CFL Playoff Picks, Semi-Finals Round

Edmonton Eskimos/Hamilton Tiger-Cats: woe has stricken the Hamilton faithful this season as several close losses have shackled them to despair. But it is known that the Ti-Cat offence remains bitterly explosive and their defence has remarkably improved. Edmonton won more games but their points for and against are similar to Hamilton's and they haven't exactly been a dominant threat. They played twice, each team winning one game with the Cats outscoring Edmonton 63-60. They've only met twice in the playoffs as well, splitting a pair of Grey Cups in 1980 and 1986. Thus this game functions as a double rubber of sorts with these teams who rarely play each other probably not caring about this at all. A win on Sunday is of the utmost importance, however, and I'm betting both will be ready. The Cats have struggled to regain their 2015 form but I'm thinking they'll find it tomorrow. Ready to pick up the wins they should have had throughout the season in extra time, Hamilton holds on to this one, and doesn't let up.  

Winnipeg Blue Bombers/BC Lions: it's been a rough decade plus for the Blue Bombers who have only picked up four playoff wins since 2002. They also haven't played in the post-season since losing the Grey Cup to BC in 2011, a game which wasn't that close. They won 11 in 2016 though and defeated the Lions in back-to-back games by a total of 72-67 in weeks 16 and 17. Could it be any closer? Could both these games be any closer? Could this weekend see the most points scored in the CFL's Semi-Finals Round (inclusive of former appellations) ever? It looks that way, although, cheese grating, you never really know in football. Their defences both allowed 454 points this season. They were both 5-5 against the division. Winnipeg was an outstanding 7-2 on the road. BC a stable 6-3 at home. A coin flip's probably as accurate as any predictions made about teams this close in the standings, and BC hasn't won a playoff game since beating the Bombers in the previously mentioned Grey Cup. Certainty exists inasmuch as one team's playoff drought will come to an end on Sunday, but which will it be? I'm thinking Winnipeg has more to play for and will boldly reassert itself as a perennial playoff contender. In a painfully close game, Bombers by 2.