Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Toronto Argonauts 12/5/21 - CFL Picks & Predictions

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats visit the Toronto Argonauts on Sunday in the CFL East Division championship, with the winner moving on to the Grey Cup. Hamilton defeated the Montreal Alouettes last Sunday 23-12 to reach the East final. Jeremiah Masoli passed for 184 yards with one touchdown, while Don Jackson rushed for 46 yards with one touchdown. The leading receiver for Hamilton was Brandon Banks with 58 yards and one touchdown reception.

Hamilton has won five of its last six and is 5-1 ATS over that span with their only loss to Toronto in Week 15.  Hamilton lost each of its three matchups with Toronto this season by a single point in Week six and Week 10 and by 19 points in Week 15. However, Hamilton has a much superior defense and a stronger passing attack behind Jerimiah Masoli, who is averaging 9.0 yards per pass attempt.

Toronto reached the finals of the East division via a bye ending the season in first place in the division. Toronto was defeated by Edmonton 13-7 in the final game of the regular season but had already clinched a bye in the semifinales.  A big question mark hangs over Toronto as starting quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson may not play after breaking covid protocol by attending a Toronto Raptors basketball game.

Bethel-Thompson must test negative for covid both on Saturday and early Sunday and has not been able to practice with the team for the last three days. During the regular season Bethel-Thompson passed for 2,303 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and if unable to go, Nick Arbuckle will start. Arbuckle passed for 1,158 yards with five touchdowns and six interceptions. Ricky Collins Jr. was the leading receiver this season for Toronto with 642 yards and the leading rusher was John White with 450 yards and one touchdown.