CFL Playoff Picks

Another round of the CFL Playoffs are about to kick-off. Here are my picks for tomorrow's matchups:

B.C. Lions/Edmonton Eskimos: it's hard to envision Edmonton winning this game. They beat B.C. early on in the season but the Lions convincingly defeated them twice down the stretch, one game with a score of 36 to 1 (although if I'm not mistaken injuries were a key factor in Edmonton's loss in this instance). The game's being played at BC Place and the Lions have won 10 of their last 11. That being said, Ricky Ray's no stranger to big games and has demonstrated in the past that he knows how to win them. In the last 35 years, Edmonton has played for the Grey Cup 14 times and are statistically due for another appearance (they haven't made it since 2005). British Columbia only made it 7 times during the same time period although Saskatchewan has defied the odds in recent years. Travis Lulay doesn't have the same depth of experience as Ray but he has been compared by some commentators to Anthony Calvillo and he played exceptionally well this year. I think the game will be close with both teams playing well, the winner of the turnover differential emerging victorious, the winner of that turnover differential being B.C.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers/Hamilton Tiger-Cats: don't know how many times I've seen Hamilton lose big games to the Blue Bombers. Don't really want to dwell on it. Winnipeg beat the Ti-Cats 3 times this year and defeated them during their last playoff meeting in 2001, after Hamilton had eliminated Montréal. The Ti-Cats have also played inconsistently this season, being unstoppable one week and a total mess the next. But something about the only team to not enter the last week of the regular season with a 10 and 7 record winning the Grey Cup after stringing together three outstanding and unexpected performances in a row makes sense to me, logic be damned. Hamilton hasn't experienced much success in the playoffs since 2001 and are hungry for victory. I think Kevin Glenn dismantles his old team tomorrow and the Tiger-Cats play for the Grey Cup on November 27th.

*Ouch