Strength vs. Strength? Tiger-Cats Defence Faces Stampeders’ Point Machine
The Tiger-Cat defence knows they will have their hands full on Saturday afternoon…they just want them to be full of red and white clothing.
“For sure, you’ve got to be secure against both guys,” Ticat weak side linebacker Braxton Hill says of the Calgary Stampeders’ most influential and elusive runners, tailback Dedrick Mills and quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. “It’s got to be tackling by population, swarming them.”
After two games on the injured list, the hard-hitting Hill returns to the Ticat lineup for Saturday’s (3 p.m. Ticats Audio Network/Y108, TSN) matchup at Hamilton Stadium against the Stamps, who, like the Cats, are 3-4, seeking to reach .500 and not allow more daylight between themselves and the 6-1 team atop their respective divisions (Montréal, Edmonton).
The Ticats are completing a four-game stretch against the CFL’s four highest-scoring offences: Saskatchewan (No. 3); Toronto (4); Montréal (2); and now No. 1 Calgary, whose offence ranks only sixth in yards generated but is the runaway leader in points scored, touchdowns, rushing yards and percentage (32%) of possessions which result in TDs.
The Stamps are a dichotomous team, with their defence—despite some deep talent—allowing more points than any team in the league but the offence on pace to break its own CFL record of 698 points set 32 years ago.
They’ve already put 50 points on the board twice, and Adams has shattered the CFL record for most TD passes thrown to start a season without an interception. It’s reached 20 and is still alive.
And his offence leaves the field with points in its pocket almost 80 per cent of the time they enter the red zone.
It’s an offence stockpiled with lethal weapons. The punishing Mills leads the league in rushing and has gone over 100 yards three times in seven games, and after facing his twin brother Tyson Philpot last week, the Ticats defence will have to contend with his twin brother Jalen, who has 535 yards receiving, 165 more than any other Stamp, a career-high five touchdowns and is coming off a 128-yard effort against the Blue Bombers, that included the longest touchdown of his career (69 yards).
In that 52-30 victory in Winnipeg, former Ticat Tyreik McAllister scored touchdowns in three different ways, including two on offence.
The Stamps have been so explosive their team logo should be a stick of TNT, and its wick is lit by Adams who had a brief and unusual six weeks with the ‘Cats in 2018. He was beaten out by Dane Evans at quarterback during the Johnny Manziel training camp then converted himself to a wide receiver before being released and landing in Montréal as a quarterback again.
He’s one of the best running quarterbacks of his era—which should make for a visually-entertaining afternoon, with similarly quick and elusive Tre Ford starting his third consecutive game for Hamilton—and has thrown at least three TD passes in each of his last five games, only the third time a CFL quarterback has ever done that.
“Every time I’ve played against him since he’s been in the league he’s been streaky and he’s on a season-long tear right now,” Ticat head coach Scott Milanovich said after Friday’s walk-through practice. “We’ve got to get pressure on him, to put them in second-and-long, all those things that make quarterbacks uncomfortable.
“As hot as Vernon is, it’s going to start with stopping the run. That gets back to putting them into second-and-long so our pass rushers can tee off, pin their ears back and put pressure on.”
Hamilton middle linebacker Wynton McManis, who’ll be playing beside Hill, said Adams, “has been doing this a long time and he has a really smooth game. If you watch him escape, it’s not really necessarily full-speed trying to run to the sticks but he’s moving faster than you think and he could tuck it up at any time. So, we have to stick in our matchups, keep our eyes where they should be and tackle, and all run to the ball.”
This could be a contest of strength vs. strength as the Ticats defence—despite some late-game setbacks—ranks second in the CFL in fewest points allowed, yardage surrendered, passing TDs, and has allowed the lowest pass yardage per game and fewest deep (30-plus yards) completions.
“Basically for us, contain the quarterback and stop the run,” says mobile Ticat defensive end Phil Ossai.
Hamilton has not scored a point in the fourth quarter in the past four games and has only 23 in the final frame all season, by far the fewest in the league, while Calgary’s 86 fourth-quarter points are 23 more than anyone else has scored.
“I think the struggles have come from that we haven’t played well offensively and our defence has been on the field too long,” Milanovich said of the barren fourths. “I think that’s been the major problem.”
Indeed, as the Hamilton defence has ascended the offence has struggled since Bo Levi Mitchell was hurt in early July and first, Jake Dolegala and now Ford, have been trying to get up to speed as the No.1 pivot.
And while the Calgary defence is not as dizzyingly complex as the one they faced in Montréal Sunday night, “Their front four is phenomenal,” Ford says, “and what they do run they’re really good at.”
But there is space there for the Cats offence to get some offensive traction. The Stamps defence is ranked only eighth in the league in combined metrics, gives up the most long passing plays and surrenders the highest percentage of touchdown drives.
But to profit, the Ticats offence will have to do better on first downs, where they rank last, the only team averaging less than six yards (5.8) per play. That puts far too much pressure on second-down conversions. Conversely, Calgary averages 7.5 yards on first down and, over time, that leads to points.
“They’ve got an elite running back and the quarterback’s mobile,” Milanovich says. “And I’ve always said when he’s on a hot streak he’s as good as anybody in the world. They’ve got good receivers and Dave (Dickenson, head coach) and his crew do a great job schematically. They’re diverse, there’s a lot of different things that they do.”
