The Hamilton Tiger-Cats visit their local rivals in Toronto this week and they look like a sharp play.

Bettors have been all over them already as the line opened at -2 and has climbed to -3.5.

The Argos were off last week, which means they’ll get their season started on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Tiger-Cats earned a win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders – a team that gives them problems – although the Mean Green did lose starting quarterback Zach Collaros to injury, which helped the Tiger-Cats.

This feels like a bad matchup for the Argos in terms of game flow. James Franklin is the team’s starting quarterback and while the Argos bolstered their receiving corps in the offseason by adding S.J. Green and Derel Walker, I’m not sure that Franklin is a guy who is capable of using those weapons to the fullest.

He played in 12 games with the Argos last season and had just eight touchdowns versus nine interceptions.

For his career, he’s averaging just 7.5 yards per completion, which is low in the pass-oriented league.

Hamilton quarterback Jeremiah Masoli is nearly a yard-per-game better than him.

Look to Hamilton QB to Be the Difference

Masoli has a good history against the Argos as nearly a third of his touchdown passes last season (11) came against the Argonauts. He should be in for a good week.

My concern here is that the Ti-Cats can score points in bunches against Toronto and the Argos might be forced to put the ball in the air much more than they’d like.

Hamilton led the East Division in points scored last season and averaged 32.5 points per game versus the Argos last season. If Toronto is forced to play from behind, that’s not the spot they want to be in.

With Toronto, they are just too much of a wild card to trust right now. I’m not high on Franklin – at least as of yet – and new head coach Corey Chamblin has a lot to prove.

This was a four-win team last year, so while everyone is expecting them to improve, it seems like it’s the only way they can go after being the worst team in the league.

The Ti-Cats are coming in with confidence and are facing a team their offense does well against. Look for Masoli, the reigning East Division Most Outstanding Player, to lead the Ti-Cats to a win and cover this week. Lay the points.