The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will look to get back on track when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers visit Tim Hortons Field on July 7 to kickoff Week 3 action in the Canadian Football League.
The Ticats looked impressive in their Week 1 win against the Toronto Argonauts, but took a step back in their 28-3 home opener loss against the BC Lions on Canada Day. Hamilton was busy tinkering their lineup after last week’s defeat, releasing veteran defensive back Geoff Tisdale and trading linebacker Alex Hoffman-Ellis for a conditional eighth round pick in 2018 from the Edmonton Eskimos earlier this week.
“We just feel that we need to get better in that spot and get some guys, especially some guys that are now healthy, give them a chance and try to improve,” head coach Kent Austin said about the decision to release Tisdale.
The Ticats showed glimpses of the team that dominated the Argos in Week 1 and gave themselves opportunities to get back into the game on Friday night, including two fumble recoveries by defensive end John Chick. Ultimately, the Ticats were unable to capitalize on the Lions’ turnovers and thread together a string of effective plays to put more points on the board.
Hamilton’s best drive of the game came in the final minutes of the second quarter when Jeremiah Masoli completed 8-of-9 passes for 74 yards, setting up Brett Maher for a long 48-yard field goal attempt. The ball was slowed by the wind and fell short of the uprights. The Ticats and Lions combined for five missed field goals on the night.
The Black and Gold had a short six-day turnaround this week and will now face a struggling Blue Bombers squad in search of their first win of the 2016 season.
Austin says that the Bombers 0-2 record makes no difference to how his team plans to approach the game.
“We’ve got our own issues,” said Austin. “We’ve got our own things to correct. Any football team in this league, they can beat you if you don’t play well. It doesn’t matter who they are. We’re focused on ourselves and making sure that we’re well prepared to play and that we make the proper adjustments to the game and that our guys are focused on the right things; and that’s their own performance.”
The Blue Bombers dropped their Week 2 contest 36-22 against a tough Calgary Stampeders squad. In the second Canada Day matchup of the day, the Stamps galloped out of the gate and refused to let up on the Bombers, carrying a convincing 36-7 lead into the final quarter. Drew Willy threw two touchdowns in the final 15 minute, but it was too little too late for Winnipeg. Willy completed 32-of-43 passes with two touchdowns on the night.
The Bombers were also without one of their biggest offensive threats in wide receiver Weston Dressler who was sidelined with a head injury after taking a hit against the Montreal Allouettes in Week 1. Dressler will be back in the lineup at Tim Hortons Field on Thursday night and is looking forward to turning the team’s slow starting season around.
“We’ve obviously had a difficult start; not what we had hoped for coming out of training camp,” Dressler told BlueBombers.com. “But we’re still positive in the locker room. We’ve got a good group of guys… We’re all in this together and we’re fighting to find ways to be better and I think it’s going to show on the field this week.”
The Ticats came away with a 38-8 victory the last time they faced the Bombers in Week 7 of the 2015 season. Hamilton has won 7 of their last 8 meetings against Winnipeg
Quick Facts:
- Winnipeg RB Andrew Harris has averaged 55 yards on the ground vs.the Ticats since entering the league in 2010.
- The threesome of Andy Fantuz, Luke Tasker and Chad Owens has combined for 443 of Hamilton’s 566 passing yards so far in 2016 (78% of the yardage).
- Winnipeg ranks #2 in fewest penalties drawn with only 6.5 per game, one more flag than Calgary. Winnipeg has just two special teams penalties thus far.
