This season, the West dominated the East. The tally was 22-6 when the Edmonton Eskimos went into Winnipeg and beat the Bombers 29-21 in the crossover semifinal.
Montreal hasn’t played well for seven weeks and Anthony Calvillo hasn’t taken a snap in anger in three weeks. Ricky Ray — and his receiving corps — has looked very good in the final month of the season.
Out west, Calgary has owned B.C. all season. they should own them again on Saturday.
We are looking at an All-Alberta Grey Cup IN Montreal next Sunday. Could be fun. Especially for the Scott Taylor Reports on The FAN 960 in Calgary on Tuesday and Thursday and on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton on Wednesday.
Let’s take a close look at the Conference finals:
Edmonton Eskimos (11-8) at Montreal Alouettes (11-7)
Saturday, 12 Noon, CT, TSN
The Eskimos became the first Western team in history to win the West-East crossover semifinal. In fact, last week’s win in Winnipeg was pretty easy. This week, the Eskimos go into Montreal, where the Alouettes lost 24-23 to the Bombers in Week 18. In Week 19, the Eskimos whipped the Alouettes 37-14 in Edmonton, but Montreal played without Anthony Calvillo. Of course, Calvillo hasn’t played well since he put up 43 points against sad-sack Toronto in Week 17. In fact, Montreal hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record since Week 14, way back on Sept. 28, when they whipped a banged-up Saskatchewan team 37-12 at Molson Stadium. Since then, the Als have lost to Hamilton, Winnipeg and Edmonton and beaten only 3-15 Hamilton and 4-14 Toronto. On Saturday, the Esks and Als play at the cavernous Olympic Stadium and that’s really not homefield advantage for the Alouettes. It’s West vs. East and I always pick West first.
Pick: Edmonton
B.C. Lions (12-7) at Calgary Stampeders (13-5)
Saturday 3:30 p.m. CT, TSN
Last week, B.C. won on the road in Regina. There is no tougher place to play. That means could certainly take out Calgary this week. Calgary beat B.C. in Calgary 28-18 in Calgary way back in Week 1. Calgary beat B.C. 36-29 in B.C. in Week 9. And Calgary wasted B.C. 41-30 in Calgary in Week 19 in a game B.C. had to win to play host to the Western semifinal. Calgary has B.C.’s number and the Stamps put up a lot of points to get to 13-5. If Henry Burris avoids brain farts and Cameron Wake, Calgary could blow the Lions away. It’s time. It’s time for an All-Alberta Grey Cup.
Pick: Calgary
Last Week: 0-2
Season: 45-21