Win or lose, this game won’t be an accurate measure of anything, really. Hamilton, I’m sure, will be resting starters and showing a fairly vanilla playbook, as will we.
I wonder what the ETA on Evans is. Sure would be nice to have him back in the lineup for at least one game before the playoffs, to shake off the rust.
I keep getting the impression that some think that the ALs next meaningful game is against the Cats in the playoffs forgetting about a team called Edmonton. That a victory against them is a given. EE can be a top tier team. I hope that the Als have their ducks and games lined up properly.
I don’t think Als should or will be vanilla here. But they will err on the side on getting healthy.
Another home game to build their fan base up and keep their “rookie” QB improving.
No matter what happens this years team has given us plenty of excitement and has surpassed everyones expectations including me (and I voted 7-9 wins back in january).It has been a long time since I have had as much fun at the games and with 2 regular season games left I think the goal should be to finish with a 10-8 record.
We are going to have a playoff game for the first time since 2014 which will prolong our passion + excitement for the game and if we can move onto the eastern final anything can happen.
As mentionned by others we need to give the guys who need time to heal/rest a break but at the same time we have to keep the Momentum going.
Who are these people, exactly? Can you point to specific examples?
Because I sure don’t think beating Edmonton is a given. To me our next meaningful game is the ESF against Edmonton. But Hamilton and Montreal are in similar positions here: a regular-season game with nothing to play for, that does not affect playoff position.
My main wish is to see the team play hard but avoid serious injury. We have enough wounded.
Just hoping to get through the following 2 games without any injuries! A win would be nice, but Johnny is more concerned with the health of the team heading into the playoffs.
As soon as Eugene Lewis gets 1000 yards, Jones should limit his playing time.
Johnny sure does not take Edmonton lightly. It will be a tough game.
No need to take this personally or look for an argument.
Impressions are vague, not facts. No desire to look for specifics with impressions.
I hope you enjoy the remaining games in your own way and as best as you can
yeah it will be a real tough game I agree.
What gives me some hope is that we beat Edmonton convincingly, early in the season, and a big part of it was Slowik scheming up ways to take away Trevor Harris’s favorite passing routes. Would really like to see that again in the ESF.
I’m a firm believer in process.
So this week the process is preparing for Hamilton.
Next week it is preparing for Ottawa on the road
The week after is preparing for EE.
All the while keeping tabs on injury.
Keep things as constant as possible.
It looks like Stanback, Muamba and Campbell will be rested and not play this game.
I agree to a point that the team needs to rest its great starters in preparation for the ESF.
However, what keeps teams sharp is execution. Benching key players, essentially for the next two games is not, IMO, a great idea. They could play for at least the first quarter, and then send in the backups, but with much of the playbook open to them. It’s a bit of a possum game in a sense, as the Als don’t want to reveal what they have up their sleeve, but the team still has to play hard.
They’re still not doing that well at the box office, with all those seats with blue tarps, so I think they need to play entertaining football. While the outcome of the game won’t change what happens in the immediate post-season, you play to win!
Campbell is IMO a “no-brainer” … he limped off the field last game … he might have been out regardless … Stanback has had either separate injuries or a nagging injury recently … for all we know Muamba may have cause to benefit from a week off … I see no issue with this small number of players, especially at least two of the three, getting a week off the wear&tear.
Agreed. Muamba has played every game this season. Give him a week to heal up from all the little injuries he has. Resting Stanback and Campbell are no-brainers, as you said. Johnson is more than capable of carrying the load for a game. We used all our bye weeks in the first half of the season, thanks to the schedule-makers. While just about every other team has a week off to rest, we don’t. I like how Khari is handling the rotation.
In other news, Herb reports that Chris Matthews is a bit frustrated by not having a pass thrown his way last game and being a healthy scratch for much of the past month. Would like to see him involved in the offense this week. We need all hands on deck for the playoffs…
IN
DB Aarion Maxey-Penton (signed this week)
LB Jason Hall (from Practice Roster)
LB Frederic Plesius (from 6-game Injured List and missed 6 games)
DL John Bowman (from 1-game Injured List)
WR Dante Absher (from Practice Roster)
RB Christopher Amoah (from Practice Roster)
KR Shakeir Ryan (from 6-game Injured List and missed 6 games)
OUT
DB Tommie Campbell (to 1-game Injured List)
LB Henoc Muamba (to 1-game Injured List)
DL Lord Hyeamang (to Practice Roster)
WR DeVier Posey (to 1-game Injured List)
WR Kaion Julien-Grant (to 1-game Injured List)
RB William Stanback (to 1-game Injured List)
KR Mario Alford (to 1-game Injured List)
Game #84 Hamilton at Montreal: Team & Player Notes:
This game is the decider for the Hamilton vs Montreal season series. Montreal can with that for the first time since 2015.
