Week 17 picks: Riders heavy favourites over Argos? Yup.

Ottawa Redblacks (6-7-1) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-8)
Fri., Oct. 14. 7 p.m. EST

It’s Henry Burris’s time with the Ottawa Redblacks – again. The CFL’s outstanding player last season will lead Ottawa into its crucial home-and-home series with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night. The Redblacks will visit Tim Hortons Field before the two teams return to the Canadian capital next weekend. Ottawa leads the East Division standings by just one point over Hamilton (6-8-0) heading into the back-to-back games. Hamilton quarterback Zach Collaros (concussion) won’t play. He’ll be replaced by Jeremiah Masoli, who guided Hamilton to last year’s East Division final, which was won by Ottawa.

Dunk: Bad Hank finds a way… to help Hamilton. TICATS
Smith: Two evenly matched teams, I’ll take the home side. TICATS
Edwards: Hamilton needs to put last year’s East Final behind them. Only a win does that. TICATS
Filoso: Much to the ire of Ticat fans, veteran Henry Burris does enough to get Ottawa the win REDBLACKS
Hodge: In this battle of mediocre teams East Division heavyweights, I’ll take the hungrier squad. TICATS
Busby: Quarterback carousel spins and whoever makes it stop takes control of the East. Let’s go with the 41-year-old veteran who’s done it plenty times before. REDBLACKS
Gasson: feels like Ottawa is slightly better thanks to the QB position. REDBLACKS
Totals: TICATS 4 REDBLACKS 3

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-6) at B.C. Lions (9-5)
Fri., Oct. 14. 7 p.m. EST

Winnipeg moved into a second-place tie in the West Division with B.C. with last week’s controversial 37-35 home win. The Lions appeared to recover a late Andrew Harris fumble but he was ruled down before the ball came loose. That allowed Weston Dressler to give up a safety with one second remaining and clinch the victory. Fortunately, both teams have secured playoff berths, now it’s just a matter of seeing who finishes where. Here’s giving the Lions the edge just from a redemption perspective.

Dunk: Winnipeg proves they don’t need replay help. BOMBERS
Smith: See Ottawa-Hamilton prediction. LIONS
Edwards: B.C. deserved better last week and prove it here. LIONS
Filoso: B.C. should have won last week and their anger at the blown fumble call will carry them past the Bombers LIONS
Hodge: Tori Gurley gives the Bombers some much-needed size in the receiving corps. BOMBERS
Busby: No controversy this time. Home side gets it done. LIONS
Gasson: Lions won’t have as bad of a start. Still a great game. LIONS.
Totals: LIONS 5 BOMBERS 2

Saskatchewan Roughriders (4-10) at Toronto Argonauts (5-10)
Sat., Oct. 15. 4 p.m. EST

Saskatchewan has won three straight but was eliminated from playoff contention last weekend. The Riders appeared to be comfortably ahead of Ottawa last week before Burris came in and worked his magic. Darian Durant threw for 328 yards and two TDs for Saskatchewan but Crapigna was solid, hitting on 6-of-7 field goals, his lone miss coming from 55 yards out. The Argos are 2-6 at BMO Field and have lost eight of their last nine overall.

Dunk:  Darian Durant is playing for a new deal. RIDERS
Smith: Drew Willy is still the starting QB for Toronto. ‘Nuff said. RIDERS
Edwards: I’ll take a 4-10 team on the road againsts this Toronto squad. RIDERS
Filoso: Hard to pick against Saskatchewan right now. RIDERS
Hodge: Riders make it four in a row. RIDERS
Busby:  Riders are playing loose and easy these days, and now they have a bump from Prime Minister Trudeau. RIDERS
Gasson: You’d have to be a mad man to bet on the Argos right now. RIDERS.
Totals: RIDERS 7 ARGOS 0

Montreal Alouettes (4-10) Calgary Stampeders (13-1-1)
Sat., Oct. 15. 7 p.m. EST

Calgary clinched first in the West on Monday with a convincing 48-20 road win in Toronto. The Stampeders have won 12 straight and are riding a 14-game unbeaten streak. They’re also 7-0 at McMahon Stadium this season. Dave Dickenson needs one more win to break the league record for most regular-season victories by a rookie head coach but faces the challenge of keeping the club’s momentum going while giving players time off. Montreal (4-10) is coming off a 40-20 home loss to Edmonton.

Dunk: There’s no let up in Calgary. STAMPS
Smith: Do I even have to justify this? STAMPS
Edwards:
Filoso:  If Calgary isn’t ahead by 21 at the half, pundits will be questioning what went wrong STAMPS
Hodge: *laughs hysterically* STAMPS
Busby:  Even if the Stamps take a long afternoon nap they should wake up in time to roll over the Als. STAMPS
Gasson: it’s in Calgary. STAMPS.
Totals: STAMPS 7 ALS 0

Season records
Dunk: 41-23-1
Smith: 40-24-1
Edwards: 39-25-1
Filoso: 39-25-1
Hodge: 38-26-1
Busby: 33-31-1
Gasson: 30-34-1