Weekly Predictor: Will Ticats go back-to-back against Argos?

TORONTO — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Argonauts – Toronto’s second loss of the week – in a wild Labour Day Classic; the REDBLACKS edged the Alouettes; Winnipeg extended its winning streak to five with a win over the Riders and the Stampeders beat the Eskimos, leading Jamie Nye to a 4-1 record in Week 11.

This week Nye looks to keep his streak alive in his Weekly Predictor.

CFL Pick ‘Em returns with more up for grabs than ever before because this season more than $130,000 in combined cash and prizes are up for grabs.*

Pick 30 in a row, win $30,000; pick 40, win $40,000; think you can pick 50 straight? You’re looking at $50,000. *View rules regarding streaks and prizing.

Here’s Jamie Nye with his picks for Week 12 :

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MONTREAL @ BC

Can Rakeem Cato help to turn the Alouettes around? (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)

The Montreal Alouettes are going with Rakeem Cato over Kevin Glenn this week, as they’re trying to ignite a struggling offence. Duron Carter was clearly missed last week as they couldn’t get key first downs with limited experience in the receiving corps, aside from Nik Lewis.

Meanwhile, the BC Lions are trying to keep pace with the Calgary Stampeders, who just won’t lose. Since losing to Calgary, the Lions have squeaked out two victories to stay in the second place in the West.

The big thing is the Lions defence, which has tightened things up over those two wins. I think that defence shows well against a young quarterback in Cato who hasn’t had a lot of playing time this season.

» PICK: BC (75% confidence)

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SASKATCHEWAN @ WINNIPEG

Can the Riders nab their second win of the season against the streaking Bombers? (CFL.ca)

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are getting closer and closer to breaking through and they’ve talked about some revenge on their minds after a late pass interference call helped Winnipeg kick the game winning field goal.

Are the Riders going to take 28 minutes to score their first points of the game? Likely not. But are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers going to have to settle for eight field goal attempts? Doubtful.

The Riders, however, continue to show improvement defensively and I expect the Bombers may not get that many chances to score this week.

I’m taking the upset in the Banjo Bowl.

» PICK: SASKATCHEWAN (10% confidence)

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CALGARY @ EDMONTON

Jerome Messam and the rest of the Stamps look to sweep the Esks in the second half of a home-and-home (The Canadian Press)

It is hard to win back to back games, especially with the second half of the double-header on the road. The Stampeders looked so strong last week and everything was clicking. Bo Levi Mitchell, Jerome Messam and the receiving corps are taking turns contributing. Defensively, they’re among the best in the league as well.

The Edmonton Eskimos are missing something this season and it’s on the defensive side of the ball. After back to back years dominating defensively, the new Mike Benevides defence has shown flashes of brilliance but the consistency isn’t there.

I have a hard time thinking the Stamps take both of these games, but they are as complete a team as we see on a week to week basis.

» PICK: CALGARY (33% confidence)

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HAMILTON @ TORONTO

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats look to defeat the Toronto Argonauts for the second time in as many weeks (CFL.ca)

What a classic last week’s game was!

The Tiger-Cats may have taken advantage of a team on four days rest between games and now with five days rest between games, who knows if the Argonauts are still feeling the effects of a tough week.

One thing is for sure, the Argos look like a team on which doubt sets in late in close games, while the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have had a lot of experience in close games and been successful in a few of them.

I was shocked by how slow the Tiger-Cats were out of the gate and that Toronto was able to take advantage and though I just said previously it’s hard to win the second half of the doubleheader on the road, I think the Tiger-Cats are starting their rise while the Argos’ descent continues.

» PICK: HAMILTON (50% confidence)

CFL on DraftKings

With CFL now on DraftKings, Nye checks in with his weekly fantasy roster. Set your lineup today!

I’m thinking some big scores go down in Winnipeg and BC this week so that’s where I’m hedging my bets.

Both Saskatchewan and Winnipeg had chances to score a lot more points last week and didn’t come through. I think, despite decent and improving defences, the offences score and that allows players like Darian Durant, Naaman Roosevelt and Andrew Harris to put up some points.

I’m also high on Weston Dressler for the remainder of the season but I can’t resist throwing on the red hot Diontae Spencer for the Argonauts. Spencer has the tools that make him a threat to score every time he catches the ball, whether it be a swing pass or hitting him deep. Look at his average points … 23.4!!! WOW!

I’m not convinced the change at quarterback is going to do enough for Montreal and the BC Lions defence is going to attack Rakeem Cato. This will allow Jonathon Jennings and company to do damage and to make everything work budget wise I don’t mind going with a the big play potential of Chris Rainey and the next best thing in BC in the receiving corps, Bryan Burnham.