Winnipeg had a 5 yard penalty and were kicking with the wind, the penalty occurred before the kick meaning Hamilton has the choice to re-kick or decline. It was a bad kick with a decent return... so im assuming we wanted the ball... however taking it on the 7 isnt exactly a great place to start... so maybe Taaffe wanted to set the offence up deep considering it was preseason.
It was 3rd and just a little more than 5 yards.
The procedure penalty would have put Winnipeg 5 yards back, but they still would have applied the illegal block penalty (10 yards) which actually made it a net gain of 5 yards for Winnipeg. That would have made it 3rd and about a foot. Winnipeg likely would have made a first down from there so Taaffe declined the penalty to take the ball, with the illegal block yardage being applied from the downfield spot.