-
Edgar Chaput
Stampeders vs. Tiger-Cats Prediction: CFL Week 17 Point Spread, Odds
The Calgary Stampeders’ playoff aspirations rest on hope and prayer. Following their recent 28-11 defeat to the Alouettes, if they stand any chance of playing November football, they must defeat the Tiger-Cats. As for Hamilton, they need to bounce back as well, having suffered a bruising 29-14 loss to the Argonauts.
CFL Odds and Betting
This is the only time all year Calgary and Hamilton draw swords. The sides have split the spoils over the previous six meetings, with the last five decided by one score. It’s also been two years since a home team won a head-to-head matchup.
Despite the underwhelming trajectory the season has taken, Stampeders fans can at least find solace in the fact that the club covers a decent number of spreads. Their 7-7 tally ATS looks far more comforting than the 4-10 record in the standings. Up until their uninspired performance at home to Montreal last week, the Stampeders had successfully handled four consecutive spreads.
In the Tiger-Cats’ case, their season with regards to spreads has been as straightforward as it can get. Through 14 contests every single win translated to a cover and every defeat resulted in a failure to cover. Of note for our purposes is that, although Hamilton has been favoured only thrice this season, they’ve never covered under such circumstances.
Calgary Stampeders
The bubble was bound to burst at some point. Calgary had been the victim of so many close calls this season. Contests that went down to the wire but in which the Stamps made one mistake too many.
Week 16 at home to Montreal was a case of not much going right at all. Don’t be fooled by the total yards gained by the hosts (360 to Montreal’s 358), this was not a great performance. Both sides sleepwalked through the first quarter, and the 11-8 halftime score was indicative of the low-scoring, somewhat sluggish affair it was. The downfall was the third and fourth quarters. Three turnovers – including two Jake Maier INTs – sunk crucial drives. Not for the first time this season the Stampeders accumulated a decent amount of offensive yardage for a lot fewer points on the board than they should have had.
RB Ka’Deem Carey showed explosiveness, going for 70 yards on only ten touches, and WR Reggie Begelton demonstrated why he’s the club’s leading receiver (13 catches, 109 yards, one TD) but it was all for naught in a forgettable team showing.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
As if right on cue, immediately after our CFL Power Rankings showered the Tiger-Cats with some praise, the team went to Toronto and was stomped on, 29-14. Then again, Toronto has stomped on everybody in 2023.
In what felt like a case of rinsing and repeating the foils of Labour Day, Hamilton found itself trailing by a lot quite early. As the sides headed to the dressing room for the midway break, the Ticats faced a 20-4 deficit. Moreover, it was 27-4 in the third quarter after the Argos air attack burned Hamilton’s secondary once again. That the Ticats outgained their rivals (380 to 309) counted for very little when looking at the final score and where things stood in the third period. QB Taylor Powell aired it out a lot (42 attempts), which was partly the problem. He’s not that kind of QB (2 INTs despite 344 yards).
WR Kiondre Smith had the game of his life though, corralling nine passes for an impressive 156 yards. RB James Butler was limited to 32 yards, and a bad day for their star rusher typically translates to a bad day overall.