The Hamilton Tiger-Cats season ended on a note that essentially summed up the rest of their 2024 season when they visited the Ottawa Redblacks on Friday.
Get behind early, claw their way back and fall just short of the goal line in the game’s dying moments. The game, in a lot of ways, was a microcosm of the Ticats’ season. Fall to 2-9 early, claw back with some wins to get back into the playoff picture, and see their playoff dreams come up just short after the Toronto Argonauts got consecutive wins over Montreal and Winnipeg to shun Hamilton from the postseason, the first time in six years.
Hamilton and Ottawa went back and forth on Friday, treating the fans to an exciting, albeit meaningless, contest. Ottawa went up 10-3 early and 20-13 at halftime but Hamilton was able to rally with touchdowns from Greg Bell and Ante Milanovic-Litre to give Hamilton 22-20 and 28-23 leads in the second half. Marc Liegghio and Lewis Ward would exchange field goals, putting Hamilton up 31-29 with under three minutes to go in the game before Ottawa scored the game’s winning points off a 65-yard strike from Dru Brown to Kalil Pimpleton.
Bo Levi Mitchell engineered a late drive that got Hamilton into scoring position with under a minute to go in the game and the Ticats down by six, but Milanovic-Litre was stuffed three times from the one-yard line to secure the victory for Ottawa.
Bo Levi Mitchell once again proved that he is a very worthy candidate for the league’s Most Outstanding Player Award, as he completed 25 of his 36 pass attempts for 425 yards, one touchdown and one interception against Ottawa.
He set the Tiger-Cats’ single-season passing yards record with 5,451 yards, surpassing the previous record set by Henry Burris in 2012. The common theme amongst both of those achievements is Hamilton finished with single-digit wins and missed the playoffs, proving that strong quarterback play doesn’t necessarily equate to playoff calibre teams. Mitchell also threw for 32 passing majors, tying the second-highest output of his career while also throwing for 18 interceptions, the most he’s been picked off in a single season as well.
Steven Dunbar Jr. surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving plateau for the second time in his career, catching nine passes for 180 yards, but also had a costly fumble in the game. Tim White finished the season in a similar fashion to how he started, as he had a few drops on Friday. Greg Bell also solidified himself as the Ticats running back of the future, going for 91 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. The defence gave up 37 points but Ray Wilborn and Kyle Wilson had decent performances to end off the season.
So where do the Ticats go from here as we look ahead to the off-season? They had a lot of positives: Mitchell’s performance, the emergence of Bell, and Shemar Bridges playing a key role in the offence. Had Bridges not gotten injured, they would’ve had three 1,000-yard receivers in White, Dunbar Jr. and Bridges with Kiondre Smith right on the brink of reaching that total. Left tackle Brendan Bordner looks like he could have a really solid future along the Ticats’ offensive line.
Jamal Peters came as advertised when he was healthy, Casey Sayles was dominant, Kyle Wilson helped fill the void left by the legendary Simoni Lawrence, and Marc Liegghio was nearly automatic when it came to kicking field goals.
And yet, Hamilton still finished the season 7-11 and missed the playoffs. Their defence couldn’t stop a nosebleed and the offence stumbled their way through many games early in the season. By the time they got those issues fixed, it was too little too late thanks to a 2-9 start.
I do think fans have some reason for optimism heading into next season. Mitchell was playing some of his best football since getting benched in mid-August and proved that he still has some gas left in the tank. Chris Jones came in and was able to rejuvenate a flailing defence. The team seemed to buy into Scott Milanovich’s messaging in the latter half of the season. Hamilton will also return a decent chunk of its core as the likes of Mitchell, White, Sayles and Peters remain under contract for next season.
But as there always is, there will be questions about how the team can improve to ensure a repeat performance doesn’t take place in 2025. The Steeltown faithful are hopeful the front office is able to find solutions and help end what is now a 25-year Grey Cup drought.