This past Sunday, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats got decimated by the B.C. Lions 44-28 dropping their record to 0-5 for the season heading into their bye week. In that game, the Ticats had 396 yards on offense (374 yards passing, 35 yards rushing, 13 yards lost).
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed 32 of 48 passes (66%) for 374 yards, three touchdowns, and two carries for 8 yards. Running back James Butler had nine carries for 27 yards, nine catches for 108 yards, and one touchdown.
Wide receiver Shemar Bridges made six catches for 87 yards, and Kiondre Smith made four catches for 42 yards and one touchdown. Kicker Marc Liegghio made two field goals with a long of 28 yards. Hamilton’s defense made 41 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss, and six tackles on special teams. The Ticats were penalized nine times for 74 yards.
Last week, the Ticats fired special teams coordinator Paul Boudreau and replaced him with Dennis McKnight. This season, the Ticats’ special teams are ranked third in net punting average (37.6), third in punt returns average (49.7), tied fourth in field goals (90%), fifth in kickoff return average (21.9), seventh in opponent kickoff return average (22.9), and eighth in opponent punt return average (13.0).
Despite the change, the special teams stayed the same but to be fair, McKnight just got there and let’s see how the special teams do once they return from the bye week.
This season, the Ticats are one of two remaining winless teams in the CFL. The other is the Edmonton Elks. The Ticats are ranked second in average net offense (390.5), first downs (86), average passing yards per game (327.3), tied second in sacks allowed (5), third in offensive touchdowns (10), sixth in average points per game (24.0), seventh in average rushing yards per game (72.0).
On the offense, the Ticats do have talented playmakers but they are not producing the results on the field. Players must listen, they must do their job, be where they are supposed to be, and follow through on what is expected. This goes for the coaches and their playcalling. Watch the film, create a game plan, and meet with the players so they too can watch the film and go over the game plan. Then practice it.
This team realistically should have at least two wins but lacking a game plan and poor playcalling has hurt the team. The coaches should throw the playbook in the garbage and come up with new plays including trick plays.
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell this season has completed 145 of 214 passes (67.8%) for 1,671 yards, 5 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and eight carries for 70 yards. At times, Mitchell has thrown some poor throws either over or under his receivers. On the other side, his receivers have not done him any favors with the dropped passes.
Right now, rookie wide receiver Shemar Bridges is off to a good start leading the team in receiving targeted 45 times making 34 catches for 396 yards, and three touchdowns. The next receiver who is not doing bad is Steven Dunbar Jr. targeted 28 times making 20 catches for 287 yards, and one touchdown. Mitchell and the receivers should use the bye week to find their chemistry because what they have shown will not translate to wins.
Running back James Butler has been another key player on offense so far carrying the ball 39 times for 183 yards, targeted 21 times making 18 catches for 172 yards, and one touchdown. The Ticats need to get their running game going again because they have guys who can produce but they need to see the field better because at times they run into a wall and don’t see the open holes where they could have gotten extra yards or possibly a touchdown.
At defense, the Ticats are ranked third in opposing average yards allowed (352.5), fourth in opposing average rushing yards (80.0), fifth in opposing average passing yards (281.3), tied sixth in points allowed (11), seventh in opposing first downs (85), and last in opposing average points allowed (31.3).
This past Sunday, the Ticats’ secondary could not cover the B.C. Lions receivers. They were blowing by them and treating them like practice. B.C. had 482 yards on offense (383 yards passing, 111 yards rushing). That’s not good at all and this team needs to have extra practice during the bye week because what they have shown on the field is not acceptable.
The other thing that unveiled its ugly head was the lack of discipline by the players. Despite getting their butts kicked, some of the Ticats players were celebrating tackles or touchdowns.
The best example of this is on the final play of the game, quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell threw a touchdown pass to Kiondre Smith. Smith went to the guy who covered him and spun the ball around resulting in an objectionable conduct penalty backing them up 10 yards. Luckily, kicker Marc Liegghio made the extra point because it would’ve looked worse for Smith if Liegghio missed it.
The worse part about Sunday night’s game is those who did celebrate while getting their butts kicked, head coach Scott Milanovich did nothing to address it or set an example by benching them. He probably can’t bench them because he has some players on the injured list. However, Milanovich should talk to them and warn them that should they do it again, they are heading to the bench and someone else is getting an opportunity to play football.
The Ticats should consider replacing most of the players on the starting lineup. Bo Levi Mitchell is part of the problem but this season is not entirely his fault. However, should Mitchell continue to be the starting quarterback? No. The Ticats should give either Taylor Powell or bring up Taulia Tagovailoa to the active roster and give them a shot. Mitchell is not the only one, there are a handful of players who should sit on the bench and replace them with guys who are hungry and looking to make a statement on the field.
While the season is still early, the Ticats have 13 games left of the season so they are not out of it yet. But, if this trend continues, firing coaches is one thing, but it’s the players on the field who need to be held accountable. The Ticats can get back into this race but they need to make the changes now during the bye week to save their season or else the misery of this season will continue.
