The Hamilton Tiger-Cats can clinch at least a third-place finish in the CFL‘s East Division, and officially eliminate the Redblacks from playoff contention, with a win against Ottawa Saturday afternoon.
Hamilton (4-5) spent their bye week thinking about their last two games, both heart-breaking losses in which the team blew double-digit leads in the fourth quarter and fell to division rivals Toronto and Montreal.
CHML’s coverage of Saturday’s game begins with the pregame show at 3 p.m., kickoff is at 4 p.m. After the game, catch The 5th Quarter on CHML, 900chml.com and on CHML’s Facebook page.
The Redblacks have won just two of their 10 games in 2021, their worst start to a season since going 1-9 during their expansion year in 2014.
Despite Ottawa sitting dead last in the Canadian Football League, the Ticats are not taking their opponents lightly.
“Last time I checked they don’t have zero wins,” said Tiger-Cats head coach Orlondo Steinauer. “I see a football team (Ottawa) that plays hard on tape and I feel like they’ve been in more games than they are given credit for.”
Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli is expected to make his third straight start since coming off Hamilton’s injured list and will be looking for his first victory of the season after losing his previous four starts.
The 33-year-old quarterback, who is 2-5 all-time against Ottawa, has completed 67 per cent of his passes in seven games this season and has thrown for 961 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions.
Earlier this week, the Ticats announced that QB Dane Evans had been added to the active roster after missing the last four games due to injury.
Receiver Brandon Banks is expected to suit up Saturday after he sat out Hamilton’s previous game with a nagging rib injury.
The CFL’s Most Outstanding Player in 2019 has played just five games this year and has recorded 22 catches for 172 yards and has yet to score a touchdown in 2021. Banks had 13 receiving TDs in 2019.
Fresh off a 27-16 loss against Montreal last week in which they allowed 10 sacks, the Redblacks are on the verge of generating a historically low offensive output.
Ottawa has scored just nine offensive touchdowns this season, two fewer than the CFL’s all-time record of 11 TDs in 16 games by the expansion BC Lions in 1954.
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