Hamilton Tiger-Cats experience deja vu in 28-23 loss to Riders (& 13 other thoughts)

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have seen this movie before.

Plenty of improvement across the board, a monster performance from Kenny Lawler, and a bad case of the yips for kicker Brett Lauther were not enough to prevent the Tabbies from falling 28-23 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.

For a second straight home opener, Hamilton had life until the dying seconds. Last year, it was a defensive meltdown and a walk-off field goal. This time around, Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton offence fell short on a would-be game-winning drive. Different cause of death, same result. The Tiger-Cats remain winless and searching for answers.

Here are my thoughts on the game.

Moxey nabs picks in back-to-back weeks

After Hamilton punted on their opening drive, Trevor Harris quickly moved the ball from the Saskatchewan 21-yard line to the 55. The defence looked to be on their heels for the second consecutive game-opening drive when Jonathan Moxey stepped in.

Moxey alleviated the pressure with his second interception in as many games, corralling the deflection from a Stavros Katsantonis hit. This ties his career high in interceptions just two games into the season. Safe to say it has been a good start for the six-year CFL veteran.

A glimpse of what could be

For the first time in 2025, the CFL got a look at what the Hamilton offence can do.

Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell connected with Tyler Ternowski, running back Greg Bell, Kenny Lawler, and Tim White over the course of a 74-yard touchdown drive on their second series. Mitchell went six-of-six and found a wide-open White in the end zone to go up 7-0. The only incompletion on the drive was ruled pass interference.

When Hamilton added Lawler to an already potent offence, this is what they expected. Now it’s about finding a way to make it happen with more consistency.

Ouellette runs wild

Right up until this play, Hamilton’s defensive line showed a ton of improvement in both stopping the run and making life hard for Trevor Harris.

 A.J. Ouellette changed the tune in a hurry with a career-long 47-yard touchdown run. 

This one stung the Ticats in a big way after a really good half of football from the defence. 

B-Oh no

Just like their loss in Calgary, two plays flipped this game on its head.

The Ouellette run, and Rolan Milligan Jr.’s interception returned for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

I’m not sure If Mitchell didn’t see Milligan Jr. lurking, or if he didn’t get enough on the throw. 

Either way, the 64-yard pick-six put the Riders in control.

Two-point Busby

Dhel Duncan-Busby has scored eight points for the Riders in his CFL career. All eight points have come on two-point conversions. 

Harris found Duncan-Busby in the back of the endzone for his fourth career two-pointer on Saturday. It’s not like Duncan- Busby isn’t used often in the Riders’ offence — he had five receptions for 60 yards on the night — so this is a fun stat.

Quirky statistics aside, there’s no reason success on the two-point shouldn’t translate to success in the red zone for Duncan-Busby. Hamilton should keep this in mind when the two teams meet again in August. 

Failing to capitalize

The Cats should get full credit for responding. The game could have gotten out of hand after the Milligan Jr. interception and 14 unanswered points put on the board by Saskatchewan. They stemmed the bleeding, responded, and had every chance to win down the stretch.

One of the biggest reasons Hamilton couldn’t take the opportunity was failing to capitalize on 10 points left off the board by Riders kicker Brett Lauther.

Mother Nature must have been sending some killer wind off of Lake Ontario because Lauther’s viewfinder was off all night. He missed three field goals and an extra point. 

With so much space out wide and a full set of O-linemen on the field, Hamilton needs to take advantage of missed kicks.

There was a time when one missed kick equalled the possibility of a house call in The Hammer. If a kicker has the yips like Lauther did, Hamilton’s returners should have been licking their chops. 

Flipping field position or taking one to the house could have been the difference in this one, but Isaiah Wooden only managed 33 yards.

Kenny goes crazy 

Have yourself a day Kenny Lawler.

Some receivers dream of making half the plays Lawler made in an eight-reception, 162-yard performance.

He climbed the ladder in the first half, elevating to ridiculous heights to make an incredible catch. He followed it up with his longest catch of the night and a monster second half. When the game got close, Mitchell looked essentially nowhere else.

Though teams can key in on a quarterback’s favourite target, the weapons the Ticats have across the board will make it difficult to slow down the Mitchell-Lawler connection. It is going to be a problem for defensive coordinators across the league. 

Second-and-long killing the Cats

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The Tiger-Cats struggle to get off the field on second-and-long. 

It killed them in Calgary, it killed them this week. Second down will be a huge focus for defensive coordinator Brent Monson going forward.

 The Ticats have to be better at getting themselves a break when the opportunity is presented. 

Still can’t apply enough pressure

Tied 20-20, Hamilton cannot afford to give Trevor Harris forever and a day to throw the ball. 

With a chance to get a stop and the ball back, the pass rush allowed Harris to set his feet, survey the field, and eventually scamper out of the pocket before completing a pass at the sticks.

There’s not much the D-line can do when Hamilton is rushing three. More pressure in key situations should be on the menu going forward.

Head-scratching challenge

The decision to challenge what looked like a clear catch early in the fourth quarter was a puzzling one. 

There was really no need for Hamilton to burn their challenge on what looked like it would have been ruled a catch in the NFL, where a player needs to get two feet in bounds instead of just one. 

Dohnte Meyers took a full step before laying out on the sideline. It looked like he clearly completed the process of the catch. I’m not sure what they saw here.

Back in time

Ultimately, the Riders challenging a Kenny Lawler catch had no bearing on the result of the drive or the contest. Still, it was one of the weirder CFL moments in recent memory and is worth addressing. 

Mitchell found Lawler deep downfield early in the fourth quarter, putting them on the 1-yard line. Saskatchewan head coach Corey Mace apparently threw a challenge flag hoping to have the play reviewed.

Here’s where it gets weird. 

The Riders noticed their coach had thrown a flag, but the referee did not. Hamilton snapped the ball and Ante Milanovic-Litre scored a touchdown. Apparently, somewhere along the way the officiating crew realized the Riders were trying to challenge the previous play.

Don’t get me wrong, a variation of this happens in football all the time. Teams do get stopped from running a play as a late challenge flag comes in. Sometimes quarterbacks have already dropped back because they don’t hear referees frantically trying to blow the play dead. The difference here is they didn’t blow the play dead at all.

The officiating crew let Hamilton snap the ball, threw a penalty flag, and let Litre cross the goal line. They then got together and decided Mace threw the challenge flag in time and awarded the Riders the review.

If I’m a head coach tied in the fourth quarter, I’m waiting as long as I can to throw a challenge flag and challenging anything I can to take a TD off the board.

Who knows what happens on the do-over? A bad snap or a false start and you might have just saved four points.

Hamilton didn’t commit a penalty on the play, they got into formation and snapped the ball before the challenge flag was acknowledged, and the referees made no effort to blow the play dead. 

Once the ball is snapped and there are no whistles, you can’t go back in time. 

Another home opener ends in heartbreak

Sometimes it just isn’t your night. The Tiger-Cats went toe-to-toe with a really good team in the fourth quarter but fell just short. 

Pass breakups on second and third down stalled the Cats’ comeback attempt at the 55-yard line. Saskatchewan took away what had been available all night and made a play when Mitchell made a good adjustment trying to find Bell at the sticks. 

The Riders took over after the turnover on downs and kneeled out a 28-23 victory.

The loss moves Hamilton to 0-2 heading into a bye week. They are back in action at home against the red-hot Montreal Alouettes (2-0) on Friday, June 27. Kickoff for the contest against the Als is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT. The Tiger-Cats will need their most complete game of the season if they hope to knock Davis Alexander and Montreal off their current perch.