Basketball Betting

Hamilton seeks first win of season in bout with Winnipeg

Football Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Hamilton, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All alone in last place in the East Division, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats again shoot for their first win of 2010 as they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

Add the team's 34-27 overtime loss to British Columbia in the final outing of 2009 and Hamilton is looking at a three-game slide at the moment. Head coach Marcel Bellefeuille had a hard time finding anything positive to talk about after his club's 23-22 setback against the Calgary Stampeders last week. Perhaps most disappointing was kicker Sandro DeAngelis who missed a pair of field goals, but it also didn't help that the squad allowed a 105-yard return of a missed kick and could not get into the end zone on a first-and-goal at the two-yard line in the final period.

The bright spot for Hamilton was again the strong play of Marcus Thigpen who, on his first touch in his new home stadium, raced 93 yards on a punt return for a touchdown. Thigpen earned special teams player of the week honors following the opener in which he became the first player with two return touchdowns in a game since Keith Stokes of Montral did so in 2002, which means he is two shy of tying the record for return TDs by one player in a single season.

Quarterback Kevin Glenn connected on 26-of-34 passes for 356 yards and a score, the lone aerial TD landing in the hands of Thigpen as well. Receiver Arland Bruce III turned his seven receptions into a game-high 104 yards, but it failed to make up for the fact that the running game registered just 48 yards altogether.

As for the Blue Bombers, they saw their quarterback have a career game with 103 rushing yards and another 366 through the air, tossing three scores and scoring one of his own on the ground, yet Buck Pierce could not hold off a relentless Toronto squad all by himself in what turned into a disappointing 36-34 setback at home. Terence Jeffers-Harris did all he could to get Winnipeg into the win column again, capturing seven passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, all of which were game highs.

Pierce has clearly shown that he can operate the offense for the Bombers, but one has to wonder if he is putting himself in harm's way a bit too much in the early going. As someone who is no stranger to injury, Pierce continues to lay it on the line for his team and actually ranks among the league leaders in rushing after two games with his 192 yards on just 13 attempts. Thanks to a 43-yard romp, Pierce is averaging a whopping 14.8 yards per carry.

Playing for British Columbia during his first five years in the league, Pierce didn't exactly set the league on fire last year when he tossed just 10 TDs and was guilty of a career-high 12 INTs, but at least he is off on the right foot this time around with five TDs and just a single pick, with his aggressive manner of play earning the respect of his coaches and teammates alike.

In just his first year, Jeffers-Harris how shown why he is considered one of the top offensive options for the Blue Bombers, averaging 17.2 yards per catch, but already we have seen two sides of him with just 20 yards on three catches in the first game of 2010.

Pierce and Jeffers-Harris might not have to look far for some additional offensive help as the Bombers signed receiver/returner Markus Howell on Monday. Twice named Special Teams Player of the Week while with Calgary during a four-year stretch Howell, who played for Winnipeg from 2000-2004, could spread the field a bit for Pierce, giving the signal-caller not only additional passing lanes but also a bit more room to advance the ball down the field himself.

As a part-time starter for Hamilton last year, Glenn showed strong play in the pocket as he completed 62 percent of his attempts for more than 3,000 yards and, more importantly, delivered 18 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. Getting Bruce the ball down the field so he can create plays is certainly a key to the offense for the team, but the manner in which Marquay McDaniel has exploded onto the scene is tough to ignore. Even Bruce recognizes how dominant McDaniel has been, now just in his second season in the CFL. Last year McDaniel led the league in combined yards with 2,535, but this time around the coaching staff might see the significance of using him even more on offense in order to give the Winnipeg defense that much more to think about.

These same two teams met in the season opener on July 2, with Winnipeg crushing the Tiger-Cats by a final of 49-29. With the victory the Blue Bombers moved to 54-42 in regular-season meetings against Hamilton. The clubs are set to clash once more in the 2010 regular season on August 7.

As long as Pierce can stay in the game and not put himself in perilous situations, Winnipeg definitely has a strong chance of landing a win on the road this week. Victories away from home were not exactly a strong suit for a Bombers club that was only 3-6 in such situations last season, but following the miserable outcome recently the team might be a bit more motivated than usual.