The Tiger-Cats (9-5) take to the road to meet the Alouettes (5-9) at Percival Molson Stadium on Sunday, in the third and final regular season battle between the two teams this season.
The Ticats enter the game on a winning note, after avoiding their first three-game losing streak of 2015 with a home win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Jeff Mathews rebounded from a couple of shaky performances and broke out with a 385-yard performance on 22-of-33 passing. The rookie quarterback delivered three touchdown passes on the day, the first of which was his first career passing TD in the CFL.
The home victory was of the convincing variety, as the Ticats racked up a big lead early and never lost it. With Hamilton leading 20-0 after the first half, Riders quarterback Kevin Glenn was chased from the game early after a rough start. Brett Smith was inserted into the game and led the Riders to 15 second-half points, but it was too little too late and the Ticats cruised to a 30-15 win.
The Alouettes enter the game on a different note, after losing a close contest against the Argonauts on Monday night. The Als started slow, trailing for most of the first half before grabbing a 9-7 lead with 2:43 remaining in the second quarter. The halftime lead held up until a Justin Palardy field goal late in the third quarter, giving the Argos a 10-9 lead. The Argonauts never looked back, scoring 15 fourth-quarter points to win the game 25-17.
Rakeem Cato was taken out of the loss with a concussion, and both Anthony Boone and Tanner Marsh struggled in his stead, each throwing interceptions in the second half. Prior to Wednesday afternoon’s CFL trade deadline, the Alouettes made a move for veteran QB Kevin Glenn, bringing in the 15-year CFLer in hopes of saving their slim playoff hopes.
Ottawa’s victory over the Bombers on Friday night solidified their playoff position and essentially knocked the Alouettes out of the East Division playoff picture. The loss by the Bombers increased the Als’ chance at a West Division crossover, but that will still require them to win the majority (if not all) of their remaining four games.
Today’s road game against the Alouettes will kick off at 1:00 p.m. ET. To catch all the action Ticats game action tune into TSN or TSN 1150. To further enhance your game-watching experience sign up for Ticats All Access to play the GameDay Predictor Challenge!
TIGER-CATS HISTORY AGAINST MONTREAL
| WINS | LOSSES | TIES | PTS FOR | PTS AGAINST | |
| ALL-TIME | 82 | 92 | 7 | 2084 | 2432 |
| LAST 10 (TOTAL) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 265 | 265 |
| LAST 10 (at MTL) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 187 | 333 |
| IN 2015: | 0 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 36 |
KEYS TO THE GAME:
Find a balance on offence: The Ticats were unable to generate any rushing attack in the first two games of the season against the Alouettes, running for a combined 114 yards in those two games. When the running game is unable to produce, it makes life harder on the entire offence and handicaps the Ticats high-powered passing attack. The past two games have seen the Ticats find a rhythm on the ground with running back Michael Ford, and carrying that forward into Week 17 is vital to their success in Montreal.
Get off to a fast start: The Ticats have held a lead heading into the second quarter of 11 of their 14 games this season. Of those 11 games of leading after the first 15 minutes, the Ticats have won eight times. Both games against the Alouettes this season have seen the Ticats trailing after the first quarter, and both games resulted in a loss for the Black and Gold. In Montreal on Sunday, the Ticats must find a way to hold a lead heading into the second frame and increase their impressive +103 scoring ratio in the first quarter of games.
Make life difficult on Kevin Glenn: Whether it’s with tight coverage or with direct pressure, the Ticats must find a way to make the game difficult for Glenn. The veteran QB already faces a challenge with a new offence to run, but anything additional that the Ticats are able to add to his plate will create opportunities for turnovers and mistakes to be made.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Andy Fantuz: The Ticats star Canadian receiver makes his return to the lineup after missing the last nine games on the team’s injured list. Fantuz was injured in Hamilton’s home-opener and will finally get a chance to get back on the field against the Alouettes. Having Fantuz back in the lineup expands the Ticats offensive capabilities and makes the passing attack even more potent. It will be interesting to see how involved the veteran Canadian is after nine weeks of injury time and no previous game experience with rookie quarterback Jeff Mathews.
Ted Laurent: The Ticats defensive tackle began the season on a tear, recording three sacks in the team’s first five games and putting himself on pace to best his career-high season total. Since then, Laurent has not brought down the opposing quarterback once and has recorded multiple tackles in just one of the last five games. Laurent remains one of the Ticats most talented defensive players, and the Montreal native always gets extra motivation from playing in his hometown. The Ticats Canadian All-Star will be one performer to keep a close eye on in the battle in the trenches this weekend.
SJ Green: Green is one of the league’s most talented wideouts, and he’s managed to record nearly 1,000 yards over the course of a season where he’s been thrown to by seven different quarterbacks. Kevin Glenn is expected to be the seventh pivot to enter a game for the Alouettes in 2015; whether or not Glenn is able to get on the same page as SJ Green will be vital to how the Als move the ball through the air in this game and moving forward.
Gabriel Knapton: Knapton brought down Argos quarterback Trevor Harris for a career-high three sacks in last week’s contest, improving his season total to eight. In Knapton’s last two games he has recorded four of his eight sacks. The Ticats offensive line will have to pay special attention to the veteran pass rusher in this week’s road contest.
TEAM CONNECTIONS:
Offensive guard Ryan Bomben played the first four seasons of his CFL career (2010-2014) as a member of the Alouettes offensive line, while Ed Gainey also spent two seasons in the burgundy and blue (2012-13). Mike Edem, who played 39 career games for the Als over the last three seasons, is on the Ticats active roster for his first game in the Black and Gold.
Meanwhile, there are six former Ticats on the opposition’s roster: Kevin Glenn (54 games), Samuel Giguere (47 games), Dobson Collins (4 games), Kyries Hebert (2 games), Dan Lefevour (4 games), Brandon Rutley (5 games).
