The Hamilton Tiger-Cats won their second consecutive game on Saturday to improve to 4-9 on the season, taking down the Ottawa Redblacks 37-21 at Tim Hortons Field.
Below are my thoughts on the game.
Defence comes up big
I thought the Tiger-Cats’ defence would improve under Chris Jones. A change of voice and a change of schemes can be refreshing for players, especially when things are going poorly like they were for that unit early in the season. I’d be lying if I said I thought they would improve so quickly under Jones, who appears to have completely revived the unit.
On Saturday, they forced three interceptions — which came from three different members of the secondary in Jonathan Moxey, Destin Talbert and Jamal Peters — as well as two fumbles. One came on Ottawa’s opening possession when Nick Usher dropped into coverage and stripped Dominique Rhymes, while the other came in the third quarter when Brandon Barlow rushed off the edge to strip Dru Brown. The Ticats’ defence also came up huge on a third-and-one early in the second quarter, stuffing Dustin Crum in short yardage at Ottawa’s 39-yard line, which led to a Marc Liegghio field goal.
Since Jones has taken over the defensive play-calling duties, Hamilton has allowed an average of 25 points, while forcing 10 turnovers and a turnover on downs in three games. That’s a huge turnaround for a team that was allowing 33.4 points per game and had just eight forced turnovers through the first 10 games of the season.
Lightning strikes quick
Return man Lawrence Woods III re-entered the lineup this week after sitting out the last eight games in favour of other returners. He made his presence known in this contest as he took a Richie Leone punt 83 yards to the house, putting Hamilton up 10-3. Woods III had three punt returns for 99 yards as well as three kickoff returns for 62 yards, with his return touchdown being his first since 2022.
Hamilton’s return game has been a bit of an adventure this season, with three separate return men getting opportunities due to the lack of game-changing returns. Woods III provided that spark on Saturday and should keep himself in the lineup if he continues to make impact plays in the return game. It set the tone early and Hamilton never looked back, as they held the lead for the remainder of the game.
A perfect eight
Hamilton receiver Steven Dunbar Jr. had his best performance of the season against the Redblacks as he was targeted eight times, had eight receptions for 151 yards and a 54-yard touchdown. Ticats’ quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed 20 of his 27 pass attempts for 299 yards, meaning that more than half of his passing total came from Dunbar. He found the soft spots in the Redblacks’ defence and was able to use his size and reach to outmuscle an Ottawa defender on his touchdown, which came with under a minute left in the half to put Hamilton up 21-6.
The 28-year-old has become a reliable third option in the Ticats’ passing attack behind perennial all-star Tim White and rookie Shemar Bridges, as Dunbar Jr. has 51 receptions on the season for 727 yards and three touchdowns. It gives the Ticats a nice one, two, three punch with Canadians Kiondre Smith and Brendan O’Leary-Orange also chipping in.
Dunbar Jr. had a down season last year in Edmonton but has come back and looked like the player he was in 2022, which saw him eclipse 1,000 yards for the first time in his CFL career. It appears he’s well on his way to surpassing that total again this season.
Up the Ante
Ante Milanovic-Litre was an offseason signing that likely went under the radar in Steeltown, but the Canadian running back has proven just how valuable he is to the Ticats.
Milanovic-Litre is a key member of the Ticats special teams unit and also contributed to the win through the ground, as a receiver and, yes, even through the passing game. His numbers are never going to wow you but he had 10 rushes for 36 yards, many of them coming in short-yardage situations, and one reception for 20 yards that went for a touchdown which gave Hamilton all the points they needed to secure the win.
While it doesn’t show up on the stat sheet at all, Litre also helped draw a pass interference penalty when he dropped back in short yardage and was looking for rookie offensive lineman Nathaniel Dumoulin-Duguay downfield. That caught Ottawa off guard and put defensive back Ty Cranston in a bad spot which forced him to take the 10-yard penalty, giving Hamilton a fresh set of downs.
Combine Milanovic-Litre’s performance with that of Greg Bell, who finished with 99 rushing yards and a touchdown, and the Hamilton offence appears to have something going for them in the run game.
Closing it out
After seeing it happen so many times over the past number of years, it’s understandable as to why Ticats fans might get PTSD from watching a double-digit lead quickly turn into a one-score game. That happened again in Saturday’s contest when veteran quarterback Jeremiah Masoli entered the game for Ottawa and engineered two consecutive touchdown drives to bring the score to 29-21.
What was impressive, however, was Hamilton’s response. Instead of crumbling under the pressure of a now close ball game, the Ticats’ offence chewed up over three minutes of clock and drove 65 yards, which was capped off by a Greg Bell 15-yard touchdown rush. That’s now two consecutive games that Hamilton has been able to hold onto a lead and close the game out, something that was an Achilles heel of this team previously.
While I’m sure fans would prefer it not to get to the point of them sitting on the edge of their seats, there has to be some sort of comfort knowing that Hamilton has been able to hunker down and close out a pair of games they needed in order to keep their playoff hopes alive.
It’s your Destin(y)
I thought rookie defensive back Destin Talbert had his strongest game as a professional on Saturday, finishing with 10 tackles and an interception when he undercut a Masoli deep ball that put an exclamation point on the Ticats’ win.
Talbert had a rough first game in Week 1 against Calgary where he played strong-side linebacker but since then the North Dakota State product has steadily improved, becoming a staple in the Ticats’ secondary at boundary halfback beside Jamal Peters. Talbert has 49 tackles, one interception, and a fumble recovery that was taken for a touchdown and like everyone else on the Hamilton defence, appears to have elevated his game under Chris Jones.
CTV or TSN?
Count me in as one of those people who thought it was an excellent idea for the CFL to start broadcasting games on CTV, allowing more Canadians to tune into the games post-Labour Day. However, I do have one complaint about the game.
While it may be a nitpick, how hard would it have been for the league and TSN to create CTV graphics for the broadcasts that are taking place on CTV? They don’t need to reinvent the wheel or create a completely new graphics package, but seeing ‘CFL on TSN’ pop up anytime the game goes to commercial looks odd and a tad lazy when the game is not being shown on TSN.
I understand that both channels fall under Bell Media, but these small things are still meaningful when making it the best possible viewing experience for both hardcore and casual fans. Maybe it’s just me getting slightly annoyed over nothing, but I think it’s a noteworthy point of discussion if things don’t change moving forward.
Up next
After a pair of wins, the Ticats have somewhat gotten themselves back into the playoff conversation. They find themselves three wins back of their next opponent – the Toronto Argonauts.
Hamilton is also two wins back of surpassing Saskatchewan for the crossover, but regardless of who they’re chasing, Friday’s game at BMO Field is without a doubt the biggest of the Ticats season if they want to have any chance of qualifying for the CFL playoffs in 2024. They’ve already won the season series over Toronto, but a possible third win could be their most important yet.
