The top two seeds in the CFL prevailed with the Toronto Argonauts advancing to the Grey Cup title game out of the East to tangle with the West’s Calgary Stampeders at TD Place in Ottawa. Sunday’s championship is set to kickoff at 6 p.m. (ET) and it will be carried in the United States by ESPN2.
Toronto vs. Calgary Game Overview
The Argonauts journey back to their first Grey Cup appearance since the 2012 season has been an interesting one. Shaking off a straight-up 4-7 start in their first 11 games while going 3-8 against the spread, they were able to finish strong at 6-2 both SU and ATS over their past eight games including Sunday’s 25-21 victory at home against Saskatchewan in the East Division Finals as three-point favorites. The total stayed UNDER 52 points in that game after going OVER or ending as a PUSH in their previous seven outings.
One of the main reasons why most of those recent games did go OVER was Toronto’s new-found ability to put points on the board. The offense averaged 26.7 points in the regular season, but it dialed things up to 31.9 points over its last eight games. Veteran quarterback Ricky Ray deserves a good deal of the credit for his team’s success this season as the second-leading passer in the CFL in both yards (5,546) and touchdown throws (28).
Calgary cruised to a second-straight West Division title at 13-4-1 SU in a run that included an 11-game winning streak, but there still has to be some concern over a three-game losing streak (SU and ATS) to close out the regular season. The Stampeders got past Edmonton 32-28 in Sunday’s West Division Final after erasing a two-touchdown deficit, but they failed to cover as five-point home favorites. They are 0-5 ATS in their last five games with the total staying UNDER in three of those games.
The fact that Calgary was able to shake off a slow start last Sunday to go on a 30-1 run to quickly turn things around could be a sign that this team is finally ready to live up to all its high expectations. Bo Levi Mitchell completed 20 of his 32 passing attempts in that game for 228 yards and a score and the Stampeders did an excellent job of moving the ball on the ground while chewing up valuable time with 182 yards rushing on 19 carries.
Toronto vs. Calgary Game Betting Trends
- The Argonauts have failed to cover in nine of their last 12 games against a team with a SU winning record, but they have gone 4-1 ATS in their last five games coming off a SU win. The total has stayed UNDER in five of their last seven November games.
- The Stampeders are 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 playoff games, but they improve to 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 games coming off a SU win. The total has gone OVER in their last four postseason games.
- Head-to-head, Calgary has gone 5-0 ATS in the last five meetings and they have also covered ATS in its last five road games against Toronto. The Stampeders won both games in the season series against Toronto by a combined 33 points with total split at 1-1.
