Tiger-Cats head to Montreal with sights set on extending East Division lead

They’re still a first-place team, and with seven games left in the season they’re a long way from must-win territory. But Saturday afternoon in Montréal is yet another big game for the Ticats, because the team directly behind them in the standings is these very Alouettes.

As the stretch drive heats up, these are two teams in need of a victory. After their heartbreaking hard-to-swallow loss on Labour Day against, oh dear, the Argos the 6-5 Ticats have now lost three games in a row, while the Alouettes (5-6), who started the season at 3-0 are locked in a four-game losing streak, largely because they’ve lost their top three quarterbacks to injury and won’t get No. 1 Davis Alexander back for at least another week.

The last time these two teams met, the Ticats broke a seven-game losing streak against the Als with a convincing 35-17 victory at Hamilton Stadium, their first win after an 0-2 start to the season and kicked-started the team’s first six-game winning streak in six years.

In that game they tightened up their tackling, Bo Levi Mitchell judiciously took what the Als defence gave him and hit nine different receivers including touchdown passes to Kenny Lawler and Tim White, and the defence got aggressive and swagger-ish, with numerous big plays, highlighted by a pick-six from rookie Devin Veresuk in his first start at middle linebacker and a fumble recovery for a touchdown by veteran defensive end Julian Howsare.

Alexander was out for that game but he was replaced by capable and experienced McLeod Bethel-Thompson and was a huge intra-division triumph for the Cats as the Als had won their opening three games. This game is just as big with playoff implications written all over it. The Als’ only loss within the East was against Hamilton (as the Ticats’ only loss to the East was Monday) and this is the final time the two clubs meet in the regular season,

“Like I said last time (they were about to play the Als), it was a measuring stick game for us,” Milanovich said Thursday after his team’s one and only practice this week. “We just need to get back on track no matter who it’s against.”

The Ticats have been exhibiting some flaws in recent weeks and need to tighten those up. Several players referred to it after the Argos snatched Monday’s win from the sharp jaws of defeat, just as the Ticats had appeared to do only 18 seconds earlier on Mitchell’s perfectly-engineered TD pass to Lawler.

Milanovich was expansive on that concept on Thursday, conceding that the winning streak might have camouflaged some fissures that still need filling and improving, which have become a little more evident during their three losses, two of which occurred in the dying moments.

“I think it’s been probably happening all season,” he said. “The difference is, is that we’ve made the plays at the end of the game, and early in a couple of those tight games, where maybe in the first half, (of the season), we’d make a mistake here and there and it didn’t end up hurting us.

“I hate to say this because it’s so cliché, but we’ve got to do the things that we’re coached to do right and not 52 out of the 56 plays, but closer to 55 of the 56 plays.

“It’s been a guy doing his own thing here and a guy doing his own thing there, and I told them this morning it’s not just the rookies. It’s things like that that keep us from winning (the Toronto game), the B.C. game. Obviously, those were critical and tight games that came down to the very end.”

Montréal has also had some tight games this year, losing twice by a single point, but in three of their four losses in their current slump, they’ve been beaten handily by Saskatchewan, B.C. and Winnipeg.

The latter two games were started by quarterback James Morgan, who opened the season as the number four quarterback and gets the nod again Saturday against the Ticats. According to CFL statisticians, during the four-game slide the Als have scored only three touchdowns in 49 possessions. But the offence has added some reinforcements this game with the return of quality receivers Austin Mack and Tyson Philpot and receiver/returner James Letcher Jr. to add to a catching corps that also has Charleston Rambo, who scored three touchdowns in two games against the Cats last year, and dangerous Tyler Snead, who’s on the verge of setting a career high for yardage and will likely surpass 1000 this season.

Aggressive all-star safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy also returns from a month-plus of injury, which should fortify an already-tough Alouettes defence which has not been able to cover for the lack of offence during their slump.

