The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers celebrated the life of Ted Goveia on Friday in a game about so much more than the scoreline.
Hamilton’s defence was stellar from start to finish as the Ticats downed the Bombers by a score of 32-21 to improve to 8-5 on the season. The offence had one of their most balanced games of the season, and the defensive line had its best game getting to the quarterback.
Here are my thoughts on the Tiger-Cats’ eighth win of the year.
Team Ted
The CFL community mourned the loss of Tiger-Cats’ general manager Ted Goveia on Friday after he lost his battle with cancer at 55. Hamilton had already planned for the return of Goveia’s former team to be dubbed Team Ted Night in honour of the hometown GM, but sadly, he didn’t live to see it.
The outpouring of love from the Canadian football community is a testament to how many people Goveia impacted.
His fingerprints are all over Canadian football. After playing at the junior and collegiate level, Goveia coached in the CJFL and at three different Canadian universities — UBC, Mount Allison, and McMaster — before entering the CFL ranks. He held multiple coaching and front office positions with the Toronto Argonauts, the Blue Bombers and the Tiger-Cats. Goveia led the Bombers to multiple Grey Cup championships over the 11 years he was their assistant general manager, but took what he described as his dream job in Hamilton this past off-season.
A full detailed breakdown of his accolades deserves a story of its own — luckily, my colleague and Ted’s friend, John Hodge, wrote one for any who are interested — but what struck me the most as I read through the heartfelt messages left by loved ones was that Goveia left a lasting impression on every person he came across in the Canadian football world.
The game itself on Friday night, played by his two previous teams, was a shining example of his success. Two teams that Goveia essentially built, coming together to celebrate his life in fitting fashion. The love the players had for him was evident throughout the night. League-wide, teams are wearing Team Ted gear to show their respect to the CFL legend.
Canadian football lost one of its greatest champions, far too soon. My thoughts are with his family and friends.
Tiger-Cats beat writer Steve Milton also wrote a wonderful piece on Goveia, which fully encapsulates his career. I encourage you to give it a read.
Petey sets the tone
We knew the Tiger-Cats were going to want to make a splash to start this game given the circumstances.
Jamal Peters met the moment when he took an early screen pass from Chris Streveler to the Winnipeg seven-yard line. Peters read Steveler’s mail and jumped the screen pass before anybody on Winnipeg could react. The play set the tone for the rest of the game for the Tiger-Cats’ defence, and they never really relinquished control.
A few short plays later, the Ticats cashed in on the interception, as quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell connected with Greg Bell for a seven-yard touchdown.
Getting home
The defensive line, which had previously been Hamilton’s biggest problem on the defensive side of the ball, had a great game for the second week in a row. They set season highs in sacks and in quarterback pressures. Phillip Ossai has clearly earned himself a spot as a starter, as he picked up another two sacks and was all over the backfield on Friday.
One area the D-line still needs to improve, however, is stopping the run. With Zach Collaros on the bench, it was clear Winnipeg was going to go with a heavy dose of Brady Oliveira.
While the Cats certainly played better against the run in the second half, I’m not sure how much of the turnaround was the defensive line and how much of it was Winnipeg’s need to throw the ball down two scores or more.
Oliveira rushed for 116 yards with a long of 30 and finished the contest averaging 7.7 yards per carry. It’s bad enough when the opposing back goes for 100, breaks a big play, and averages near first-down yardage. When you know the run is coming, and the opponent still has the level of success the Bombers did, it’s a problem. Stopping the run needs to be a priority for the Ticats.
A balanced attack
You can’t get any more balanced than the Tiger-Cats were on Friday. They ran the ball 27 times for 163 yards, and Bo Levi Mitchell completed 21 of 28 passes for a total of 230 yards and two touchdowns. Greg Bell was responsible for 137 of the Ticats’ rushing yards, averaging 6.2 yards per carry with a long of 18.
