The BC Lions come off the bye to host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are on a 3-game win streak with the most recent being a 33-31 win in Toronto. BC Last played Hamilton on the road in week 5 which saw the Lions win 44-28.

CFL Power Rankings Week 16

Predictions: CFL News Hub Writers’ Week 17 Picks

Game Details:

Date/Location: Friday, September 27 /BC Place, Vancouver, BC

Kickoff Time: 10:30 PM ET, 7:30 PM PT

Channel: TSN (Canada), CFL+ (USA, Global)

Odds: 

Spread: B.C. +6.5 (-110), Hamilton +6.5 (+100)

Moneyline: B.C. -320, Hamilton +255

Over/Under: 53.5 (Over -105, Under -105)

B.C. Lions: Nathan Rourke will again be getting the start at quarterback as the Lions look to have a quicker start offensively. Last week saw Rourke complete 6 of his 12 passes for 110 yards. Vernon Adams Jr. entered the game early in the 2nd half and completed 4 of his 7 passes for 75 yards. Chase Brice ultimately finished the game and completed 2 of his 4 passes for 32 yards and a touchdown. Justin McInnis led the team last week in receiving with 4 catches for 95 yards.

BC has done a great job committing to the run this season and has had a lot of success in this area however last week Stanback was only given the ball on 6 carries which resulted in 21 yards. Stanback is closing in on a thousand-yard season after rushing 187 times for 959 yards (5.13 average) and 3 touchdowns. Jordan Terrell rushed 4 times for 24 yards in what was his first CFL game with all of his carries coming toward the end of the game. Terrell also had 1 reception which was a 24-yard touchdown in the final 2 minutes last week.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are on a 3-game win streak which has made the CFL playoff race more exciting as they claw their way back into contention. It has been a streaky season for Hamilton to say the least. They opened the season with a 5-game losing streak, then won 2 games. Then the Ti-Cats had a 4-game losing streak before going on to win their last 3 games.

Hamilton’s head coach Scott Milanovich pulled Bo Levi Mitchell in week 10’s loss to Montreal after he had 3 completions on 4 attempts for 25 yards with an interception. Then in week 11 Taylor Powell was made the starter but sustained a head injury that saw him taken to the hospital so Mitchell again was the starting quarterback for Hamilton. Now BLM is the league’s passing leader having completed 68.1% of his 4,044 yards and 24 touchdowns with 13 interceptions.

Lions Keys to the Game

Stop the Run Early

Ex-BC Lions Running back James Butler is listed as a 2nd-string running back on Hamilton’s depth chart with Greg Bell listed as the starter although he has a game-time decision injury designation. Hamilton is a team that has often strayed from the run game. If BC can dissuade them early from running the ball with some stops then Hamilton will make themselves 1-dimensional. 

Poor on the Pass Rush

Bo Levi Mitchell is having a successful season that sees him leading the league in passing yards after a season last year that was frequently interrupted by injury. Currently, BC has the highest quarterback passing efficiency allowed by their opponents. It will be important for the Lions to generate pressure to make things more difficult for Hamilton’s passing game. With defensive end Mathieu Betts back on the roster and Sione Teuhema tied for first in sacks BC’s pass rush has a capacity to be very dangerous.

Pound the Rock

Hamilton has the 2nd longest average rush yards allowed from their opponents at 5.4. This week it is time to get back to the run game and hand the ball often to William Stanback which has been a recipe for success this season.

Take What the Defense Gives in the Passing Game

Rourke struggled in week 15 as well as his first game back to the CFL. In his 3 other games, he has had over a 70% completion percentage. It feels at times like he is trying to do just a little bit too much to try and meet the high expectations of him. The Lions will greatly benefit from him just taking what the defense gives him and success will follow.

5 Lions to Watch

#18 WR Justin McInnis

McInnis leads the league in receiving yards having caught 71 passes for 1,169 yards and a league-leading 7 touchdowns.

#4 WR Keon Hatcher

Hatcher was the most targetted receiver last game for BC which saw him targetted 8 times and catch 3 passes for 59 yards. He has 21 catches for 328 yards over 7 games this season.

#0 DE Sione Teuhema

Teuhema is tied for first in the league in sacks with 7 and has 33 tackles. Last week saw him contribute 2 tackles and a sack. He had 3 additional QB hurries and a QB hit for 5 total pressures.

#41 LB Ayinde Eley

Last game Eley led the team in tackles with 10 and had 3 total pressures in the pass rush. He was an effective run stopper being involved in 5 shared run stops. Eley has 48 tackles and a forced fumble this season.

#6 LB TJ Lee

Last game TJ Lee had 5 tackles including 2 solo run stops. He was also involved in 2 shared run stops and had 2 QB hits. In coverage, he only saw 1 target come his way which resulted in an incompletion. Lee has 48 tackles and 2 interceptions on the season.

5 Tiger-Cats to Watch

#17 WR Shemar Bridges

Leads the team in receiving yards as a CFL rookie having caught 79 passes for 906 yards and 4 touchdowns.

#12 WR Tim White

White has 56 receptions for 874 yards and 6 touchdowns this season.

#44 DT Casey Sayles

Sayles has 25 tackles and 5 sacks over 13 games.

#2 DB Jamal Peters

Peters has 38 tackles and 4 interceptions over 12 games.

#15 LB Kyle Wilson

Wilson leads the team in tackles with 80 and also has 2 sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble.

Injury Report:

Depth Charts:

Score Prediction:

Bo Levi Mitchell’s recent form has been very good. Combined with the fact that BC has the highest QB rating allowed from opponents I have a feeling that Hamilton will emerge victorious but will not be surprised if my prediction is wrong. I’m curious to see if these teams discard running the football in favor of a high-stakes shootout. I predict Hamilton to win 34-31.

@JonathanClink on Twitter