The Hamilton Tiger-Cats secured their first victory of the season with a nail-biting 21-13 win over the Ottawa Redblacks at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday night. Below are my thoughts on the game.
Positive thoughts for Jeremiah
There have only been a few times since Tim Hortons Field opened that I have heard a crowd go deadly silent. Unfortunately, it has now happened twice with Jeremiah Masoli.
Masoli was making his return to Hamilton after spending eight seasons with the team from 2013 to 2022, but also his return to the field after a year-long absence. Less than two quarters into his return, it looks like his season — and perhaps career — are over after suffering his third leg injury in five years.
The quarterback needed to be helped off the field and was later spotted on the sideline in a walking boot and with a cane. Many are speculating that he ruptured his Achilles tendon, a devastating injury for any player but especially one who will turn 35 in August.
Since suffering the first major injury of his career in 2019 when he tore his ACL with the Ticats, Masoli has started 23 of a possible 54 games, with injuries ending three of his four seasons before the halfway mark.
We won’t write the eulogy on his career just yet because if there is any player who has the mental fortitude to come back from this type of setback again, it is Jeremiah Masoli.
The entire CFL community is rooting for just that.
Sim’s City
It’s been a rough couple of seasons for legendary Ticats’ linebacker Simoni Lawrence. He dealt with a major injury for the first time in his career last year and has looked like he lost a step — understandable for a 34-year-old playing in his 11th CFL season.
On Saturday he turned back the clock with a vintage performance. Lawrence finished the game with four tackles, one tackle for loss, two pass knockdowns and one tip-drill interception, his first pick since October 23, 2021.
The ole’ Hamilton hot potato lands with Simoni 🥔#CFL #Ticats #HamiltonProud @Simoni_Lawrence
pic.twitter.com/TKCAMhdRo9— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) July 9, 2023
I don’t know if Lawrence is an Eminem fan but watching him play in the second half reminded me of a lyric from Slim Shady’s 2020 album Music to Be Murdered By, in that he might be half as good as he was but he’s still twice as good as they’ll ever be.
How many of these performances Simoni has left in him is unknown but for one night, he was not an old Simoni Lawrence but the Simoni Lawrence of old.
Thurmanator
He does not have the outsized personality of his more boisterous teammates but Jameer Thurman has quietly been Hamilton’s best defensive player this season by a wide margin.
He was excellent once again against Ottawa, notching a team-high nine tackles as well as two sacks, the second of which came at a critical juncture in the game.
With Ottawa down just eight and at midfield with a little over two minutes remaining, Thurman looped around the right guard and brought down Redblacks’ quarterback Dustin Crum for a big loss on second down, forcing Ottawa to punt. The Redblacks would get the ball back and make a heck of a comeback attempt, but Thurman’s sack helped the team take more time off the clock.
Ottawa is Crum-bling in the face of this Ticats’ defence. 🫠#CFL #Ticats #RNation
pic.twitter.com/zg7Hl7wM21— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) July 9, 2023
With the CFL’s stats system still being M.I.A. it is hard to know where Thurman ranks league-wide in various defensive categories — hey, commish, wasn’t that fancy new system supposed to be ready by early July? — but he has been a difference-maker on defence.
Stern warning
Following his embarrassing display after the final whistle against the Montreal Alouettes, Chris Edwards was a major part of the team’s first win.
Say what you want about Edward,s but his on-field play is almost second to none and he certainly has a nose for the football. The strong-side linebacker was the recipient of the Ticats’ first interception of the season and was also fingertips away from his second fumble recovery of the season, with the ball barely eluding his grasp before being scooped up by Ted Laurent.
Any game where Ted Laurent (@tedlaurent) carries the ball is a game worth watching.#CFL #Ticats #HamiltonProud
pic.twitter.com/qVfin7H5lF— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) July 9, 2023
Many believe Edwards should not have even been playing on Saturday, chief among them former Montreal Alouettes owner Gary Stern. Stern spent the better part of the past two weeks trolling Ticats fans on Twitter for the team not suspending Edwards after the league handed out a max fine for his post-game shove of Als’ receiver Austin Mack.
Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, the league handed out their discipline and it was what it was. Stern seemed to make it his life’s work to slag the Ticats and their team management while asking if people won’t please think of the children.