“They’ve had their injuries, I think that has been part of their setback,” Milanovich said. “They’ve lost a couple of close games just like we have. I think they have championship pedigree. My respect for (head coach and offensive coordinator) Jason Maas couldn’t be higher. My respect for (defensive coordinator) Noel Thorpe could not be higher. It’s a tough place to play. A fun place to play. We’re looking forward to going in there.”

The Ticats have been solid on the road with four wins in six games, while the Als have struggled a bit at home at 2-4.

Losing streaks can increase the pressure at home so the Ticats have to take advantage of a quarterback with not much pro game mileage on his odometer and force him into quick and early mistakes. But Morgan has got Mack and Philpot back and when they’re in the same game together those two have accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the team’s completions so they can do damage. Morgan has a cannon for an arm and he’s big and fast so it’s best not to let him and his team gain any confidence.

Neither team has had much of a running game this year—in terms of yardage and attempts—and the Ticats have had only one 20-plus-yard run from scrimmage: by Johnny Augustine, who backs up Greg Bell.

Morgan took over at quarterback two games ago after third stringer Caleb Evans was hurt. Evans had replaced McLeod Bethel-Thompson who had replaced starter David Alexander. While Alexander has dressed for practice this week he didn’t take part in meaningful drills and will likely miss at least one more game.

While the Montréal defence might not have been able to compensate for the injuries at quarterback during their four losses, they’ve got a lot of talent on that side of the ball and is well coached by Noel Thorpe. Milanovich, running back Greg Bell and offensive guard Brandon Revenberg all praised the Montréal defence this week for the way it disguises things, and moves different players around into surprising formations.

For its part, the Cats defence has to take advantage of a quarterback with not much pro game mileage on his odometer and force him into quick and early mistakes. It’s no secret that despite unleashing four sacks against the Argos in that Labour Day Classic heartbreaker, the Ticats need to get to opposing quarterbacks more regularly and definitively. They haven’t exerted enough pressure in key situations during their own slump, especially on the first drive of the game and in the fourth quarter.

They’re giving up far too many yards, and while they’ve done an admirable job in often limiting long opposition drives to field goals, it’s taken a cumulative toll in games, keeping Bo Levi Mitchell’s offence off the field for too long.

The Als, despite getting some key players back, are still unsure of themselves as will happen during a four-game losing streak so Hamilton has to reinforce that by getting to them early, not allowing long confidence-building stretches early, and striking themselves.

And they’ve simply got to be better at their own running game.

Milanovich pointed out this week that there are a lot of components to the Cats not running as often, or for as many yards, as other CFL teams. One is that they’ve got Mitchell and a plethora of all-star type receivers. Another is that they’ve fallen behind at times –which has also struck Montreal in recent games—and that forces you into the air. But the lack of a consistent running game is playing with fire because the Cats are too often facing second downs of seven yards or more. That they’re still putting up the points that they are is a testament to the receivers, the pass protection, and of course to Mitchell. But the weather is about to get nastier and the defences can be more stout in the final third of the season so the run has to be a bigger part of the equation.

“I think continuity has been part of it,” Milanovich said of the running game. “We’ve had a couple of shuffles on the offensive line. We’ve had a couple of different running backs in. I think part of it is also what defences are doing now. All defences are going five down linemen, extra linebackers.

And we’re generally pretty good at throwing the ball so if they want to pack the box, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Ticats left guard Brandon Revenberg said, “You want to be balanced and you want to be great at both of them. Ultimately, you just have to perform in the play at the best of your abilities. So whatever is called you have to execute. Do I like it when we run the ball? Of course. I think most offensive linemen do. But either way, whether it’s running patterns and physical act, you know, you have to you have to execute them.

While the Montréal defence hasn’t been able to cover for the injuries, especially at quarterback, during their four losses, they’ve got a lot of talent there and they’re well-coached by Thorpe who loves to move players around in certain situations. Milanovich, running back Greg Bell and offensive guard Brandon Revenberg all praised the Montréal defence this week for the way it disguises things, and moves different players around into surprising formations.

