The Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL‘s Eastern Final on Sunday afternoon with the winner punching their ticket to the Grey Cup.
Kickoff is at 1 p.m. The 5th Quarter will begin at 5 p.m. on 900 CHML and fans can also watch it on CHML’s Facebook page.
The Ticats (15-3) are heavy favourites against Edmonton after they swept the Eskimos (8-10) in their two-game season series, winning 30-27 on Sept. 20 at Commonwealth Stadium and 42-12 on Oct. 4 at Tim Hortons Field.
Hamilton is also a perfect 9-and-0 at home this year, something the team had never achieved previously in the 150-year history of the franchise while Edmonton went 3-6 on the road in 2019, not including their 37-29 victory in last week’s East Division Semifinal in Montreal.
The Ticats have dominated the Eskimos over the last two seasons, going 4-0 and outscoring Edmonton by a total of 51 points but Edmonton came away victorious in their last post-season meeting, a 24-21 win in the 2016 East Semifinal at Tim Hortons Field.
Edmonton is attempting to become the first crossover playoff team to advance to the Grey Cup and will rely on the hot hand of quarterback Trevor Harris, who sliced and diced through the Alouettes defense last week when he completed 36 of 39 pass attempts for 421 yards and a touchdown.
Harris, 5-4 all-time against the Ticats, set two Canadian Football League playoff records last week by registering 22 consecutive completions and a 92.3 per cent completion percentage.
A year ago, Harris led the Ottawa Redblacks to the Grey Cup game by torching Hamilton’s defense in the 2018 Eastern Final when he threw for a playoff record six touchdowns. Harris did not play in either of Edmonton’s losses against the Cats this season because of injury.
Most Outstanding Player nominee Brandon Banks will try to lead the Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup for the first time since 2014. Hamilton lost that title game in heart-breaking fashion when “Speedy B’s” punt return for a touchdown in the last minute of the game was called back because of a penalty for an illegal block.
Banks led the CFL in receptions (112), receiving yards (1,550), receiving touchdowns (13) and total TD’s (16) and had meshed nicely with Cats QB Dane Evans who will be making his first career playoff start. Evans averaged 307 passing yards in both games against the Eskimos this season, tossing five touchdowns and one interception.
Defensively, the hometown Cats have the statistical advantage in a few categories including points and touchdowns allowed, interceptions and fumble recoveries. Edmonton, however, led the CFL in sacks, red zone defence and second-down conversions.
The winner will move on to the 107th Grey Cup in Calgary on Nov. 24 against either the Saskatchewan Roughriders or Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who meet in Sunday’s Western Final.
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