Article by Josh Thomas
The Calgary Stampeders came ready to win a football game on Saturday. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats did not.
Calgary took Hamilton down for the second straight year in Week 1 of the CFL season with a 38-26 victory. It was another underwhelming season opener for the Ticats, who have not found a way to start a season 1-0 over the last five years.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Flat out of the gate
Being 0-4 in their last four season openers didn’t stop the Ticats’ defence from being run through like hot butter.
Vernon Adams Jr. began his Stampeders’ tenure by completing a 15-yard pass to Reggie Begelton, and Calgary rolled from there. VA went six-for-six on the opening drive before handing the ball to Dedrick Mills on the one-yard line for a touchdown. It was a bad start foreshadowing what was to come.
Defence holds early.
Much is going to be said about the performance of the Hamilton defence this week, and rightfully so. Adams Jr. threw for 284 yards and the D gave up four touchdowns in a 38-26 loss. It got ugly in the second half as the Stamps repeatedly gouged the Cats for major yardage in the passing game.
Early on it was a different story. Stavros Katsantonis picked up his first interception of the season and Jonathan Moxey nabbed his first the next drive. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come for the secondary.
Unfortunately, the Ticats came away with a total of three points from those turnovers.
Settling for field goals
Bo Levi Mitchell and Hamilton’s offence moved the ball early but could not find their way into the endzone. Mitchell connected with receivers on 11 of his first 14 attempts, allowing the Ticats to come away with just six points thanks to two Marc Liegghio field goals.
Hamilton moved the ball to the 38 and 18-yard lines on their first two drives. Failing to cash in at least once hurt them big time in an eventual two-score game. Turning turnovers into touchdowns is one of the things good teams do. Hamilton needs to capitalize more.
Fatal four minutes
How many times have you heard the cliche about the last two minutes of the first half and the first two of the second half? Football purists rejoice, the Tiger-Cats need only watch these four minutes of film to see where Week 1 went wrong.
Down two points approaching midfield with around a minute left in the first half, Hamilton wasn’t in a bad spot. The offence was moving the ball with some success, the defence had created a few turnovers, they were in a close one on the road and receiving the second-half kick.
Then it imploded. Fast.
Punter Nik Constantinou did all he could to find the first down marker after receiving a bad snap on a punt with 59 seconds to go. The Stampeders’ special teams unit rallied to the scrambling punter, putting their offence in prime position to strike before the half. Calgary cashed in on the opportunity and took a two-score lead into the locker room.
It went from bad to worse to start the second half. A semi-short kick and a lack of urgency when there is a live ball in play allowed the Stampeders to be the first to touch the opening kickoff, near the Hamilton 25-yard line. Adjusting to a short kick or knowing which player takes the ball in which circumstance should be automatic at this level. There’s no excuse. Someone needed to be under the football there.
Calgary once again made good on the turnover and extended their lead from nine to 17 early in the third quarter. The way VA was throwing the ball, this was the dagger.
Invisible pass rush
The Calgary QB lived up to the moniker ‘VA all day’ with a little help from the Hamilton pass rush. The Ticats’ defensive line got nowhere near Adams and did very little to make life hard on him. He legitimately had all day in the pocket.
Whenever they did get within a hair of stressing the Calgary O-Line, Adams Jr. took off for a big gain — whether Hamilton put a spy on him or not. I’m fairly certain there was a play they had two QB spies and Adams still picked up a first down with his legs.
If the Cats’ defence is going to help them win games, they are going to need to start getting to the quarterback.
One Dimensional
Any hint of a dynamic run game dried up in a big way in Calgary. Greg Bell picked up 14 yards on the ground, tying Tim White for the team lead. Ante Milanovic-Litre had 12 yards in short yardage and Mitchell had 11 scrambling.
More often than not, running the ball led to second-and-long situations. The inability to get going on the ground allowed Calgary’s secondary to essentially shut down everybody but Kenny Lawler for the majority of the second half. That is about as one-dimensional as it gets. The run game needs to be better.
Early chemistry for the big guns
Kenny Lawler was Mitchell’s favourite target on Saturday. He hauled in six receptions for 86 yards and one touchdown on 13 targets. Lawler also shared the team lead in receptions with Tim White, who had six receptions for 69 yards.
Seeing Mitchell on the same page with his go-to guys early was at least one positive on the night.
The first rule of getting out of a hole is….
Stop digging.
The Tiger-Cats will likely be better than they were in the first week, but when? It was not until Week 6 last year they showed a glimpse of what they could be. They never once gained traction after starting 1-5 until it was far too little too late.
Hamilton has the offence to compete with anybody in the CFL on paper, and the East looks at the very least like it will be up for grabs. They have been their best toward the end of the season under head coach Scott Milanovich. Winning their last however many games will not matter if they come out of the gate 0-5 again.
Waiting until Labour Day to get going will lead to another season of disappointment for the Black and Gold. They need their best showing in the home opener against Saskatchewan. Anything else and the hole gets a whole lot bigger.
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