Argonauts host Tiger-Cats in East Division melee
Football Betting Lines
09/28/2011 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a huge win in the second annual Touchdown Atlantic game last weekend in Moncton, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats get back to a traditional venue this week as they challenge the Toronto Argonauts at Rogers Centre.
Hamilton, which hasn't won back-to-back games since late July, put itself in position to make that happen this week after blowing the doors off Calgary in a 55-36 final. During the matchup with the Stampeders, quarterback Kevin Glenn converted 16-of-23 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns, with two of the scoring tosses going to Marcus Thigpen who turned his six receptions into a game-high 139 yards. Thigpen also returned a missed field goal 118 yards for a touchdown near the end of the third quarter as well.
On the ground the club ordered up another three majors, one each by Avon Cobourne (84 yards), Terry Grant and Quinton Porter, who often finds himself involved in the action on short-yardage plays.
As for the Argonauts, they won for just the third time this season and the second time since the opener when they topped Calgary in a 23-21 decision. Last week, the team needed more than just a little luck to secure a narrow 25-24 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, getting the margin of victory from a single by Noel Prefontaine with under a minute remaining in regulation.
From a defensive standpoint, the Argos put a severe hurting on Winnipeg as they knocked out both Fred Reid and Carl Volny with torn ACLs, and also sent quarterbacks Buck Pierce and Alex Brink to the sidelines as well with aggravated ribs and a shoulder injury, respectively. Nevertheless, even as the Blue Bombers watched significant contributors fall to the turf they still were in the mix right up until the end.
Toronto got by with just 268 yards of total offense, a mere 88 yards through the air as Steven Jyles converted 11-of-20 passes for one touchdown, was sacked three times and had three passes intercepted by his old team which traded him away to Toronto in March. Running back Cory Boyd stepped up to produce a game-high 109 yards rushing on just 12 attempts, but was kept out of the end zone. Instead, it was Jyles who crossed the goal line from 18 yards out in the first quarter.
Chad Owens, who caught five passes for 34 yards in the decision last week, was huge for the Argonauts when it came to kick returns, bringing seven punts back for 85 yards and posting 142 yards on six kickoff returns as well. Just as was the case last season, Owens has been huge when it comes to combined yards in this league and easily paces the CFL with 2,211 yards at the moment. His next closest competitor is Hamilton's Thigpen who has 1,542 yards. Even though he might have some issues keeping his hands on the ball when he's taking big hits, Owens is still someone who can contribute mightily to Toronto's efforts when given the opportunity.
Getting the ball into the hands of Owens is becoming more and more important given how poorly the Toronto offense has operated, first under Cleo Lemon and now under the direction of Jyles, the latter showing a dismal 59.4 efficiency rating since assuming the starting quarterback job. Toronto's 20.9 ppg this season is easily the lowest average of any team in the CFL and it doesn't help that the defense, outside of last week, has been horrendous with a league-high 400.5 ypg allowed.
At the other end of the scoring spectrum is Hamilton, which is second at the moment behind Montreal with 29.2 ppg. The Cats have a quarterback under center in Glenn, who is tied for second in the league in passing scores with 18 and consequently has the third-best passer rating as well at 96.6, due in large part to his passing touchdown frequency. But make no mistake, Hamilton is also getting the job done thanks to Cobourne who, since coming over from the two- time Grey Cup Champion Montreal Alouettes, is third in the league in rushing with 735 yards and has reached the end zone eight times on the ground.
Dating back to 1950 and only taking into account regular-season matchups, Hamilton is ahead in the all-time series with the Argos by a count of 121-86-2. The Tiger-Cats won the most recent meeting by a score of 37-32 back in August, which means the squad has captured five in a row and six of the last seven encounters. The teams are set to close out the regular season against each other as well on November 3.
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Braves try to stop bleeding and extend season against Philadelphia >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This is not where the Atlanta Braves wanted to be.
Once proud owners of a 10 1/2-game lead in the National League wild card
standings, the Braves are mired in a four-game losing streak, but can still
clinch a playoff spot
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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