The last time the Hamilton Tiger-Cats played the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Ticats committed six turnovers and lost 28-24. Despite the miscues, they had a number of opportunities to win the game late and while it would be wrong to say they deserved to win it, they probably should have.
Three weeks later, they get their chance at redemption in a weird Wednesday night match up in Winnipeg. The Ticats are coming off a big comeback win, a bye week and are relatively healthy by football standards. They are a perfect 3-0 at Investors Group Field.
But that loss at Tim Hortons Field sticks with them.
“It’s annoying to lose. When you have an opportunity to win a game, then you watch the tape and see all the mistakes you made…” said linebacker Simoni Lawrence. “Anytime you lose to anybody, you want to come back and prove you can beat them.”
The Bombers, meanwhile, are 2-4, banged up and dealing with lingering questions surrounding the job security of head coach Mike O’Shea. A win last week over Edmonton quieted the braying masses somewhat but the Bombers have yet to win a game at home this season and have won just seven times since opening their new barn at the start of 2013.
Traditionally one of the CFL’s most vibrant fan bases, Bomber fans have started to demonstrate disturbing signs of apathy.
“This is a huge game for us, we want to get the city excited again about the football team,” said running back Andrew Harris, a native Winnipegger. “This is a must-win for us at home right now.”
The Bombers will be without leading receivers Darvin Adams and Weston Dressler and are holding their secondary together with duct tape and baling wire. Starting quarterback Drew Willy has been benched in favour of backup Matt Nichols, who threw for 304 yards in the win over the Eskimos.
Lawrence played with Nichols in Edmonton.
“I call him’ Matty Ice’ because he’s ice cold – he could throw five picks and come out and lead the game-winning drive – I know how he’s built,” Lawrence said. “He’s a competitor: if he sees me in the open field, he might try and run me over. He’d get a concussion, but he’d try it.”
For the Ticats, a decent start and some early consistency would be a welcome a change. With the exception of the season-opener against Toronto, the Ticats have been outscored 57-23 in the first half this season while rallying to a plus-45 point differential in the second 30 minutes.
“It’s usually a multitude of things but one of the things we can do is be a little bit quicker with our adjustments and trust those adjustments,” said head coach Kent Austin. “We’ve addressed it.”
And they’ve certainly finished strong. Hamilton has been lights out defensively in the fourth quarter of games this season, holding opponents scoreless in four of five contests . Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli completed a CFL record 23 straight passes in rallying Hamilton to a historic comeback win in their last game versus Edmonton.
Austin says he can draw a straight line from the Winnipeg loss to the Edmonton win.
“I think what was good was that our players realized that all the way up until 14 seconds left in the game, we had a chance to win the football game,” he said. “It was a good experience in that they realized that you’re never out of a game in this league.”
Certainly by this time they’ve learned their lesson. Or they certainly should have.
•••
Game 6
Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3-2) at Winnipeg Blue Bombers(2-4)
Investors Group Field
Wednesday, August 3
Game time: 8:30 p.m. EST
TV: TSN Radio: TSN 1150
The storyline for Winnipeg: The Bombers are coming off just their second win of the season, a 30-23 victory over Edmonton in which Matt Nichols made his first start of the season at quarterback in place of the benched Drew Willy. Still, Winnipeg has won just 7 of their last 24 games dating back to last season and hasn’t won a game at home since Sept. 12, 2015.
Key injuries: Winnipeg’s top two receivers, Darvin Adams and Weston Dressler, are out so Clarence Denmark, re-signed just this week, and Kris Adams will start. The secondary is banged up, too, with Julian Posey and Macho Harris both sidelined.
Five funky Winnipeg stats:
- Bombers have lost six straight at home dating back to last season, including all three games at Investors Group Field in 2015.
- With a 5.4 yards-per-play average, the Bombers offence is the worst first down team in the CFL. Hamilton’s defence is No. 1 in first down yards allowed.
- Former Ticat Justin Medlock, now with the Bombers, has the league’s longest field goal this season (58 yards.)
- Four of the Bombers’ starting defensive backs have 11 combined career starts. Halfback Bruce Johnson has 37.
- Milt Stegall, who is No. 2 all-time in CFL receiving yards, is being added to the Bombers Ring of Honour at halftime.
The storyline for Hamilton: After slow starts in the last four games in which they’ve been outscored 57-23 in the first half, the Ticats will look to get out of the gate quicker against a Bomber team that’s riddled by injury and feeling pressure to perform at home. Hamilton is coming off a bye week and will have another 10 days off before their next game Aug. 13 in B.C.
Key injuries and roster changes: Defensive back Johnny Sears is out with a lower body injury so Dominique Ellis, who started 14 games over two seasons with Montreal before coming to the Ticats in June, steps in. Defensive end Delano Johnson will take Sears’ spot on the roster, meaning Hamilton will need to use another Canadian in the secondary (likely Mike Daly) if one of their American defensive backs gets hurt. National defensive back Jay Langa returns after missing two games with injury and Canadian linebacker Ron Omara moving to the one-game injured list.
Five funky Hamilton stats:
- Receiver Luke Tasker has caught 90 per cent of the passes thrown to him so far this season, with 35 catches on 39 targets, by far the best mark in the league. He was a perfect 11-for-11 in the July 23 win over Edmonton when he had a career-high 146 receiving yards.
- Hamilton is 3-0 at Investors Group Field since it opened at the beginning of 2013.
- Hamilton is last in the league in time of possession, averaging just 27:17 per game. Winnipeg is next at 29:05.
- The Ticats have forced teams into second-and-long situations (seven or more yards) 61 per cent of the time this season, tied for tops in the CFL.
- Hamilton is 6-11 coming off a bye since 2002 and their .353 winning percentage is the second-worst in the CFL over that span.
TSN play-by-play: Rod Black and Matt Dunigan.
Referee: Andre Prolux
Weather: Partly cloudy, 25 degrees (feels like 32) with a 75 per cent chance of rain and winds out of the Southeast at 18 km/h.
