CFL Odds: The Saskatchewan Roughriders are 5-point favorites on Sunday as they host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a Grey Cup rematch. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will be looking for revenge as they were blown out in last year’s final, losing 45-23. Both teams come into this game looking a little different as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have a new starting quarterback while the Saskatchewan Roughriders are without two of their offensive stars from last season. Here is a look at the game and CFL picks.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ready for the Rematch
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will have a new starting quarterback this season in Zach Collaros as the team decided to let Henry Burris go to Ottawa. Collaros will be leading an offense that features running back C.J. Gable. He ran for 782 yards on 130 carries and had seven rushing touchdowns. He also caught 54 passes for 598 yards and five touchdowns. “I’m really looking forward to this game,” Gable said. “It [losing Grey Cup] was hard but I think it’s motivation. I think we’re all motivated to get there again this year and feel like it’s unfinished business.”
Saskatchewan Roughriders Missing Players
Head coach Corey Chamblin will be missing a number of players from last year’s team that won the Grey Cup. The team will be without Grey Cup MVP Kory Sheets and receivers Weston Dessler, Geroy Simon and Kierrie Johnson. “That (absence of veterans) is an excuse,” Chamblin said, “A lot of teams talk about the Grey Cup but we want to be a championship football team. You can’t talk about a Grey Cup until you win your first game. It’s a process. We don’t just want to play against the opponent, we want to make sure that we set a championship standard. There’s a lot of effort and a lot of things that go into that.” Sheets was second in the league in rushing with 1,598 yards and he had 197 yards in the Grey Cup win. The Saskatchewan Roughriders will need another big year out of quarterback Darian Durant who threw for 4,154 yards and a league-high 31 TD passes.
Game Notes
The Tiger-Cats are 3-13-1 ATS in their last 17 meetings in Saskatchewan while the Over is 21-10-1 in the last 32 meetings between the two teams.
CFL Picks
I will take the points on Sunday in this Grey Cup rematch.
