The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (15-3) host the Edmonton Eskimos (8-10) in the Eastern Final Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at Tim Hortons Field. The Eskimos got past the Montreal Alouettes 37-29 in last week’s divisional semi-final.
We analyze the Eskimos at Tiger-Cats odds and lines, while providing CFL betting picks and tips for the matchup.
Eskimos at Tiger-Cats: Eastern Final preview, betting trends and notes
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- The Tiger-Cats won both of this year’s regular-season meetings, winning 30-27 in Edmonton in Week 15 and 42-12 in Hamilton in Week 17.
- The two sides haven’t met in the postseason since the 2016 Eastern Semi-Final, which the Eskimos won 24-21.
- Tiger-Cats QB Dane Evans will make his first career playoff start. He ranked sixth in the CFL with 3,754 passing yards in 13 games after replacing the injured Jeremiah Masoli. He threw for 21 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
- Eskimos QB Trevor Harris ranked second in the regular season with 4,027 passing yards. He threw for 16 touchdowns with six picks in 13 games.
- Harris completed 36 of 39 passes for 421 yards with one TD and one INT against the Alouettes last Sunday. RB C.J. Gable rushed for 54 yards and two scores.
- Hamilton had the league’s No. 1 defense this year, allowing a total of just 344 points. Edmonton ranked third with 400 points allowed.
- The Ti-Cats were also first in the CFL with 551 points scored. They ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak.
Eskimos at Tiger-Cats: Eastern Final odds, picks and betting tips
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 2:10 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Eskimos 25, Tiger-Cats 23
Moneyline (ML)
Take the value with the ESKIMOS at +200. Harris is the more experienced and more successful of the two starting quarterbacks. Edmonton is coming off a dominating road effort last week over the less intimidating Alouettes while the fear for Hamilton is the week off may lead to some rust.
Edmonton has a more balanced offense and will make life difficult for Hamilton’s No. 1 defense.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Eskimos to win outright fetches a profit of $20.
Against the Spread (ATS)
The Eskimos are just 6-12-1 overall against the spread, including last week’s cover against the Als, and 3-6-1 on the road. The Ti-Cats were 12-4-2 overall and 6-2-1 at home over the regular season.
EDMONTON is an easy choice to cover a large spread of 6.5 points with -115 odds and stay within six points in a loss or win outright.
Over/Under (O/U)
Take the UNDER 50.5 (-110) with two strong defenses. Expect a slow start in the first half before Edmonton is able to pull away later in the game.
Esten’s CFL betting record: 69-72-1
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