Hamilton Tiger-Cats start too late, fall at home to Montreal Alouettes (& five other thoughts)

Photo: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography / 3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats dropped their fourth straight game, falling to 4-10 on Friday night at home against the Montreal Alouettes.

The 37-25 final in favour of the Als saw Montreal pick up their third win of the season against the Ticats, sweeping the season series with two victories coming at Hamilton Stadium.

For the Tiger-Cats, playoff hopes continue to slip away with inconsistent play as the team is on the outside looking in for the third seed in the East Division.

Nothing went right for Hamilton in the first three quarters of the game. The Tabbies faced a 34-3 deficit with 13:22 left in the fourth quarter, before the offence began to find a rhythm. For the Tiger-Cats, you can pull positives from the end of the game, carrying into next week’s game against Edmonton. However, it was not enough on Friday night against the Alouettes.

What went wrong?

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

I am begging you, do not call it a comeback. Hamilton was down and out, facing a 31-point deficit into the fourth quarter. Montreal had taken their foot off the gas.

While it builds confidence for quarterback Harrison Frost, who needed it, the Tiger-Cats put themselves in a position to lose before scoring their first touchdown.

Frost was inconsistent with his passes leading into the fourth quarter before beginning to dial it in. He made some good throws in three consecutive drives and was able to move through his progressions quickly. Through the course of the game, he did not make the best decisions, but he confidently let the ball go.

It felt as though Montreal dropped into a shell defence late in the game and allowed more space for the Ticats receivers. Frost was able to dissect and make plays, finding Kiondre Smith, Kurleigh Gittens Jr. and Keric Wheatfall for touchdowns.

While it was nice to see Hamilton not give up on the game, it was too late to think about a win. If they can find the pace they played with in the fourth quarter, while spreading it out over the course of an entire game, they have the bones to be a serviceable offence. It did not happen against the division-leading Alouettes.

That game did end on a sour note. Frost threw two interceptions in the final drives. Both were trying to force the ball into windows that were not there. The first one was a miscommunication with the receiver, and Gamon Green was the only player in the vicinity of the ball.

That capped off a four-interception game for Frost, his second interception came on the opening Ticats drive of the second half. He was rushed out of the pocket by Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund and overthrew Wheatfall. Lorenzo Burns was waiting for the ball and took it away for Montreal.

Frost’s first interception came when defensive end Lwal Uguak dropped into coverage. This one hurt because Frost had time to see him. A tough start for Frost, who settled in late in the game, but poor accuracy and bad decisions early put Hamilton behind the eight ball.

It is tough to win games when giving a quality opponent extra possessions and those interceptions were not the only turnovers.

ALMOST ALWAYS AUTOMATIC

Jake Dolegala has been great as a short yardage option for the Tiger-Cats this season. It feels like when he is on the field Hamilton has a chance to continue the drive. That was the feeling when he trotted onto the field early in the second quarter around midfield for a third-and-one.

Montreal got a better push off the line of scrimmage and stood Dolegala up. While bodies were flying in the pile, Nate Beauchemin came away with the ball and started barreling towards the Ticats end zone. After a review, Dolegala had the ball punched out and it was indeed a touchdown.

You knew going into the contest it was going to be an uphill battle for Hamilton. That began the feeling of anything that can go wrong, will go wrong for the Tiger-Cats on Friday night.

It was nice to see Hamilton continue to push forward after and continue to go to Dolegala in short yardage, not moving away from a small beam of light offensively this season for the Ticats.

It is also important to note that I do not believe the Ticats would have gotten the first down. Montreal’s front was too strong for Hamilton on the play. While the defence may have limited the damage on a turnover on downs, Montreal would have had the ball either way.

IMPROVING PLAY UPFRONT

While the Ticats lost the down that led to the Beauchemin touchdown, the offensive line improved on Friday night compared to weeks past.

It was a combination of Frost making quick decisions as well as better play from the big boys at the line of scrimmage. Hamilton did not give up a sack the entire night, officially, allowing Frost to create from the pocket.

The lone time Montreal got home was in the fourth quarter, where Frost had been hit by a defender’s arm to the face. That was on third down and allowed a touchdown drive to continue. But through the beginning of the game, I felt this was the best we had seen the line play.

While the Ticats are still allergic to the running game, we saw bursts from Larry Rountree III. Rountree III, who did not play in the Tiger-Cats last game, was limited to six carries for 34 yards with a long of 12. It was mostly positive when he got the ball in his hands.

As the losses continue to pile up for Hamilton, and the offence has struggled to find their game, it was not the offensive line at fault on Friday. If they continue that level of play moving forward, they will give their team a chance to win.

FIRST HALF DECISIONS

I felt the same way as the home crowd at Hamilton Stadium at the end of the first half. The boos heard as the Tiger-Cats settled for a 13-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter were warranted.

It was the final three minutes of the first half that I felt Scott Milanovich made two questionable decisions.

The first was the play at the three-minute warning. On a second-and-two, Montreal threw an incompletion from the Hamilton 45-yard line. The Alouettes were called for holding and Milanovich elected to push Montreal back to second-and-12.

Had the penalty been declined it would have been third-and-two from the Hamilton 45-yard line. Montreal likely would have settled for a 52-yard field goal attempt to take a 20-0 lead late in the first half.

The natural mindset to have is they have two plays to get 12 yards or one play to get two yards, push them back. I can understand that argument, under normal circumstances. My rebuttal would be: are you new to 2026 Hamilton Tiger-Cat football?

If you have been following along all season, you know how poor the Ticats defence is on second and long. Based on how the group has played this season, I have more faith in the defence on a third-and-two rather than a second-and-12.

Alas, Milanovich elected to push back the Alouettes and as you can imagine, Montreal converted for a first down.

The Alouettes finished the drive in the end zone with a 12-yard Tyson Philpot receiving touchdown. Montreal was up 24-0 with 1:11 to go in the first half.

Then came the final drive for Hamilton.

With nine seconds left, Hamilton used their first of two available timeouts. They had a first-and-10 from the Montreal 13-yard line.

Naturally, you would think Hamilton would take a shot at the end zone, knowing that they likely have two attempts. Naturally, you would be wrong.

Frost threw a hook route to Myron Mitchell, moving the ball eight yards with three seconds left. Knocking on the door with a chance to get on the board going into halftime down by three scores, Hamilton played it safe.

Mark Liegghio connected on a 13-yard field goal and Hamilton went to the locker room down 24-3.

You were going to be down three possessions no matter the result of the final play of the first half, why not try to score a touchdown? I understand taking the points if you are down 10, but trailing by 24 points? A field goal is a small chip away at the deficit.

A LOOK FORWARD

Hamilton’s future is not completely in their own hands. With five weeks to go in the regular season, if the Ticats hope to make the playoffs, they will need to run the table.

The Tiger-Cats have their hands full in Week 17 as they travel to Edmonton to take on the Elks on Saturday night. Kickoff on September 26 is set for 7:00 p.m. EDT.

If we see the fourth quarter Ticats at Commonwealth Stadium, Hamilton has a chance to make it a game. As it has felt since the injury to Bo Levi Mitchell, next week there might be a chance.