of using him even more on offense in order to give the Winnipeg defense that much more to think about.

These same two teams met in the season opener on July 2, with Winnipeg crushing the Tiger-Cats by a final of 49-29. With the victory the Blue Bombers moved to 54-42 in regular-season meetings against Hamilton. The clubs are set to clash once more in the 2010 regular season on August 7.

As long as Pierce can stay in the game and not put himself in perilous situations, Winnipeg definitely has a strong chance of landing a win on the road this week. Victories away from home were not exactly a strong suit for a Bombers club that was only 3-6 in such situations last season, but following the miserable outcome recently the team might be a bit more motivated than usual.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Winnipeg 35, Hamilton 23

MONTREAL ALOUETTES (1-1) AT BRITISH COLUMBIA LIONS (1-1)

DATE & TIME: Friday, July 16, 10:00 p.m. (et).

GAME NOTES: In an effort to finally put to rest their weakest defensive effort of the 2009 season, the British Columbia Lions entertain the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night at Empire Field in Vancouver.

British Columbia had a number of lopsided outcomes a season ago, but none was more distressing than the club's dismal 56-18 loss to the Als in the playoffs. The setback was the second in three attempts for the Lions against Montreal that year, the lone victory being a 19-12 final the first week of September.

Fast forward to this year and both of these teams have gotten off to a 1-1 start. In the case of the Lions, they went from dumping Edmonton in the opener (25-10), to being thumped by Saskatchewan last weekend (37-18). Adding insult to injury, the Roughriders also knocked starting quarterback Casey Printers out of the game with a thigh bruise, forcing the home team to turn to Travis Lulay for guidance.

Lulay finished the outing 9-of-15 passing for 197 yards and a score, while Printers hit on 10-of-14 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown. Printers commented after the game that he could have returned to action but didn't want to risk making the injury worse. Receiver Geroy Simon had a huge outing with six catches for 169 yards and both TDs, one of which registered a whopping 92 yards late in the meeting. However, as well as Simon played, he and the Lions could not change the fact that they were penalized 16 times for a loss of 116 yards.

As for the Alouettes, the defending Grey Cup Champions needed a bit of a wake- up call in their meeting with Edmonton on Sunday after they scored a mere four points in the first quarter. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo was held in check by the Eskimos for most of the game before tossing touchdown passes to Brian Bratton late in the third quarter and Kerry Watkins midway through the fourth to bring his team back for the victory.

Calvillo finished 19-of-30 passing for 237 yards and an interception, not to mention having to pull himself up off the turf after three sacks. Even though recently-signed Ricky Santos managed to make his way into the end zone on a two-yard run in the second frame, the Montreal rushing game was far from dominant with a mere 72 yards on 17 attempts. Avon Cobourne tallied 55 yards on 13 carries to lead the way.

Last season, Cobourne was a dynamo for Montreal coming out of the backfield, placing sixth in the league in rushing with 1,214 yards and coming up with a league-high 13 TDs, but thus far he's gotten off to a slow start with just 94 yards and one touchdown on 23 attempts. Cobourne has also been a huge piece of the passing attack the last couple of years for the Als as well, capturing 120 passes for more than 1,000 yards, but after two games this year he has but six grabs for 66 yards.

Calvillo has been on pace with last year's numbers for the most part, except for the fact that the reigning two-time CFL Offensive Player of the Year already has two interceptions after throwing a total of just six all of last season.

Tied with both Toronto and Winnipeg for first place in the Eastern Division in the early going, the Als have had their defensive stats skewed due to the ugly 54-51 overtime loss to Saskatchewan in the opener. Last year, Montreal ranked first in the league in points allowed with a mere 18.0 ppg, almost a full six ppg less than the next best squad.

As for the Lions, a team that ranked second-to-last in points allowed in 2009 with an average of just under 28 per game, in giving up only 10 points in the opener to Edmonton they sported their best defensive performance since September of 2008. With just 47 points allowed in the first two games of 2010, BC is second in the category in the Western Division behind Calgary. However, the Lions have also scored the second-fewest points in the division with just 43.

British Columbia is in the middle of the pack when it comes to rushing (141.5) and passing (267.5) yards per game thus far. What the Lions do have is two of the top performers in both individual rushing and receiving in Jamal Robertson and Simon, respectively. Robertson, thanks to a long run of 61 yards, has a total of 222 yards on 20 carries thus far, while Simon's 10 receptions have been turned into 228 yards and a pair of scores. The 98-yard reception for Simon last week is the longest of the season for any receiver thus far.

Not taking into account Montreal's convincing triumph in the most recent meeting between these two clubs, BC actually maintains a 31-28-1 advantage in regular-season meetings.

