Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL Picks, Odds, Predictions 8/5/21

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers meet Thursday in CFL action at IG Field. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats enter the second year under coach Orlondo Steinauer after going 15-3 and losing in the Grey Cup in 2019. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are coming off an 11-7 season that ended with them winning their 11th Grey Cup.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats should be much better on the offensive side of the ball with the additions of wide receiver DeVier Posey and running back Don Jackson. Hamilton also gets running back depth with the return of Sean Thomas Erlington, who has had time to rebound from a knee injury. Jeremiah Masoli is expected to get the nod at quarterback for the Tiger-Cats, his first game since suffering a torn ACL back in July of 2019. Defensively, Rico Murray retired from football back in February while Delvin Breaux retired from the sport in March. Hamilton still has Ja’Gared Davis on the defensive line and does add Ciante Evans to the secondary. Simoni Lawrence is back for another year at linebacker and should make his fifth all-star trip in the East. 

Kyle Walters is still the coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and he’s led the club to double-digit wins and playoff berths each of the last four years. The Blue Bombers are pretty much the same team that won the championship, and that includes Zach Collaros at quarterback, who started four games and won all of them. Collaros finally had a training camp to get more comfortable with his teammates and that should go a long way. Andrew Harris is back at running back after leading the CFL with over 1,300 rushing yards. Defensively, Winnipeg lost a couple of key contributors, but Kyrie Wilson returns after 63 tackles and Willie Jefferson had six forced fumbles. The Blue Bombers aren’t favored to repeat, but they have enough returning talent and a proven coach to where you can’t overlook them come late November.

The Tiger-Cats are 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 road games and 8-2-2 ATS in their last 12 games overall. The Blue Bombers are 18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 home games and 21-8 ATS in their last 29 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Tiger-Cats last 5 games overall. The under is 9-4 in Blue Bombers last 13 home games. The Tiger-Cats are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 meetings in Winnipeg and 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings.

The Tiger-Cats are the better team on paper and will be motivated here after losing to the Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup its last time out. The Blue Bombers also lost some pieces on defense and have some coaching shakeups. The Tiger-Cats are currently the betting favorite to win it all. With all that said, the Blue Bombers are still a very talented team, well coached and are at home. And while there’s motivation for the Tiger-Cats, the Blue Bombers should be out to prove 2019 wasn’t a fluke and they’re capable of doing it again. Statement game early for the Blue Bombers.

I’ll side with Winnipeg and whatever the line is once released.