CFL Playoff Picks

The following are my picks for this weekend's CFL Playoff matchups:

Calgary Stampeders/Edmonton Eskimos: Edmonton has home field advantage but the Stampeders have played better as of late. In fact, after winning their first 5 games of the season, the Eskimos only won 6 of their next 13. Alberta's finest played 3 times this year with Edmonton winning twice but the Eskimos have yet to face Calgary's new starter, Drew Tate. I find predicting who will win when these teams play based on stats to be frustrating and even so I can't find any that give either team a significant edge. Edmonton didn't finish the season well but the game's being played at Commonwealth Stadium. If the Eskimos get to Drew Tate early and often, throwing him off his game, Ricky Ray should be able to lead his team to victory. I don't think this will happen. Stampeders by 7.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats/Montréal Alouettes: Hamilton finally rose to the occasion when playing the Alouettes this year and won 2 of 4 at home. That being said, they haven't won in Montréal for almost ten years. At McGill Stadium. This game's being played at Olympic and the Ti-Cats have a history of defeating Montréal in the playoffs in (somewhat) recent years. Hamilton hosted playoff games in the first round of each of the last two seasons, losing them both. I think the pendulum swings in the other direction this weekend and Hamilton pulls off their first playoff victory since 2001, on the road.