As for his own team’s offence, which is also replete with diverse talent and depth, Milanovich quipped earlier this week that he told them, “all we need to do is run the ball better, throw the ball better and block better.
“So we’ve got plenty of things to work on offensively.”
After Saturday, the Ticats will head to BC next weekend.
Calgary, with a quick-turnaround game Thursday night in Toronto as the Argos return to BMO Field after the World Cup, will remain in the area rather than fly west. They’re scheduled to train at McMaster. It’s the first time they’ve combined two games into one road trip since 2002.
CATS CLAUSES
Former Cat returns riding record tailwind
In 2023 Tyreik McAllister was a Tiger-Cat, and the CFL leader in kick return average and all-purpose yards.
Three years later the Cats have to find a way to stop their former teammate.
McAllister, who left the Cats after only one season for a two-year NFL stay with the Las Vegas Raiders, then a couple of months in the UFL, set a CFL record last weekend against Winnipeg when he became the only player to score a touchdown on a rush (17 yards), pass reception (56 yards) and kick return (118-yard missed field goal) and he did it all in the first half.
“We knew he was good and we actually wanted to give him more run plays, get him more touches,” Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson said after Saturday’s 52-30 win in Manitoba.
In his one season as a Cat, McAllister averaged 25.3 yards per kickoff return, averaged 10.8 yards on punt returns and took seven missed field goals for 408 yards that included a 122-yard touchdown in the final regular season game. He was switched from slotback to receiver and played a hybrid role on offence with 13 rushes and 27 catches for a pair of touchdowns, to help earn his trip to the NFL.
Only three other players in CFL history have ever recorded touchdowns in three distinct ways in the same game and it took both of them a whole game. Winnipeg RB/DB Tom Casey had an interception return, rushing TDs and receiving TD against Saskatchewan. Winnipeg cornerback James Jefferson scored majors on a fumble recovery, interception return and punt return against the Ticats in October 1987 and the following year, Ticat legend Earl Winfield scored on a pass reception, a 100-yard kickoff return and a 101-yard punt return while amassing 400 overall yards. On Labour Day, no less.
This game will feature two returners who had 100-yard returns last weekend as the Cats’ Isaiah Wooden Sr. took a punt 100 yards for a touchdown against the Als.
“Tyreik and I actually have the same agent,” Wooden said Friday. “So I’ve been talking to him a lot. And we’re very excited to get the fans into the game and give them a good show.”
NOTES AND QUOTES
Ticat DEs Julian Howsare and Philip Ossai have four sacks apiece, one off the league leaders who include Calgary DE Clarence Hicks … Hamilton FB/TE Ante Litre has 8 special teams tackles. Calgary’s Kelon Thomas and Jesulayomi Ojutalayo top the league with 12 and 11 respectively …. Isaiah Wooden Sr. now leads the CFL in average punt-return at 16.9 yards and with 4 career return touchdowns is one short of joining Ron Howell and Marcus Thigpen in the Ticat all-time top five. He has scored a return TD every 5.5 games of his three seasons in Hamilton … Ticats punter Mitch McCarthy has 3 punts inside the 10-yard line, tied for 2nd in the CFL behind the 6 of BC’s Carl Meyer … draft choice OL Jonathan Denis is on the game-day roster as is fellow rookie Jake Nitychoruk at DB … Hamilton will also dress DT De’Jon Benton who played at Hawaii. DL Charbel Dabire (injured list), DB Kaleb Hayes (practice roster), LB Loik Gagné (injured list) and DL Brian Ugwu (practice roster) come off last week’s game roster… Ticats Scott Milanovich has the highest success rate (66.7 %) challenging calls in the league and has also challenged the most (6) times … the Ticats have the best 3rd-and-short (two yards or less) conversion rate in the league at 12-for-13 … the Cats lead the CFL in QB rushing attempts (43) and yards (247) and are second in QB “escapes” (14) … Hamilton’s 10 offensive penalties are 2nd fewest behind BC’s 8, Calgary’s 24 are 2nd most behind Toronto’s 25. The two teams have both taken more special teams penalties than 6 other clubs … the Cats’ Alumnus of Distinction for this game is centre Carl Coulter, who was All-CFL in 1998 and the offensive line’s leader when Hamilton won the 1999 Grey Cup … this is the 106th regular season meeting of these two teams and the Stamps are 70-35, including 29-15 in Hamilton … Calgary DB Zy Alexander’s 4 interceptions lead the CFL ahead of the 3 of teammate CB Ben Labrosse and the Ticats’ Stavros Katsantonis … DB Damon Webb has 5 pass knockdowns, 3rd in the CFL … LB Marquel Lee’s 41 defensive tackles are 2nd in the league, with Ticat SAM linebacker Reggie Stubblefield three back in 3rd … DB Jaydon Grant needs 1 defensive tackle to reach 50 in his career and WR Tevin Jones needs one TD for 20 career majors … the Calgary offence, paradoxically, is tied for the highest percentage of 2-and-outs at 34 per cent … Hamilton native Quincy Vaughn who plays tight end and short-yardage quarterback for Calgary has 5 rushing TDs.
