A pair of Canadian Football League teams coming off losses last week meet Saturday in Saskatchewan when the Riders host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Tiger-Cats are in a bad spot this week. They are coming off a tough loss, their running game is the worst in the CFL and now they have to head out on the road to face a team that is also stinging after suffering their first loss of the season.
"The math seems pretty simple in this one: the Tiger-Cats are 0-2-0 on the road while the Riders are 2-0-0 at home"
Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Saskatchewan Roughriders
Saturday, July 31 – 6:35 PM ET
CFL Odds: Roughriders -7.5
Catching up with the Tiger-Cats
The Tiger-Cats are coming off a listless performance against Montreal and they are inching closer and closer to the panic button. At 1-3-0 with a cozy spot all by themselves in last place in the East Division, the panic button is within arm’s reach.
The issue right now for the Tiger-Cats is the offence. More specifically, running back DeAndra’ Cobb and the running game that can’t get anything going on the ground. They are averaging more than a yard worse per carry than the next best team and the pressure is mounting on quarterback Kevin Glenn to do it all.
On one hand, it can be spun that the defence played well against Montreal last week, allowing just two touchdowns, but they still gave up 37 point and plenty of yards in the loss. They aren’t getting help and are being force to spend more time on the field than they would like to.
Catching up with the Riders
The Riders are no longer undefeated. They scored points at a torrid pace through the first three weeks of the season, but hit a wall against Calgary last week.
They scored a season low 20 points and quarterback Darian Durant was baited into three interceptions. But, to put it into perspective, Calgary is a quality team and they have a stellar defence. It wasn’t the performance that the Roughriders wanted, but it was an early season wakeup call that they aren’t going to roll through the West as easily as they may have thought.
Not to worry, though, as the explosive offence is still intact. It just took a week off. The Riders have played well at home this year and they should be able to bounce back.
The matchup
The math seems pretty simple in this one: the Tiger-Cats are 0-2-0 on the road while the Riders are 2-0-0 at home. Sure, Durant and company struggled last week in Calgary, but that was against the best defence in the CFL and the Tiger-Cats simply aren’t as good as that.
Throw in the fact that Hamilton has the worst rushing attack in the league and is heading into a hostile environment against a team that took their first loss last week and the CFL betting choice should be clear.
Football Betting Pick: Roughriders -7.5
July 31st, 2010 at 10:10 PM
they gte their running game going, arland bruce going, and leave deangelis to pat’s and kat’s.
but, their other recievers can’t catch the ball and set up picks.
i’m really just close to blowing my lid i mean excuse me if i cuss in my next article.
July 31st, 2010 at 10:10 PM
or if i ever write another article all season.