The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday night in the only meeting between these two teams this season. The Riders enter the game as 3.5-point favourites.
Despite wins in four of their last six games, Hamilton will be making a change at quarterback as Bo Levi Mitchell returns to the starting lineup after missing eight games with a broken leg. The Ticats have made a number of changes since Mitchell last played, most notably swapping out offensive coordinators.
Mitchell was not particularly effective when he ran the Ticats’ offence earlier this year, throwing for 714 yards, three touchdowns, and nine interceptions in three games. This will be his first game under offensive coordinator Scott Milanovich and given the team’s recent success, a lot will be expected of the 11-year veteran.
The Riders, meanwhile, have lost four straight games to fall to 6-9 on the season after beginning the year with three wins in their first four games. Saskatchewan had a similar collapse last season, falling from 4-1 to 6-12 and missing the playoffs. A win on Saturday will put the Riders one step closer to playing postseason football in 2023.
Saskatchewan gives up a league-high 30.5 points per game, while the Ticats are slightly better at 26.2 points per game. Hamilton’s number is reflective of their recent play as the Tabbies haven’t given up more than 30 points since Labour Day and held the Stampeders to five field goals last week. Saskatchewan, however, has given up at least 30 points in each of their last five games.
One other factor that needs to be taken into account is Hamilton’s recent abysmal history in Saskatchewan. The Ticats have won just once in their last 10 trips to Regina, which includes six consecutive losses as well as being winless in five games at the Riders’ new home, which opened in 2017. Mosaic Stadium has been a nightmare factory for the Cats, especially the last two years when they lost by scores of 30-13 in 2022 and 30-8 in 2021.
The Tiger-Cats have turned their season around but winning in Saskatchewan seems to be the mountain they cannot climb. Add in the emotion that will come from this being the first game in Saskatchewan since the passing of the legendary George Reed as well as this being the night the team will honour the 2013 Grey Cup championship squad and all the ingredients seem to be there for a Riders victory. I still think the Ticats are the better team so while I’ll pick the Riders to win outright, I’ll take the Tabbies to cover the 3.5 points.
I also expect this game to be a bit of a shootout. The Riders can’t stop teams from scoring and Hamilton’s offence has been much better since Milanovich took over as play caller. Mitchell’s return under centre is a wild card for the Tiger-Cats as the offence only scored 20.3 points per game during his three appearances earlier this year. That said, I think both teams can crack the 30-point mark on Saturday so I’m taking the over on total points.
Picks
Spread: Ticats +3.5 (-110)
Moneyline: Riders (-185)
Total points: Over 49