Earlier in the season, Hamilton was bludgeoning teams through the air but struggled on the ground, and the results were reflected in the time of possession numbers. Against the Bombers, Hamilton won the time of possession battle with 34 minutes of offence in comparison to the Bombers’ 25 minutes with the ball. Having a balanced attack makes it harder to contain Mitchell and the passing attack, who have not needed help putting up big numbers.
This is the path to victory for the Tiger-Cats. A balanced attack which can hit you at any time, but can work the clock if need be. Late-game theatrics aside, it’s a big reason why this one didn’t end up a photo finish like the previous two.
Field Goals over touchdowns
I’m going to preface this by saying that I hate questioning coaching decisions. Scott Milanovich has forgotten more about Canadian football than I know, and he has a better feel for any given contest than I ever will.
While I understand the decision to take the points twice on third and short deep in Winnipeg territory, I don’t 100 percent agree with it. Winnipeg was struggling moving the ball offensively, and both times the Tiger-Cats opted to kick, they were up 10 points with the opportunity to go up 17.
Every point matters, obviously, but a 10-point lead and a 13-point lead are both just two-score leads. A 17-point lead is a three-score lead and commanding control if your opponent can’t move the ball.
To be fair, the game plan worked. The Cats trusted their defence on multiple occasions and took the points repeatedly, and though it didn’t happen right away, they built a big lead doing so. Still, I have to question the decision not to go with Jake Dolegala in short yardage, given how effective he’s been.
Twice, the Tiger-Cats could have all but put Winnipeg to bed, and twice, they let them off the hook with a field goal. Again, maybe it’s what this game called for. On third down inside three yards, I’d like the decision to go for it to be near automatic.
Missing Wooden
Winnipeg played the field position game last night, and thanks to great coverage, it usually meant Hamilton was facing a long field. Phillip Brooks averaged 4.4 yards per return for the Ticats as he continues to handle returner duties in place of the injured Isaiah Wooden Sr.
Hamilton could have used one of Wooden’s explosive returns in this one. Though there is no official timetable for his return, he has indicated he is getting closer to one multiple times on social media. Here’s hoping we see him in the lineup the next time the Tiger-Cats play the Blue Bombers.
A scary situation
It sucks to see anybody get hurt, especially if they have to be carted off. It was especially gut-wrenching to see Devin Veresuk motionless on the turf after Ossai fell and made contact with his head on a play in the fourth quarter. Given the remarkable season Veresuk has had as a rookie, knowing his work ethic and how badly he wants to contribute, this one really hurt.
Veresuk has 46 defensive tackles, two special teams tackles, one interception and two touchdowns in the first 13 games of his CFL career. It was encouraging to see him give the thumbs-up on his way off the field. I hope we’ll see him healthy and back in the lineup soon.
Garbage time
There’s garbage time, and then there is whatever was going on in Hamilton on Friday. After scoring a touchdown to make it an 11-point game, Winnipeg recovered their onside kick, and it suddenly became a little more interesting. It’s worth noting it was a two-score game either way, and the Bombers had plenty of work to do to complete a comeback.
They never got the chance to try because the command centre overturned the play, stating Nik Demski made illegal contact before the ball was touched. Hamilton made Winnipeg re-kick the ball. Winnipeg went offside while doing so, then the referees thought Hamilton accepted the penalty, which they would never do because declining meant they received the ball, and accepting gave the Bombers another kick at the can.
In all, it took around eight minutes for a kickoff to be sorted out. The very definition of garbage time. Especially if you consider the final drive Winnipeg went on, which resulted in a …
Spread-saving tackle
Love it or hate it, sports betting has become a ginormous part of the whole experience for a large percentage of sports fans. Personally, I did not touch this game, but it wasn’t lost on me what went down on the final play of the game.
The spread for this one was -6.5 and the Ticats looked like they were going to cover for around a quarter and change. A late score from Winnipeg put the spread within one score of being beaten, and after Hamilton went two-and-out following the kicking debacle, Winnipeg had the chance to spoil or make fans’ night, depending on who they put money on.
If you took Hamilton (and you should have, you’re reading the Tiger-Cats recap), you can thank Brian Cole for tackling Chris Streveler at the one-yard line. Cover secured.