Of all the teams that Calvillo faced during the regular season last year, the Lions seemed to be field the toughest defense, holding him to just a single touchdown on 47 completions. However, when the pressure was on Calvillo was more than ready, as evidenced by his five-TD performance in the playoffs against BC. Assuming Calvillo is on top of his game and the BC defense is again vulnerable, expect to see the visitors come out on top in this meeting.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Montreal 38, British Columbia 24

EDMONTON ESKIMOS (0-2) AT SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (2-0)

DATE & TIME: Saturday, July 17, 4:00 p.m. (et).

GAME NOTES: The highest scoring team in the CFL takes the field at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders attempt to move to a perfect 3-0 when they clash with the winless Edmonton Eskimos in a Western Division showdown.

The Roughriders opened the 2010 regular season in style when they slipped by Montreal in overtime, 54-51. Living up to the expectations after that momentous victory might be difficult, yet Saskatchewan followed with a 37-18 triumph versus British Columbia on the road last Saturday, making it one of only two teams to begin the season a perfect 2-0.

While the Roughriders defense knocked out BC starting quarterback Casey Printers, the offense for the visitors produced a balanced attack that generated 188 yards on the ground and 252 yards through the air. Quarterback Darian Durant not only converted 18-of-29 passes and hit on a TD toss to Prechae Rodriguez, he also gained 33 yards on four carries and scored once on the ground, keeping the BC defense guessing.

Wes Cates posted a game-high 93 yards and scored once on 16 rushing attempts. Kicker Luca Congi contributed with three field goals.

Brent Hawkins returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown late in the meeting for the Roughriders, while the Lions continued to defeat themselves by being flagged 16 times for a loss of 116 yards and had control of the ball for just over 25 minutes.

As for the Eskimos, they started off well enough against the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday night, but then saw their offense drop off and their defense get exploited by Als quarterback Anthony Calvillo. Edmonton was able to come up with 443 yards of total offense in the meeting and controlled the ball for more than 36 minutes, but that just goes to show how little stats can mean to the final outcome.

Quarterback Ricky Ray made good on 23-of-39 passes for 340 yards and a score, but he was also sacked once and intercepted twice, one of which was returned by Jerald Brown 40 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as part of the Montreal comeback bid. Fred Stamps caught six balls for 119 yards and a TD, while Kelly Campbell turned his nine receptions into a game-high 170 yards. Running back Arkee Whitlock posted a game-high 99 rushing yards on 15 attempts.

If not for kicker Derek Schiavone, who knocked through five of his six field goal attempts and added a single, the Eskimos would never have been in contention in the first place. It was the first game of the season for Schiavone, who was on the sidelines for the opener and watched as Noel Prefontaine handled the kicking duties.

The success of the Eskimos comes down to the play of Ray under center. As someone who threw for more than 10,000 yards and had 48 TDs through the air in the two previous seasons, Ray's efforts help to open up the rest of the offense for guys like Whitlock. However, Ray has seen just one of his 50 completions in the first two games this year reach the end zone. As someone who showed an ability to break out of the pocket and pick up some meaningful yards on the ground the last few years, leading to a total of 11 touchdowns, Ray so far has been credited with just two rushing attempts and has already fumbled the ball twice according to the stats.

Whitlock was huge for Edmonton in his first year when he averaged better than six yards per carry and hit the end zone 12 times. He is off to a similar start in 2010 with close to seven yards per attempt and has already carried the ball 31 times in two games.

Durant is off to a fast start for the Roughriders this season, thanks in large part to his effort against Montreal in the opener when he threw for a career- high 478 yards and five touchdowns, on his way to being named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week. His numbers dropped off considerably in week two, yet the outcome was still the same for Saskatchewan. Durant, who threw 24 touchdowns a year ago but was also picked off 21 times, already has six TDs this season and has yet to see one of his attempts head the other way and that has his quarterback rating at a staggering 125.0 at the moment. The same goes for Durant on the ground thus far, with him having averaged 9.4 yards per attempt and made his way into the end zone twice, compared to just three scores all of last season.

Perhaps Durant's burst in the rushing department will take some of the pressure off Wes Cates who is already averaging better than seven yards per carry and has a pair of TDs on the ground as well.

Last season, Edmonton took two of the three meetings between the clubs, but it was the Roughriders who recorded a 23-20 win in the most recent contest in late September. Nevertheless, the Eskimos still maintain a healthy 106-75-2 regular-season series advantage coming into 2010.

Even though the Eskimos have Ray to lean on, the team had far too many drives stopped prematurely last week, and if Saskatchewan has anything to say about it the same will happen again this time as well.

Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: Saskatchewan 38, Edmonton 23

Sportsbook Betting Lines Season Predictions: 5-3; Last Week: 3-1.