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Edgar Chaput
Tiger-Cats vs. Argonauts Prediction: CFL Week 16 Point Spread, Odds
To the victor go the spoils. The Toronto Argonauts left Montreal in Week 15 as East Division champs with a thrilling 23-20 victory. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are now threatening for second place, courtesy of a bold 29-23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at home.
Spreads don’t get wider this -10.0 very often. That’s precisely what the CFL odds award Toronto for Saturday night’s bout.
CFL Odds and Betting
It’s been near-complete dominance by the Argos since the 2022 campaign when these classic rivals meet. Toronto has claimed six of the last seven meetings. Only one of those games has been decided by less than 13 points, that being Hamilton’s lone win, which came in 2022. The most recent chapter in their iconic rivalry was on Labour Day when the Argonauts stormed into Tim Hortons Field and walked away with a 41-28 conquest.
Hamilton hasn’t been great against the spread this season, nor have they been terrible. At 6-7, betters can sometimes put faith in the Ticats but they need to pick and choose those battles wisely. Of note, the over has connected thrice in a row and Hamilton has covered four consecutive road spreads.
With a sparkling 9-3 tally ATS, there isn’t much to complain about with the Argonauts. Incidentally, they were 9-2 but only won by three points last week against the Alouettes as -6.5 favourites. What’s pertinent for this match, given the -10.0 spread, is that Toronto is 3-1 this season when pegged with that large an advantage.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
We wrote earlier this week in our CFL Power Rankings that if there is a turning point in the Tiger-Cats’ season, Week 15 can be looked back on as the prime candidate. They were clearly underdogs against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers but did virtually everything right in a 29-23 victory.
Considering the ruthless nature of Winnipeg’s attack, what is the best way to minimize its effectiveness? Don’t let them have the ball. Hamilton’s most important success in Week 15 was winning the time of possession 35:29 to 24:31. A solid ground attack is often the solution to the biggest problems and the Ticats had quite a day with 160 yards earned by a bunch of people. RB James Butler, QB Taylor Powell, and even receiver Tim White got in on the action. Defensively, Hamilton limited the damage to the tune of two interceptions of Zach Collaros passes.
Toronto Argonauts
No one who watched the Week 15 contest against the Alouettes can argue that the Argonauts didn’t work hard to earn their East Division title. Down 20-13 with barely three minutes to go, it looked as if the celebrations would be put off for at least a week.
Montreal had done an admirable job keeping Toronto at bay for much of the night. So had the visitors, sacking Cody Fajardo five times and making the Montreal offence look impotent for long stretches. Down a touchdown with little time left, the Argonauts drove down the field with aplomb before Chad Kelly hit WR Damonte Coxie with a beautiful 40-yard throw into the end zone. With the score level at 20-20, the Argonauts got hungry on defence and produced a crucial interception, which ultimately allowed them to kick a field goal the other way to lead 23-20. The icing on the cake was a brilliant field goal block of their own of Montreal’s attempt as time expired.
The Argonauts can run, they can pass, they can play defence, and they can make plays on special teams. Good luck to everyone else in the CFL.
HAM
TOR