Ticats All Access Game Day Predictor, presented by Sports Interaction: Week 18 vs. Alouettes
Think you know Tiger-Cats football inside and out? In the hours leading up to every Tiger-Cats game, Ticats All Access members can log in and lock in their picks as part of our Game Day Predictor contest, presented by Sports Interaction. Prove you’re the most knowledgeable fan by answering a series of props questions prior to kickoff. The more questions you get right, the more yards you collect for your All Access account, which increase your chances for game day and weekly prizes. Each week, the Predictor player with the most correct answers wins four Club Level tickets to an upcoming Tiger-Cats home game.
Here are five of the questions for this week’s game, and which answers I’ll be choosing. For a full list of questions and to participate in the game, sign up for Ticats All Access and get your answers in: allaccess.ticats.ca/gameday.
- How many points will both teams score combined? Over or under 44.5?
Whoever set the over/under this week expected a low-scoring affair from the Ticats and Als on Sunday. They were right to, as a convincing case can be made for a defensive battle.
On paper, the teams are set to combine for just over 41 points if you take into account both teams’ average scoring this season.
Normally, I would look toward recent results in order to discount the season average, but this time recent results tell a similar story.
While it is true the Tiger-Cats have made major improvements in the back-half of the season and increased scoring in the realm of one touchdown per game, it is also true that the Alouettes have gone the other direction. The Alouettes’ already paltry ~19 points per game from the front half of the season has disintegrated in the last four games, dropping to a troubling 16 points per game.
The Ticats are averaging close to 30 points in the same stretch; however, it may not be enough to make up for the Als’ shortcomings.
There is certainly no quit in the Ticats locker room, and Coach June Jones has stated that his best players will play in Montreal. The Ticats will not be letting their collective foot off the gas on Sunday. The only question that remains is: will the Als do their part to contribute to scoring?
Prediction: Under
- How many rushing yards will the Tiger-Cats concede? Over or under 49.5?
The Calgary Stampeders are the CFL’s highest scoring team. They also have Jerome Messam, the CFL’s leading rusher. Messam requires less than 100 yards to surpass 1,000 yards rushing for the third consecutive season.
Apparently, nobody informed the Ticats.
Last week, the Ticats held the Stamps to just 42 yards rushing. Messam was stuffed short time and again, earning just 11 yards on the night, and averaging 1.8 yards per carry. His longest carry of the night was just four yards – less than his season average per carry of 4.9 yards.
Ted Laurent made his return for the Tiger-Cats at defensive tackle, and his big body up the middle may have been a factor in the run defence’s best game of the season.
The Ticats will likely have to contain Tyrell Sutton if they want to repeat that performance when they take on the Alouettes.
Sutton was the CFL’s leading rusher in 2015, when he ran for over 1,000 yards on just 180 carries. Sutton’s average of 5.8 yards per carry ranks among the best in the league, and he has been a bright spot in Montreal’s struggling offence in the last few weeks. He rushed for 139 yards and a touchdown while averaging 9.9 yards per carry in the Alouettes most recent defeat to the Eskimos.
I don’t expect a repeat performance when the Als battle a Ticats defence that ranks first in opponent rush average, allowing just 4.7 yards per carry.
Prediction: Under
- How many receiving yards will Jalen Saunders record? Over or under 64.5?
There are currently two Ticats receivers on pace to break the 1,000 yard receiving mark by the end of the season.
Luke Tasker is flirting with 1,000 for the second time in his CFL career. He was on pace for 1,000 yards each of the last three seasons before missing too many games due to injury. Only in 2015 did he surpass that mark. Tasker has remained healthy this season, but his slower start puts him on the cusp. If Tasker continues at his current average of 57.2 yards per game, he will finish the season with 1,029 receiving yards and the second-highest total of his career. A couple outstanding games can easily put that number within reach.
Jalen Saunders is the Ticats leading receiver and there is little doubt he will join the 1,000-yard club by the end of the season. Saunders currently sits at 977 yards and has three more games to reach 1,000. This particular predictor question could very easily be rephrased: will Saunders break 1,000 yards against the Als on Sunday?
My prediction: Yes
Prediction: Over
- How many yards will Jeremiah Masoli rush for? Over or under 39.5?
Jeremiah Masoli has started just seven games this season. Despite this fact, Masoli has the most rushing yards of any quarterback – 30 more than Mike Reilly. Even more impressive perhaps, is that Masoli ranks 10th in the league in rushing yards, outpacing many running backs.
Masoli’s biggest rushing game of the season was his 73-yard performance against Ottawa in Week 12. He hasn’t matched that production since but has been steadily generating yards with his feet, averaging 37.3 rushing yards per start.
Masoli needs just slightly more than his average this week to best the over/under. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask against a struggling Alouettes team.
Prediction: Over
- Who will score the Tiger-Cats’ first touchdown of the game?
- Brandon Banks
- Jeremiah Masoli
- Jalen Saunders
- Alex Green
- Luke Tasker
- Other
Banks runs a fly route up the sideline. He beats Alouettes star cornerback Jonathon Mincy deep, relying on pure speed. Straight route, straight burn. Speedy catches the ball in stride and lopes it home for his sixth touchdown of the season.
Prediction: Brandon Banks
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