The Hamilton defence meanwhile, has got to step up more. They do make big plays but they’re giving up long drives early and late in this losing skein. And the overall yardage surrendered is miles too high. Even dating back to their last win, opponents have chalked up an average of about 430 yards per game.

On special teams, the Cats have had a bit of a setback of late.

Since Isaiah Wooden, who was a legitimate candidate for special teams player of the year, was injured in the overtime loss to BC, which opened the losing streak, the return game has really suffered. This is compounded by the Als having the Number 1 punt coverage unit in the league and No. 4 kickoff coverage unit, and Tyrell Richards and Alexandre Gagne rank first and second in special teams coverage. So the Cats are making a change for this game, re-signing speedster Phillip Brooks who was cut after training camp, and installing him as returner in Montréal.

Brooks was cut after training camp back where he was in a group of return contenders along with incumbent Lawrence Woods, who was hurt in camp, Isaiah Wooden, who won the job and starred until he too was injured, and Quavian White who handled the returns the last couple of games.

Brooks was a star running back in high school averaging 150 yards per game but he was also a middle infielder in baseball, heavily scouted and offered scholarships to Vanderbilt, Nebraska and Kansas State. He was a football walk-on at Kansas State and became a star receiver but although he’d returned kickoffs in high school had never handled a punt until college: and he eventually made the all-Big-12 team.

The Ticats have few other roster changes for this game, which is rare for a short week: Ante Litre comes off the injured list and that should be helpful in both the short-run game, and most dramatically on downfield kick coverage, and with the Als’ fierce and tiring defence, the Ticats will be going with seven offensive linemen, not the six they used last week. Arvin Hosseini is elevated from the practice roster to active status for his second appearance. That means that all General Manager Ted Goveia’s first six draft choices from May have made it into uniform this season and five will be in this game.

CATS CLAUSES: Bo Levi Mitchell needs two TD passes to tie Tom Clements for 11th all time in CFL career ranking … Kenny Lawler leads the CFL with a career-high 10 receiving touchdowns and needs only 32 yards to reach 1,000 for the season and 10 catches to establish a career-high … Ticat WR Kiondré Smith was named the CFL’s Honour Roll offensive player of the week for his career-high 171 reception yards against Toronto, 108 of which came after the catch. He had three catches of 30 or more yards … Smith and WILL linebacker Kyler Fisher were named to the weekly Honour Roll as top-ranked receiver and linebacker … when WR Tyler Ternowski blocked a punt that bounced to Devin Veresuk for a touchdown against the Argos on Labour Day, it was the first time at any level of football, that he’d blocked a punt … the last time Hamilton won in Montréal was Aug. 21, 2021 … Hamilton is 5-0 when they’ve won the turnover battle, 1-2 when they don’t … Montréal DE Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund has 8 sacks to lead the CFL … LB Mario Kendricks tops the Ticats with 5 … this week the Ticats released Treshaun Ward, who was the RB in the June win over Montréal … the Als have averaged 22.7 points per game (21 on offence) and the Ticats are tied for No. 1 with Toronto at 30.3 per game (27.7 on offence) … despite a couple of shortfalls last week the Ticats are still tops in the league in red zone touchdown percentage while the Als are ranked ninth … Montréal’s defence is ranked second in the CFL, giving up 349.1 yards per game, 33 fewer than the 8th-ranked Ticat defence … the Als have not been stopped this year on 3rd-down-and-short situations … longtime Ticat Sean Thomas Erlington is listed as starting RB for the Als and the Montréal defence features former Cats DT Dylan Wynn and LB Tyrice Beverette.… Montréal can move into a tie for first with a win but would have to win by 19 points to trump the Ticats if a tie-breaker is needed. The teams don’t play each other again this season.