The 2019 games have been won by teams that built a big lead. Montreal led by 18 in their July game and Hamilton by 31 in June.
For the last 6 weeks, Montreal has alternated winning & losing. In the 3 wins they won the 4th Q, in the 3 losses they lost Q4.
The Ti-Cats come in with an 8-1 mark in their last 9 games, and are 4-1 in their last 5 away from home.
The Als are 7-0 this year when they have a better 2nd down conversion % than the opposition, and 2-7 when they do not.
Explosive “Big Play” Gap Struggle - Something Has to Give:
Montreal has an amazing streak going … they have made more explosive plays than the opposition in each of the last 8 games.
Hamilton’s is almost as good … they have made more explosive plays than the opposition in each of the last 6 games.
Over their last 4 games, Hamilton has been dominant pulling to 20+ point leads in all 4 of them.
The Ti-Cats have not lost in 2019 when they have better average starting field position. They are 10-0 in those games.
Hamilton can make it 6-3 on the road in 2019, their best away record since a 6-3 mark in 1998 under Ron Lancaster.
Vernon Adams Jr. led Montreal to another Q4 comeback win last week. That gives him 5 in 2019, one short of the CFL record. (Set by Mike Reilly at 6 in 2017 for Edmonton)
This will not be Dane Evans first start vs the Als. Despite Masoli starting the first 2 games, Evans’ debut start was last year vs MTL.
Hamilton is a perfect 10-0 in 2019 when they either lead or are tied after the 1st Quarter in 2019.
Across 2017-2018, Hamilton blew a lead after the 3rd Quarter 7 times (12-7 in those 19 games). In 2019 they are 10-1.
Half-time deficits have been an obstacle that Montreal has overcome this year. They have won 5 times when trailing at the half.
The Als have a current 4-game home win streak and have not had a 5-game winning home run since the end of 2014.
The Alouettes have trailed at half-time 11 times this season but have come back to win 5 of those games.
Montreal TOP averages - 1st 8 games: 32:30 to 27:30 for opponents; Last 8 games: 27:52 to 32:08
The Ti-Cats finished off at 8-2 vs the Western clubs in 2019. That is 2 more wins than they have ever had vs the West.
Brandon Banks (101) needs 3 receptions to tie the club receptions record of 104 set by Luke Tasker at 104. (Banks is one of 3 Tiger-Cats to go over 100 catches in a season including Andy Fantuz with 101 in 2016)
Brandon Banks went over 5,000 career receiving yards last week (5,003) and has a TD catch in the last 5 games.
Dane Evans has averaged 371 passing yards per game over his last 6 starts (5-1) with 12 TD passes.
Eugene Lewis is 13 yards away from a 1,000-yard season - 22 of his 61 catches have been for 2nd down conversions.
The Alouettes are 8-5 in games decided in the last 3:00 and have the most late game wins with their total of 8.
At 87.9%, Boris Bede has his best FG mark since his rookie year (36-of-40 90% in 2015). He has now made 15 in a row.
That time of possession number in the last two months is UGLY. Let’s hope we can reverse that trend tomorrow by running the ball effectively.
Agreed. Also, the defence has to stop the opposing offence from crossing the field on every drive…
Agreed! Sadly I don’t think we’ll do that tomorrow. Hamilton has been dominating everyone they’ve played, and we’ll be missing Muamba at MLB while starting a Canadian at one corner and a rookie at the other corner spot.
As well as missing Stanback on O.
Unfortunately, not expecting much from the Als tomorrow.
Mind you, when I have said that in previous games, they pulled off a W.
True. They have risen to the occasion many times this season. But with so many starters out, I have a hard time imagining a win. We have 16 games worth of evidence. While it’s great to be 9-7 and playoff-bound, IMO we are not in the same category as Hamilton when it comes to three phases of play, consistency, and focus. Missing Stanback, Posey, Muamba, and Campbell, to say nothing of the players on the 6-game IR – Washington, Johnstone, Evans, Carter, Loffler, Cunningham – doesn’t fill me with confidence. As always, I will be happy to be proven wrong!