The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-2) and the BC Lions (2-1) face off at Tim Hortons field to close week four of the CFL season. The Tiger-Cats hope that the energy of the home opener will kick start the team after a slow start to the 2017 campaign. The Lions are on the final leg of a three game road trip, and will have to battle fatigue and a raucous Tim Hortons Field crowd if they want to escape with the third victory of their eastern swing.
The Tiger-Cats lineup is largely unchanged from last week in Saskatchewan, with Head Coach Kent Austin electing to allow his starters to develop in their positions.
“At some point we’ve got to settle in and give guys a chance to develop that haven’t played a lot of football games,” said Coach Austin. “If you’re going to make some changes and you’re going to try and figure things out, we’re going to do that early [in the season] as opposed to late.”
The receiving corps looks identical to the group in Regina, with the up-start Jalen Saunders and the seasoned Junior Collins earning their second consecutive start.
Differences come at SAM linebacker and right tackle. With LB Will Hill serving his one game suspension, Keon Lyn will slot into the lineup.
Lamar Holmes, former Atlanta Falcon, will get the start at RT for the Ticats. Drafted in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft, Holmes started in one game in his rookie campaign, but followed it up with 15 starts for the Falcons in his sophomore season. Two seasons of unfortunate injuries derailed Holmes NFL career and in June he signed with the Tiger-Cats as a free agent. With the addition of Holmes the Ticats hope to buy Collaros some more time in the pocket.
The visiting Lions are bringing a streaking Jeremiah Johnson to town. Montreal’s excellent run defence didn’t stop the Leo’s explosive RB from factoring into the offence, as he posted 68 receiving yards in the showdown, good for most on the team. Johnson has been a major part of the Lion’s offence, accounting for over a quarter of the team’s total offensive yardage and scoring almost half the team’s offensive touchdowns. Shutting down the dual threat RB is the first step to shutting down the BC Lion’s offence.
Defensively, the Lions all-star linebacker, Solomon Elimimian, is coming off a 14 tackle performance. The veteran Elimimian is leading the Lions defence by example.
The Lions are hoping to return home with three eastern victories under their belt. The Tiger-Cats hope to leverage their home field advantage, and deal the Lions their first eastern loss.
