Closing statements

Many a tear has to fall, but it’s all in the game, so the song goes.

Peerless Perry was crying in his beer as he watched the Montreal Alouettes squander a comfortable lead and then hold on for dear life against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last week.

The Als failed to cover and it had to hurt anyone who was playing the Als to cover by 6.5.

It seemed in the bag.

Alas, it was another lesson in the aggravating process of picking teams to win and cover the spread or taking the ‘dog and the points.

You can never be sure of anything.

Teams play the game to win – and sometimes fail to do so – but have no idea what the spreads are, nor do they really care. It is the game within the game for those watching the games on television or in person or listening on the radio, play after agonizing play.

Peerless Perry wonders how many other people playing the spread feel the same way. Picking the prohibitive favourites is easy, although Peerless did take the underdog Argos and the points last week and reveled in the upset win over Calgary.

So it’s on to this week as the regular season draws closer to the end.

Teams are battling for playoff spots, but Peerless continues to look for value plays and finishing on the plus side.

Good luck!

Friday

Edmonton (9-6) at Toronto (4-11), 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Eskimos are on a nice little roll, but now they go on the road, facing a team that has gained a little bit of confidence, even if it has no chance to make the playoffs – and that’s always a dangerous thing.

The Eskimos have become one of the most-balanced teams in the CFL with power running back Jerome Messam running over the opposition, so it’s a run-first, pass-second mentality, or so it seems. Messam is a Toronto area-born guy, so he’ll be pumped playing in this game.

Quarterback Ricky Ray isn’t throwing up those 300-yard plus games, but you have to feel it’s only a matter of time. He’s facing one of the toughest defences in the league, although the Argos softened up against Calgary last week when it changed quarterbacks and nearly lost. The Eskimos need to give receiver Fred Stamps more touches, in particular early with some simple hitch passes.

Look at what Montreal does with Jamel Richardson. Stamps has 17 catches in the past four games, averaging only 40 yards a game. That’s a waste of his talent. The Eskimos really haven’t thrown the ball to him with the regularity following his injury. I expect it’s bound to change soon, particularly playing indoors. He was money the last time the teams met.

Edmonton’s defence has really stepped up in the past two games, led by stud rush end Marcus Howard and incredible rookie linebacker J.C. Sherritt. The Eskimos put a licking on the Bombers.

The Argos have been fortunate in their past two wins in which the opposition has self-destructed. Both Winnipeg and Calgary looked worse than the Argos in terms of turnovers. The Argos will try to make use of Cory Boyd, who ran wild last week after griping about not getting the ball. The Eskimos are weak against the run.

The addition of backup Chad Kackert gave the Argos a formidable run game in addition to quarterback Steven Jyles. It didn’t hurt that head coach Jim Barker called the plays. It still comes down to the passing game, which hasn’t been effective all season for Toronto. If anything, it’s become worse with Jyles, who is throwing more interceptions than his predecessor, Cleo Lemon.

All-purpose player Chad Owens is becoming more consistent later in the season and is nearing 3,000 all-purpose yards in back-to-back years, which has never been done before in professional football history. He only needs 119 yards to hit the mark, and probably will do it Friday. This really is a close game, but the Eskimos’ passing game gives them a definitive edge, combined with their ability to turn to the running game.

Eskimos favoured by three.

Pick: Eskimos to cover.

Saskatchewan (4-11) at Calgary (8-7), 9:30 p.m. ET.

The Roughriders are in terrible shape, mentally and physically. They just played on Sunday and now they’re back at it with no playoff future and a bunch of injured players. Quarterback Darian Durant played courageously with a wonky foot. Receiver Andy Fantuz clearly was hobbling on a bad ankle. Overall, the Riders’ offence has come apart. Fortunately, they were playing at home and the Rider Priders still provided support, but this is a team that appears to be worse off than earlier in the season playing for head coach Greg Marshall, who was fired less than halfway into the season.

His replacement, grandpa Ken Miller, won three games and the team appeared to be turned around, but it’s been four losses in a row. They did show some life against B.C. last week before injuries finally caught up to them.

Calgary has really taken a nosedive since Labour Day. Finally, and perhaps predictably, backup quarterback Drew Tate has taken over from Henry Burris, who has been relegated to backup after 69 consecutive starts. It’s supposedly to give him a mental break.

Burris, for whatever reason, has simply cost his team too many opportunities since Labour Day with turnovers. Tate resuscitated the Stamps from a huge deficit against the Argos and put them in the lead, but the defence blew it with dumb penalties. Expect the fans to be supportive of Tate since they won’t have Hank to boo.

The Stamps have been terrible every which way this year against the spread but they beat Saskatchewan 40-3 three games ago at home in their most lopsided win of the season.

Stamps favoured by 11.

Pick: Stamps to cover

Saturday

Montreal (10-5) at Winnipeg (9-6), 3 p.m. ET.

The Als are on a nice four-game win streak, but some of those wins have been crazy. When receiver Jamel Richardson totals 100 or more rushing yards, the team usually wins – it’s certainly been the case in the win streak. And they have the best two-way back in the league in Brandon Whitaker.

The Als are 6-3 in their division and have a record of 4-3 on the road. They beat Winnipeg in the ‘Peg on Sept. 30, but the Blue Bombers were playing with their backup. Were it not for a goal-line stand at the end by the Als, Winnipeg might have won, albeit with a gift from the officials.

When the Als played the Bombers at home, they lost because Winnipeg starting pivot Buck Pierce shot the lights out at Molson Stadium in his most inspired game of the season. Pierce had a horrific game last week against Edmonton.

Who knows why? But it’s worth noting the Bombers are 6-2 in divisional games. Maybe they need motivation. They’ll get support from the crowd. This game could ultimately decide first place for the winning team.

The Bombers and the Swaggerville theme need to make a statement. This is the most important game they will play this year, at least at this point of the season.

Als favoured by 2.5.

Pick: Bombers and the points.

B.C. (9-6) at Hamilton (7-8), 7 p.m.

The Lions are on an eight-game win streak and have too much talent coming together at the right time. They are especially deep in the receiving corps and this is where Hamilton is weakest.

Receiver Arland Bruce will be jacked playing the team that traded him earlier in the season. Quarterback Travis Lulay has yet to really come apart as he continues his quest to likely be the Most Outstanding Player nominee in the West. The Lions also have a strong running game. Andrew Harris has become the X-factor out of the backfield, both rushing and receiving the ball, and Lulay has picked his spots running the ball.

There are really few areas to find fault with the Lions, although they have had problems winning in Hamilton the past two years. Peerless’ favourite player, middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian, is questionable for the second consecutive game with a wonky ankle. I’d be surprised if he plays; it’s not worth the risk and the replacement squad can handle the interim assignment.

The Ticats have underachieved often this season and are on a two-game losing streak.

It’s still not known whether Kevin Glenn or Quinton Porter will start at quarterback, but the Lions will have practiced for both. Losing all-purpose rookie running back Terry Grant hurts the Ticats because of all he could do on offence and special teams.

It is now up to Avon Cobourne to step up because the Cats will likely not want to expose all-purpose player Marcus Thigpen to too many offensive plays because if he gets hurt, there isn’t much behind him to handle kicks and punts, and that’s his forte.

Again, the Ticats need to show some kind of effort or the fans will come down on them, and it’s been a continuing issue this year.

For all the Lions have done, there is still some skepticism from the linemaker.

This game is a pick’em.

Pick: B.C.

Record last week: 2-2

Overall record this year: 32-27-1

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.