Hamilton is hosting the Eastern Final for the first time since the 2014 season. It’s the fifth time in seven years that they will appear in the East final. The CFL’s crossover rule was implemented in 1996. The Eskimos hope to become the first crossover team to advance to the Grey Cup.

CFL Odds and Betting

The Tiger-Cats took both games from the Eskimos this season by scores of 30-27 (September 20) and 42-12 (October 4).

The Eskimos are 1-8-1 against the spread in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record and 2-7-1 ATS in the last 10 games overall. They are also 3-9-1 in the last 13 games on the road.

The Tiger-Cats are 7-1-2 ATS in their last 10 games overall and 7-2-1 in their last 10 home games.

The under is 6-2 in the last eight games between these two teams head to head in Hamilton. Of note, the Eskimos are 21-30 (.412 winning percentage) as a road playoff team, while the Tiger-Cats are 28-17 (.622 winning percentage) as a home playoff team.

Edmonton Eskimos

The Eskimos surprised the favourites from Montreal last week with a 37-29 win over the Alouettes. Quarterback Trevor Harris was the player of the game throwing for 421 yards and a touchdown in the upset win. This game against the Ti-Cats will be his fourth career playoff start. He is 2-1 in the previous three starts.

The Eskimos had two 100+ yard receivers on Sunday versus the Alouettes with Greg Ellingson hauling in eight passes for 125 yards, and Ricky Collins Jr. catches six passes for 117 yards. Vontoe Diggs recorded 15 tackles this season in two games against Hamilton. While former Tiger-Cats defender Larry Dean has also recorded 10+tackles against his former team during the 2019 season.

Of note, Head Coach Jason Maas is 3-2 in the post season in five post season games.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

At 15-3 (12-4-2 ATS) the Tiger-Cats were the class of the CFL during the 2019 season. With 551 points scored this season, the Tiger-Cats were the only CFL team to average more than 30 points per game (30.6) on offence. It’s an absolutely loaded attack on offence led by pivot Dane Evans, who will be making his first career post season start. Evans replaced the injured Jeremiah Masoli back on July 26 and proceeded to lead the Cats to a 10-2 record under his direction. He enters this game with the Eskimos on a six-game winning streak.

Receiver Brandon Banks set career highs this year in receiving yards (1550), receptions (112), and touchdowns (16). He was the team’s MOP nomination and will also represent the East division in that category. During the season Banks caught 13 balls for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Banks is surrounded by a ton of receiving talent around him in Bralon Addison (1236 yards), Jaelon Acklin, and Luke Tasker.

The one weakness could be their running attack as the team does not have a running back in the league’s top 15. There’s been a number of players rotating through the backfield; expect veteran Tyrell Sutton and Maleek Irons to be feature in this game.

Who Will Win Eskimos vs. Tiger-Cats?