Answer the questions, go to the Grey Cup
Storyline
Questions, questions, questions. They play these games just to answer them.
Will the Redblacks be rested or rusty? Do they simply have the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ number, or are the Ticats due, after three losses in three head-to-head meetings this year and four straight, going back to last season, with three of those four by a margin of six or fewer points? William Powell or Alex Green? Did Jeremiah Masoli deserve to win the Eastern MOP over Trevor Harris, who devoured Masoli’s Ticat defensive teammates in the last two games they played, determining that this Grey Cup play-in would be held by the Rideau Canal and not by the steel mills?
Hamilton enters its fourth divisional championship game in six seasons, and are 2-1. Ottawa, back in the CFL for just five seasons, is already in its third Eastern Final in the last four years and won the previous two, including that dramatic 2015 piece of Henry Burris-to-Greg Ellingson legerdemain to eliminate the Ticats. They also stunned the visiting Ticats in the pivotal middle game of this year’s threematch set, recovering from a 16-point deficit to win behind Harris’s 19 completions in his final 20 pass attempts.
The Ticats lost Brandon Banks in that game, their fourth elite starting receiver to go down for the season. Bralon Addison has come out of nowhere, a.k.a. the practice roster, to record 100yards-plus in receiving, giving the Ticats a different feel than they had without Banks.
“It’s probably a different look to them, but not really to me,” says head coach June Jones, who says he won’t change his philosophy much, and neither will Ottawa. “They’re going to run 90 per cent of the game plan they’ve done in the three games we’ve played already. They’ll have some new pressures, I’m sure. But it’s tough to change too much. And I don’t know why they would change. They’re 3-and-0, so don’t reinvent the wheel.”
Hamilton hasn’t scored a touchdown in the last six quarters against the Redblacks so that becomes Job One.
“We had four drives that stopped with dropped balls or fumbles that were all within the plus area that would have resulted in either touchdowns or field goals,” Jones says of the second half of the 35-31 October loss in Ottawa. “And it just kind of kills the momentum when you do that.”
Everyone talks about getting the early lead being so important, as it was in Hamilton’s semifinal romp over B.C., but the Redblacks have a habit of hanging in games until they’re in a position to win, as witnessed by Game 2 vs. the Ticats.
Key roster notes for Ottawa
Helpful to have a bye week: the Redblacks are likely to get two national starters back from the six-game injury list: safety Antoine Pruneau and guard Nolan MacMillan.
Key roster notes for Hamilton
The Tiger-Cats appear to have lost only one player during their 48-8 East semifinal win over B.C. Field corner Jumal Rolle is out with a cut in the Achilles tendon area of his ankle. Frankie Williams likely starts, with either Mariel Cooper or Terrell Sinkfield coming onto the roster. Sinkfield seems the more likely choice because he can play corner, wide receiver and give Williams a rest in the return game.
Nifty numbers worth knowing
0 — Interceptions thrown by Trevor Harris in 97 pass attempts this season vs. Hamilton.
8 — The number of home teams which have won the Eastern Final in the last 10 years. The last road team to win was Hamilton at Toronto in 2013.
9 — In three meetings this year, the average number of yards Ottawa was closer to the Hamilton end zone to start each offensive drive than the Ticats’ offence was to the Redblacks’ end zone.
10 — Field goals made by Ottawa rookie Lewis Ward in 10 attempts against Hamilton on the way to a pro-football record of 48 in a row (a streak now suspended until regular-season play resumes next year). He broke the former all-time pro record with a 52-yarder against the Ticats in Ottawa in October, his only attempt this season of 50 yards or longer. Hamilton’s Lirim Hajrullahu missed his first two field goals vs Ottawa this year (block, wide-left) but has been a perfect 9-for-9 since then.
11 — Number of Ticats’ quarterbacks, before Jeremiah Masoli this Sunday, to start two or more Eastern Final games. Bernie Faloney leads with 12, Joe Zuger had 8. Both played in the twogame final era.
26 —The number of points by which the Redblacks outscored the Ticats in the second halves their 2018 head-to-head meetings. Also, the number of years since Ottawa last swept three regularseason games from Hamilton, as the Redblacks did this year.
.636 — Winning percentage of the Redblacks in the CFL’s final 11 games, best of the remaining playoff teams, and second overall to Saskatchewan. Hamilton’s .455 (5-6) is the lowest of the surviving four teams.