The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will have plenty to go over in the film room despite snapping their three-game losing skid.
Hamilton downed the Montreal Alouettes 26-9 on Saturday to improve to 7-5 despite a rocky start. The Ticats’ much-maligned running game came to life in la belle province; the entire defence had a bounce-back performance, Bo Levi Mitchell surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards, and the Cats suffered a key loss with the injury of Kiondre Smith.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Ball control
Nasty weather did not help Hamilton in the turnover category; however, we cannot blame inclement conditions in the CFL. Greg Bell, who will get his flowers for a phenomenal performance later, needs to cover the ball with two hands with contact approaching.
Bell was met by a pair of Alouettes near the goal line and fumbled after being hit. Lorenzo Burns recovered the fumble, and Hamilton walked away with nothing. To be fair, Bell got hit high and low by two Alouettes. Still, you have to protect the rock.
After Hamilton put three points on the board, Bo Levi Mitchell was the next to be bitten by the turnover bug. A presumably slick football slipped out of his hands and floated helplessly over the nearest Tiger-Cat and into the waiting arms of Burns, who had a great half for Montreal.
Hamilton’s identity in their wins has been explosive offence and winning the turnover battle. Kicking things off by giving the ball away twice was not ideal after moving the ball effectively.
Returning to form
Defensive coordinator Brent Monson certainly got the most out of his defence one week removed from the Labour Day heartbreaker. Hamilton’s defence was the one unit that was at their best from the opening kick on.
Hamilton returned to their bend but don’t break style, and had one of their better games rushing the passer. All nine of Montreal’s points came in the first half, all off the leg of kicker Jose Carlos Maltos. The Alouettes failed to score in the second half, thanks in large part to a forced fumble by Jonathan Moxey and an interception by Miles Fox with the help of some pressure from the d-line. Julian Howsare gave the Alouettes fits all night and had both of the Tiger-Cats’ sacks.
Sure, the Als were without their starting quarterback, with Davis Alexander still on the sidelines. But you beat whoever is put in front of you. The defence was the reason Hamilton was able to turn a terrible first quarter into a desperately needed victory.
Ringing the touchdown Bell
The Tiger-Cats’ run game has been virtually nonexistent this season. The lack of production has been mitigated by the fact that Hamilton has had no issue moving the ball through the air.
In Montreal, they needed Greg Bell to help wake the offence up. Bell looked dialed in after his first quarter fumble, averaging 7.8 yards a carry and finishing with 156 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries. Bell was the Ticats’ second most productive receiver behind Kenny Lawler as well, with four receptions for 29 yards. It was one of his best games in black and gold. They do not come close to winning this football game without his production.
Kick coverage still an issue
Lost in the chaos of the Dejon Brissett winning touchdown last week was the fact the Argonauts threw up their prayer from near midfield because, like it had all game, the Ticats’ coverage team gave up a big return. Montreal had three sustained drives in the first half and two in the second half, but were threatening the Ticats too often, thanks again to open lanes on kickoff coverage.
Montreal averaged 12.8 yards per return on punts and 20.8 yards on kickoff returns after picking up 84 yards on four kicks. Field position is critical, and teams have had good field position to start drives all year against the Tiger-Cats. It is a noticeable area where they need to get better.
Lawler masks an off-night
I always watch the receivers closely, and this was certainly an off-night. Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 191 yards, 79 of which were provided by Kenny Lawler. Tim White was the next most productive receiver with 26 yards.
One positive was the number of receivers Mitchell found. Though all limited in their production, Tyler Ternowski, Shemar Bridges, Brendan O’Leary-Orange, Johnny Augustine, and Kiondre Smith all had receptions. Unfortunately, the majority of those players had one or two. Only Lawler, Bell, and White cracked the 20-yard mark.
We’ve seen Lawler win football games, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether or not teams know Mitchell is looking his way. In Hamilton’s worst loss of the season, Saskatchewan put a cap on Lawler and the Ticats offence could not find an answer all night long.
The aerial attack has been the most potent in the CFL and has three of the top 10 receivers in the league. I am sure they will be fine. With the Als struggling to find the end zone all night, Hamilton could have broken this one wide open if they were moving the ball like they are used to through the air.
Holding their breath
The entire Hamilton Tiger-Cats organization had to be holding its collective breath when Kiondre Smith stayed down on a play early in the first half. Smith had one catch for seven yards and missed essentially the entirety of the first half after getting poked in the eye. He was presumably okay, as he returned to action in the second half, but he was not able to add another reception.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on practice (no pun intended). I don’t think this will keep him out of action, but I’m no doctor and it’s not my place to speculate.
What I can tell you is losing Smith for any period of time would be a major blow to the Ticats offence. He has 53 receptions for 753 yards and has put up ridiculous stat lines over the past three weeks. He combined for over 300 yards in the last two games and was one half of the receiving duo that went for more than 250 yards on Labour Day. Smith has emerged as one of the top receivers in the CFL. There is no understating how valuable it is to have a Canadian receiver producing the way he is.
Mr. 1,000?
Stop the presses. We got it all wrong. Bo Levi Mitchell is a serious dual-threat quarterback.
Okay, maybe not, but Mitchell did have a 14-yard touchdown carry to put him over 1,000 rushing yards in his career. He joked after the game that he was the quarterback who took the longest in CFL history to accomplish the feat. Having a starting quarterback who can take off is an asset, even if you’re not going to see Bo in full flight often.
Breathing room
The win provides a little bit of room to breathe, but by no means is anything guaranteed. The biggest worry for the teams in second to fourth place in the division will be the West crossover, and Hamilton wants nothing to do with falling into that race.
It is also worth noting B.C. hasn’t played Calgary. If they steal a win from the Stamps, it will greatly increase the chance of a crossover. Winnipeg has a handful of games against East Division teams remaining, and two of them are against Hamilton. Those are the two teams most likely to cross over, but Edmonton just entered the mix. B.C. and Edmonton are tied for fourth place in the West Division at 5-7.
Whether they won or lost against Montreal, both a first-place finish and missing the playoffs entirely would remain realistic possibilities for the Ticats. I’m sure they are far happier facing this reality with a two-game cushion on the next best team in the division.
Hamilton has now won the season series against all of the East Division teams except Toronto. They still have the opportunity to avenge their Labour Day loss and win the (poorly named) Harold Ballard Trophy. The win over Montreal means they completely control their own destiny when it comes to winning the division. Every win is critical, but this one had major playoff implications.
