3 Keys: Ticats @ Eskimos

The first place Ticats are continuing their western road swing on Friday night when they take on the Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth Stadium. This is the first meeting between the two teams, with Edmonton being the only squad the Ticats haven’t faced in 2019. Hamilton swept the season series last year, and will be looking to continue that success, starting on Friday night. These are the 3 keys to Ticats @ Eskimos.
 
Sack the Quarterback
 The Ticats have only recorded three sacks combined in their three losses this season. For comparison, they’re averaging 3.33 sacks per game in wins. Edmonton hasn’t announced who their starter is yet as Trevor Harris is dealing with injuries and may be unavailable for Friday night. This makes it even more important to get after the quarterback, whether it’s Harris coming off of an injury or Logan Kilgore making his first start since 2016, the more uncomfortable they feel, the better.
 
Stay hot Dane Evans
Evans has now thrown for at least 300 yards in back to back games and in three of his last four. He’s grown more and more comfortable since taking over the offence in Week 7. He can make every throw on the field and has plenty of weapons around him to have a successful offence.
He’ll have is work cut out for him though, as Edmonton has a very capable defence. The Eskimos allow the least amount of yards in the CFL and rank top three in sacks, interceptions and completion percentage. There’s also a pair of familiar faces in the centre of that defence in middle linebacker Larry Dean and sam linebacker Don Unamba. Dean left Hamilton for Edmonton in the offseason and has picked up right where he left off. With 62 tackles, he currently sits third in the CFL. Unamba has only played in six games this season but has registered 24 tackles and an interception.
 
Protect Dane Evans
In order for Evans to continue his current hot streak, he’ll need to be on his feet. We talked about how solid the Edmonton defence is and this carries over to their ability to rush the quarterback. We’ve talked in the past about how good the Ticats defensive line is (rightfully so) but the Eskimos have the same amount of sacks as the Ticats this season. Perhaps what makes them so effective is the amount of balance they have. Edmonton is the only team in the CFL that has four players with at least five sacks, and they all play on the defensive line. Almondo Sewell, Mike Moore and Kwaku Boateng all have six while Nick Usher is right behind them with five.
The good news is that the Ticats have a great offensive line, and they will certainly be up for the challenge Friday night.
Kick off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. EDT at Commonwealth Stadium, you can watch the game on the TSN network.