Edwards made several big plays, including the game-winning tackle with no time left, and did not get into any on-field or post-game altercations. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been playing, but the Ticats may not have won without him.
He’s got a Lieg and he knows how to use it
Sometimes players just need a change of scenery and it sure seems like getting out of Winnipeg has done wonders for kicker Marc Liegghio.
He’s had his missteps, missing an extra point and placing a kickoff out of bounds, but the former Western Mustang has been incredibly reliable since getting the job in Week 2.
Liegghio was perfect again on field goals, going five-for-five and booting a 50-yarder early in the second quarter, and is now nine-for-nine on field goals since arriving in Hamilton. Given his issues with accuracy during his time in Winnipeg, seeing a young player bounce back and use his second chance as a method of redemption is always nice to see.
The Bombers were not wrong to move on from Liegghio but his reemergence in Hamilton reminds you that sometimes players just need a new locale to meet their immense potential.
Mental mistakes
An issue that seems to be plaguing the Ticats this season is mental mistakes, making more than unforced errors than a Roger Federer opponent at Wimbledon.
The team took three time-count penalties in the first half — thankfully they took none in the second half — which is a ludicrous amount for a team to take in a game and should be borderline impossible to do at home.
Another nearly calamitous mistake occurred on the game’s final play, as the Ticats had only 11 men on the field at the time.
Mistakes are part of the game but the ones from a lack of awareness bug you the most. While it did not hurt the Tiger-Cats on Saturday, mental errors like those will certainly prove fatal against superior opponents.
Canadian cheetah
There was a lot of fan consternation when the team released preseason favourite Lio’undre Gallimore last week but the team saw something in newcomer Tyreik McAllister.
The 25-year-old speedster made the most of his limited playing time by contributing in the run game with a pair of carries for seven yards and on special teams, where he nearly took one to the house on a punt return.
The play everyone will remember, however, was the 64-yard screen pass where he set up his blocks and then turned on the afterburners to score Hamilton’s first touchdown in over six quarters.
Give him a sliver of daylight, and this McAllister will be Home Alone @TyreikTm3 #CFL #Ticats #HamiltonProud
pic.twitter.com/zpA4CHs36X— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) July 9, 2023
The Tiger-Cats have a number of weapons on offence but finding a way to get McAllister more involved going forward is a must.
Richie the Magnificent
While Hamilton’s passing game was fairly pedestrian for most of the night — Tim White finished the game with a single catch — the best of the receivers was Canadian Richie Sindani.
The former Calgary Stampeder caught seven passes for 59 yards, which tied his career-high for catches in a game and was the most yards he’s had since Calgary’s season opener last year.
Sindani was also seemingly robbed of an amazing touchdown catch when he caught the ball, got a body part down, hit the ground out of bounds and then had a Redblacks’ defender rip the ball out while the play was over. The refs ruled it incomplete and the ruling stood after a challenge by Hamilton head coach Orlondo Steinauer.
The call was borderline. What is and isn’t a catch is something that seems to change every year, so it was no surprise to me that the ruling was upheld.
Even with the touchdown catch not counting, Sindani had his best game in black and gold, and has proven to be a valuable addition to the team’s receiving corps.
Cause for concern
A win is a win.
They don’t ask how just how many.
I can throw all the cliches at you, but the fact is this was not an impressive win by the Ticats. If you were skeptical of them entering this game, nothing that happened on Saturday will move you off that mark.
They had two weeks to prepare for an equally bad Ottawa team and came out flat offensively once again. They allowed a fourth-string quarterback to come in and play reasonably well, especially when he used his feet. They had several chances to blow the game open but settled for field goals on all three of their red zone trips.
These are not the hallmarks of a Grey Cup contender and the Tabbies will need to show a lot more over the coming weeks to prove they can turn this season around.
Up next
The Ticats have a real chance to make it two in a row when they head to Edmonton on Thursday to take on the 0-5 Elks.
We all know that Edmonton has not won a home game in over two years but nothing would be more fitting for the Tiger-Cats than being the team that finally takes a loss at Commonwealth Stadium.
That said, a win on Thursday in Edmonton would put them in a good position to make a run afterwards. A tough test follows with the Argos, but the following three games see them head to Ottawa before back-to-back home games against the Alouettes and Elks.
This stretch is critical for the team if they hope to get their season back on track.
