Canadian Football League - WEEK 7

<!--StartFragment -->[font=Tahoma, Arial, Verdana][size=-1]WEEK 1: 2-0-0 (+4.0 UNITS)
WEEK 2: 3-0-0 (+6.0 UNITS)
WEEK 3: 1-2-1 (-2.4 UNITS)
WEEK 4: 3-1-0 (+3.8 UNITS)
WEEK 5: 2-1-0 (+2.0 UNITS)
WEEK 6: 1-2-0 (-3.2 UNITS)
2005 SEASON TOTAL: 12-6-1 (+10.2 UNITS)

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[font=Tahoma, Arial, Verdana][size=-1]WEEK 7 PICKS

SASKATCHEWAN (+4.5) -110 over Montreal (220/200) Olympic

B.C. LIONS (-3.5) -110 over Edmonton (220/200) Olympic

HAMILTON (+2.0) -115 over Ottawa (230/200) Pinnacle

CALGARY (-6.5) -110 over Winnipeg (220/200) Olympic[/size][/font]
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[font=Tahoma, Arial, Verdana][size=-1]Good Luck[/size][/font]
[font=Tahoma, Arial, Verdana][size=-1]MM


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Mark--

Sheerly for learning purposes here, if you don't mind me asking, what do you see in the Riders this week (and for that matter, what does anyone else see) that makes you believe that they'll stick within this number against the Alouettes? Do you really think the Als are gonna stay rock bottom all year, or is it that you think the health improving for the Riders will let them compete in this one?

Montreal, being 2-3 has one pretty impressive win to their record, that being the, I believe it was 10 point victory against Hamilton in week 1 (not sure about the final point total as the stats aren't in front of me, but I remember the game well... it was "bettor's first CFL game"), that despite the fact that they didn't cover, the game's outcome was never really in doubt after the first quarter.

Their problems have since come @ Winnepeg and @ Ottawa, as well as a struggle against perrenial power Edmonton, and the standing Grey Cup champs, who's record is deflated a bit because of two meetings with BC already.

But in this one, the Riders seem to be completely outclassed, AND on the road... a combination of events that doesn't seem to bode well for the Riders. Though the Als defense was atrocious in their road games and most recently against Toronto, I believe that a lot of this is due to some spark or momentum from the other team. As we saw, Winnepeg was riding a wave from a game they maybe should have won @ Edmonton with renewed interest and a returning QB, and Ottawa has continued on a nice run of games of late. But the Riders seem to be the butt of every joke lately, getting smacked around by Calgary and Ottawa in the 2nd half, to the point where they took out Neelon Green. Ottawa's secondary is pretty lousy... Montreal's could have a field day tonight against Green and a Riders offense that has struggled since Dominguez went down.

These are just my outlooks on the game and I would like your's as well if you don't mind. For anyone blindly following, I'd follow the dude from Canada before me.... Full faith in Mark on this one, and it makes me question my own plays quite a bit here. I just think at 0-4-1 ATS and 2-3 SU, it's high time for the Als to lay the wood on someone to the fullest extent.

Best of luck tonight... At least can the Riders score tops 27?

--AFLGuru:toast:

You are right, Montreal's defence was atrocious last week and this will be the difference tonight. Saskatchewan has a very balanced attack and if they do not turn the ball over I think they can win this game outright. The Roughriders dominated the first half against Ottawa last week but turned the ball over 6 times to hand the game to the Renegades. In Calgary, they had alot of chances to score early and came up short which turned the tide of that game in favour of the Stampeders.

Now that Keith and Holmes are both healthy Saskatchewan can get back to one of their strengths - establishing a solid running game. This will give Greene the ability to pick apart the Montreal defence with short passes later in the game. I think this will be a high scoring game but Saskatchewan will take control on offence late in the game and pull out a win, however, I will still take the points.

MM

Riders, just like all other teams in the CFL thus far (exception maybe being Hamilton) have really shown some flashes of brilliance this year. The problem was offensively, that came when everyone was healthy. Though the running attack is healthy now, the passing game has really lacked since Dominguez went down. Will the return of the running game help Neelon Green's passing numbers? Probably to an extent... but he was so god awful in the 2nd half against Ottawa that they had no choice but to pull him. Perhaps this is a very "public" line, almost trying to entice people to bet on the Alouettes, but from a sheer football standpoint, I think the past for the Alouettes and Anthony Calvillo suggests that this one could be a game that the Als come out and just smack around the Riders, continuing their slump after a hot start.

But as I mentioned in my thread, good things are on the horizon for the Riders after this one in terms of the schedule, and they HAVE TO be looking forward to some meetings with Winnepeg and Hamilton instead of this, the daunting task of knocking off the Alouettes in Montreal (something they've only done once in their history in nine tries)... Also for what it's worth, the Als have already lost a home game this season, something they did twice all of last year... and one of those was to Toronto in the playoffs.