EDMONTON — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will make the trek west to face the Edmonton Elks as Week 6 gets underway from Commonwealth Stadium on Thursday night.
Hamilton is coming of their first win of the season against Ottawa and will be motivated to build momentum as they head out on the road. Edmonton dropped a heartbreaker on a last second rouge to the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week.
Ticats quarterback Matthew Shiltz will once again attempt to spread the ball around against an Elks defence that has allowed the most net yards of any team in the league.
» Depth Chart: EDM | HAM
After getting off to a slow start, receiver Richard Sindani caught seven passes for 59 yards and gives Shiltz another weapon behind D’haquille Williams and Tim White.
There’s also encouraging news when it comes to the run game as James Butler totalled 62 yards and Shiltz used his legs by calling his own number five times for 30 yards.
The Elks may be turning a corner when it comes to defending the run, however, as they held Saskatchewan to 78 yards on the ground last week.
Both Butler and Shiltz will need to deal with the pressure being applied by defensive linemen Noah Curtis and A.C. Leonard off the edge. Leonard made his way through the line for three sacks against the Riders.
The defensive effort by the Ticats a week ago was exactly what they were looking for and knew they were capable of as they allowed just 276 net yards against the REDBLACKS.
Now head coach Orlondo Steinauer will want to see it again.
Applying pressure and forcing turnovers will be important against quarterback Taylor Cornelius and his receivers as they try to make their way downfield.
Watch live. Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ Edmonton Elks, July 14, 03:00 CET (3 am, 9 pm EDT July 13)
Despite their winless record, Steinauer says his team isn’t taking their opponent lightly heading into Thursday.
“They could be 5-0 and we’d be trying to beat their winning streak,” Steinauer told ticats.ca. “They could be 2-3 and we’d be trying to make them 2-4. It has no bearing on our preparation. It doesn’t factor in and we’ve made no mention of it to our football team, staff or anyone else.”
Cornelius comes into this week’s action after taking back over from Jarret Doege against the Riders. He threw for 226 yards but failed to find the end zone.
Cornelius found five different receivers and will lean on a collective effort from Dillon Mitchell, Steven Dunbar Jr., Maurice Ffrench and Kyran Moore to execute in the red zone.
Dunbar Jr., who is eager to face his former team, admits that the Elks start has been frustrating but says all his team can do is focus on this week.
“I think the biggest thing right now is just move forward,” Dunbar Jr. told goelks.com. “You try to stay positive and not let it seep in. It’s a long season and we’re still in this thing if we can turn the ship around and get it going. I have a lot of love for Hamilton and what they’ve done for my career but it’s going to be fun seeing them. I know they’re excited to see me too. We have to find a way to execute.”
Much like the Ticats, the Elks seem to be making strides with a run game that has struggled for most of the season. Cornelius, along with running backs Kevin Brown and Shannon Brooks collectively rushed for 143 yards in Week 5.
They’ll face another physical front led by Ja’Gared Davis and Ted Laurent. If they can make their way through those two, linebackers Simoni Lawrence and Jameer Thurman will be waiting.
As talented as the defence is, they allowed 136 rush yards to the REDBLACKS and are averaging 118.8 yards per game against, the second most in the league in front of only the Elks
Keeping the opposition off the scoreboard hasn’t been easy through five games but Edmonton is coming off their best defensive performance of the season.
With pressure being applied at the line, it’ll be up to defensive backs Marcus Lewis, Kai Gray and linebacker Loucheiz Purifoy to shut down Shiltz, who loves to throw the football and target his favourite receivers in Williams and White.
Lewis is coming off an interception and is proving he’s a difference maker in a secondary that remains without Ed Gainey.
As the Ticats try to keep their winning ways going, the Elks will attempt to snap their 19-game home losing streak and enter the win column for the first time in 2023.