CFL Football
2008-09-06 - BC Lions at Hamilton Tiger Cats
A Sports Betting Pick by Zamboni
Saturday 6th September 2008 - KO 4pm Local
The BC Lions (4-5-0) will be look to continue with their domination of the Tiger Cats (2-7-0) when they travel to Hamilton on Saturday.
The Lions are 16-3 straight up against the Ti-Cats and have won 10 of the last 11 matchups, including the last 5 games in Hamilton. In fact, the Lions have won the last 5 visits to Hamilton by an average of more than 15 points.
Hamilton continues to be the the worst team in the Canadian Football League having won only 2 games this season, both against the Toronto Argonauts. They are a dismal 1-4 at home and are 0-3 against Western division foes.
A one dimensional team to be sure, the Ti-Cats rely too heavily on the run and while they stand as the league’s number 1 rushing team, they are the second worst when it comes to the passing game. The CFL is a passing league, and if you can’t move the ball in the air, you will struggle to win, period. Basically, when teams shut down the Cats running game, they shut down their offense. Hamilton will find it difficult to move the ball on the ground, as the Lions are the league’s 2nd best at stopping the run. The Ti-Cats have conceded the most points in the league but have scored the 3rd lowest in the CFL so far this season.
The BC Lions have had a disappointing season by their own standards so far this season. Over the past 4 seasons, the Lions have won the Western Division but are currently sitting with a losing record. They should have won last week as were stopped 4 times on the goal line against the CFL’s 2nd best in the Montreal Allouettes. Turnovers were key as the Lions gave the ball away 5 times during the game, something that will need to change if they want to climb out of the Western Division’s basement. The good news here is that they managed to stay within 5 points, despite giving the ball away so often.
The Lions should be able to contain the running attack of Hamilton’s RB Jessie Lumsden as they allow a relatively stingy 103 rushing yards per game. The Lions passing defense is slightly below the league average but this shouldn’t be a problem against the Ti-Cats who average the leagues worst in the air. BC should be able to move the ball effectively both in the air and on the ground against the Ti-Cats. The recent addition of Charles Roberts will be a nice compliment to Stefan Logan who has been very effective for the Lions thus far.
The BC Lions have had great success against Eastern Division opponents over the years, winning 17 of the past 20 games against the East and many of these coming against the Tiger Cats. I believe this trend is likely to continue on Saturday. I will give the points in this one and take the Lions to cover the spread of 4.
The Pick :
BC Lions -4
