The Cat defence will be tested early and often with Calgary's high-octane offence with Cope, Lewis, Boerigter and Reynolds. The Cat offence will have to keep pace or it could get ugly. If Lumsden and Holmes can dominate they could keep the Stamps offence off the field.
All the predictions are that Calgary will be battling for No 1 in the West and Hamilton will be battling for last place.
There is a QB controversy in Calgary, Burris hasn't shown much in pre-season so he may take some heat on Saturday, from the Ticats and the fans in Calgary.
We don't have the agressive front four to go after him and he will gain a lot of yards on the ground.
Hamilton will score a lot of points with an improved offence but Calgary will score a lot more on our defence.
Calgary will take this game but Hamilton won't look that bad.
I think that the story of this game will be Calgary's poor O-Line (they are having some injury problems there) against an inspired, young and talented Hamilton front four. If Burris gets pressured as much as I think he will be, he will throw some picks (especially with Karikari and Anderson back there instead of Kornegay and Justin).
Plus, remember, NO ONE in the CFL has seen what Taaffe's full offensive package consists of yet. Game 1 of the season is the best one in which a "rebuilt team" can surprise an opponent...especially if that opponent takes the underdog too lightly and believes their own press clippings, which Calgary might very well do.
The Cats do not stack up well against the league's better teams. While they are clearly headed in the right direction, they've made a ton of changes and will need a few games to get it together. Playing a strong hometown team in its home opener is not a good thing. Calgary by 10.
With every single media outlet and follower of the CFL outside Hamilton (and many inside Hamilton) expecting the Cats to get destroyed tonight (and there's plenty of reason to think so), I just want to reiterate HOW BADLY, as a fan, I hope the Cats get off to a good start.
The whole closed practice thing is intimidating but I really really hope Hamilton gets off to a heck of a start as they did rebounding in 2004.
I'm sick of hearing how the Cats will struggle... how they will finish 4th... how they'll be better but not quite good this year... I know it all makes sense from the objective observer but as a biased fan I'M SICK of it.
If I were a returning player it would definitely be a STRONG source of motivation to go out and pound the other team.
With every single media outlet and follower of the CFL outside Hamilton (and many inside Hamilton) expecting the Cats to get destroyed tonight (and there's plenty of reason to think so), I just want to reiterate HOW BADLY, as a fan, I hope the Cats get off to a good start.
The whole closed practice thing is intimidating but I really really hope Hamilton gets off to a heck of a start as they did rebounding in 2004.
I'm sick of hearing how the Cats will struggle... how they will finish 4th... how they'll be better but not quite good this year... I know it all makes sense from the objective observer but as a biased fan I'M SICK of it.
If I were a returning player it would definitely be a STRONG source of motivation to go out and pound the other team.
With every single media outlet and follower of the CFL outside Hamilton (and many inside Hamilton) expecting the Cats to get destroyed tonight (and there's plenty of reason to think so), I just want to reiterate HOW BADLY, as a fan, I hope the Cats get off to a good start.
The whole closed practice thing is intimidating but I really really hope Hamilton gets off to a heck of a start as they did rebounding in 2004.
I'm sick of hearing how the Cats will struggle... how they will finish 4th... how they'll be better but not quite good this year... [b]I know it all makes sense from the objective observer but as a biased fan I'M SICK of it.
[/b]If I were a returning player it would definitely be a STRONG source of motivation to go out and pound the other team.
We beat 'em last year at home, and only lost by 1 point when we played 'em in Calgary.
If the Cats really have improved over last year I see no reason why we can't win.
Its okay to say that Calgary has the best offense in the league but that is mere speculation. They have yet to play a regular season game. Our defense looks good, our offense has potential, I think we need an outstanding performance from our special teams to set the pace of the game early and keep the momentum in our favor. If the stamps score early I hope the Cats can shake it off.
I don't know what the over/under is for this game, but I'd take the under. I think both teams are going to be successful on the ground; and running the ball takes more time off the clock.