Two of the CFL’s hottest teams kickoff Week 18 as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats welcome the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to Tim Hortons Field on Friday night.
Hamilton ran its winning streak to four games with a thrilling 32-29 come-from-behind victory over the BC Lions in Week 17.
Their last loss? It came on August 23 when they fell 26-23 to Winnipeg.
The Blue Bombers also know all about stringing wins together as they won their seventh straight by putting up 55 points against Edmonton a week ago.
RELATED
» Depth Chart: WPG | HAM
» Game Notes: Blue Bombers at Tiger-Cats
Bo Levi Mitchell continues to roll along in the Ticats’ pocket, with a league leading 4,359 passing yards and 26 touchdowns. As good as he’s been, he’ll be looking for redemption against a stout Bombers’ secondary that held him to 14 completions, 220 yards and out of the end zone back in Week 12.
Watch live here. Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Oct. 5, 01:00 CET (1 am, 7 pm Oct. 4 EDT)
Receiver Tim White pulled down 134 yards in that loss and should be a primary target of Mitchell’s, especially given the absence of Shemar Bridges, who’s out with a quadriceps issue. With Steven Dunbar Jr. and Kiondré Smith also possessing the ability to make big plays, the air attack will have plenty of options despite missing one of its best receivers.
The Bombers’ defensive backs, led by Brandon Alexander, Evan Holm and Deatrick Nichols, have held opposing offences to a league low 233.6 yards per game, including limiting the Elks to just 233 a week ago.
Mitchell understands every game has to be played with a sense of urgency and is looking forward to taking on a Bombers team playing its best football.
“It would mean everything, basically our life is on the line” Mitchell told reporters of the importance of coming away with a win this week. “You saw last week, we can’t count on other teams to go out there and win for us. It’s our job to go out there and win every game that we can. They’re playing great and we want to get them back because we thought we should’ve won that last one but they made more plays than we did at the end of the game to go win it. We’re just excited to go out there and play for our lives again.”
James Butler takes over the running back duties for the injured Greg Bell. Butler last saw action in Week 16 when he rushed for 58 yards on 11 carries and had six catches for another 44 yards in a win over Toronto.
And Butler may get the ball with regularity due to the Bombers’ struggles against the run. It’s up to TyJuan Garbutt and Jamal Woods to lead the defensive line, while linebacker Michael Ayers has a sack and an interception in his last two games.
On the offensive side of the ball for head coach Mike O’Shea’s team, quarterback Zach Collaros arrives in Hamilton off his best performance of the season that saw him throw for 432 yards and six touchdowns.
Watch live here. Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Oct. 5, 01:00 CET (1 am, 7 pm Oct. 4 EDT)
Kenny Lawler and Nic Demski — who is a game-time decision — both produced over 100 yards with 130 and 117, respectively. As the season’s end draws near and the playoffs approach, the experience of the two veterans becomes invaluable.
The Ticats’ pass defence has been serviceable, allowing an average of 277 yards per game. Richard Leonard and Jamal Peters provide stability and are needed to shut down Lawler, Demski and Co.
With the secondary responsible for defending an improving pass game, the front seven has to deal with the league’s top rusher in Brady Oliveira. A 16 carry, 86-yard game against the Elks gave Oliveira 1,107 yards on the season.
Brandon Barlow and Casey Sayles at the line of scrimmage and Kyle Wilson at linebacker will try to keep Oliveira in check, something they struggled to do the last time they met when he rushed for 120 yards on 18 carries.
Collaros believes the offence has been more efficient of late but emphasizes there’s always room for improvement.
“My bar is to make every play perfect,” Collaros told reporters. “It’s not easy to do. It’s the beauty of this game, especially offensive football. I’ve said this ad nauseam: it takes 12 guys to be right on the offensive side of the ball for it to be perfect, for it to go really well. Sometimes if you’re a quarterback or a running back you can make a guy miss, but when you really get a beautiful play, a perfect play, everybody’s in unison. So, we’ve got to keep striving for that.”
It’s another game in which Hamilton needs a win.
Winnipeg can increase its lead in the West Division to five points with a victory. Paired with a Saskatchewan win on Saturday, the Bombers would clinch the West Division and would play host to the Western Final on Nov. 9. A Saskatchewan loss or a BC loss would give the Bombers a home playoff date.