Week 12 in the CFL

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Joey Elliott will lead the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offence against the Calgary Stampeders, even though No. 1 quarterback Buck Pierce is healthy enough to play. (TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

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BLUE BOMBERS (2-8) at STAMPEDERS (6-4)

• Tonight, 8 p.m. TV: TSN Radio: CJOB
• Vegas line: Calgary -9.5
• Bombers line: Man, how low can Winnipeg get? Back-to-back losses to the Riders through completely different means have the franchise reeling. Or laughing like a crazy person. Either way, it's not good. The club is sitting a healthy Buck Pierce -- for some reason -- and continuing with Joey Elliott, who hasn't thrown a touchdown pass in three games. No laughing matter.
• Stamps line: Running back Jon Cornish is feeling it. He leads the CFL with 137 carries and 827 yards through 10 games. Remember when he was a non-factor early in the year? Yeah, those days are long over. If he gets less than 25 touches and is held to under 150 total yards, it's a win for Winnipeg.
• Bottom line: Speaking of wins for Winnipeg, the Bombers haven't won in Calgary since the Dave Ritchie days.

ESKIMOS (5-5) at TIGER-CATS (3-7)

• Saturday, 2 p.m. TV: TSN
• Vegas line: Hamilton -3.5
• Eskimos line: Steven Jyles continues to sit, which can't be good for his confidence. Oh well. He'll get over it. He always does. We've always thought Jyles was better off the bench, anyway. Maybe he'll get that chance to prove us right. Who do you think would win a race between Kerry Joseph and Anthony Calvillo? A question for a later date...
• Ticats line: Our morbid Casey Creehan watch continues. If his defence can't slow down the Eskimos offence -- one of the worst in the league this entire season -- then what's next? If the losing continues, someone has to go, right? What's that? Upper management has given everyone a vote of confidence. Uh-oh.
• Bottom line: The entire Free Press panel is taking the Ticats this week, which has to be a first.

ARGONAUTS (6-4) at LIONS (7-3)

• Saturday, 6 p.m. TV: TSN
• Vegas line: B.C. -7.5
• Argos line: Hard to disagree now with Jim Barker's decision to snip running back Cory Boyd. It's ridiculous how easy the running back position is to fill in the CFL. Chad Kackert has been more than good enough to complement Ricky Ray in the backfield and now the clock starts on his career. Enjoy it while you can, Chad.
• Lions line: It might be time for the rest of the West Division to make a move on the Lions, as reality is starting to set in. The defending champs are going to be a tough out at home come playoff time. If another team is going to knock the Leos off, it will have to be in their own yard. Eight games left, West Division. Get to it.
• Bottom line: The Lions are 5-1 against the East Division.

ROUGHRIDERS (5-5) at ALOUETTES (6-4)

• Sunday, noon. TV: TSN
• Vegas line: Montreal -6.5
• Riders line: Quarterback Darian Durant will be a game-time decision, which is ridiculous when you consider things like the weekly preparation, etc. Does the offence need to practise together? How is this going to work? Unless it's all just a ruse to keep Montreal guessing. Yeah, subterfuge, THAT will beat the Alouettes.
• Alouettes line: We're not sure what happened in Vancouver last week. There's no shame in losing to the Lions -- by any score. These things happen and it says here everyone is due to fall hard once in a while. Saskatchewan provides a nice, soft landing for the bounce-back, though.
• Bottom line: Has anyone noticed that the Riders defence is actually pretty good?

THE PICKS (straight up)

The Free Press has assembled a panel this season to offer their fearless predictions every week. Joining us this year are CJOB's Bob Irving, and from the Free Press, sports editor Steve Lyons, columnists Gary Lawless and Doug Brown (who also serves as the 'OB football game analyst), lead football writer Paul Wiecek and reporter Adam Wazny.

• Irving: Calgary, Hamilton, B.C., Montreal
• Lyons: Calgary, Hamilton, B.C., Montreal
• Lawless: Calgary, Edmonton, B.C., Montreal
• Brown: Calgary, Hamilton, B.C., Montreal
• Wiecek: Calgary, Hamilton, B.C., Montreal
• Wazny: Calgary, Hamilton, B.C., Montreal

• Last week (overall): Irving 3-1 (26-14); Lyons 3-1 (23-17); Lawless 3-1 (20-20); Brown 1-3 (21-19); Wiecek 3-1 (16-24); Wazny 3-1 (21-19).

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 14, 2012 C2