Steve Milton: Playoff ship is pulling out of the Ticats’ harbour

MONTREAL - The assignment seemed like a simple concept. Five weeks, four games against their closest rivals in the standings. Even a split from that quartet of games and the playoff were well within their grasp.

Split? How naive that all seems in hindsight. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats won exactly zero of the four games against the Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes.

Lost 'em all, with so many grim similarities in most of them. Here's just one of them: in the second halves of those four critical intra-divisional games they did not manage a single touchdown and were outscored by a cumulative 78-13.

The weather was cold and bitter at Percival Molson Stadium Friday night but not as cold nor as bitter as the reality that engulfs the Ticats after their 23-16 loss to the Alouettes. In losing in late August in Montreal, and again Friday - by a total differential of eight points - the 4-10 Ticats are now four points behind the second place Alouettes (6-7) who own the season tiebreaker, have a game in hand, and have an easier schedule coming home.

So second place is all but gone and first place is gone and the Ticats are now reduced to hoping they can stave off the probable west-to-east playoff crossover, starting with a home game against Saskatchewan Roughriders in two weeks after the Cats enjoy - a completely inappropriate verb - another bye week.

Then they most likely have to win their final three games after that. And remember, this is a team whose longest winning streak is one in a row, which has lost all seven road games with two to go and which has just one win in their last five games - that forceful victory over the Blue Bombers last week that, with Friday's loss, now seems like a mere blip rather than anything truly meaningful.

Now the power is kind of taken out of our hands; people have to start losing," said Ticat quarterback Dane Evans, who was solid in completing 22 of his 29 passes for 288 yards but threw for no touchdowns as Hamilton had just one major (Wes Hills run) and three Seth Small field goals.

But we're not going to fall apart in the locker-room."

The Ticats led 10-3 at the half but Trevor Harris and the Alouettes mounted a dominant third quarter into a bracing wind and the Ticats simply allowed him to make too many plays. He was able to find Eugene Lewis, who won this matchup with Jumal Rolle, to score a couple of critical touchdowns. Hamilton had led 16-15 before Lewis's second major with just two minutes left

Still - and stop us if you've heard this before, which of course you have - Hamilton had a chance to win the game or at least send it into overtime after Tim White, who had another great game, ran the kickoff back 28 yards, and Evans hit Steve Dunbar for 22 yards and then found rookie Kiendre Smith at the Montreal 40 with just over a minute to go. But in fighting for the first down, Smith dropped the ball for the Ticats' zillionth-or-so costly turnover over the season.

Kiendre was trying to make a play and I feel for him," said Evans. It's happened to me this season and I'll be there to support him. There's no doubt in my mind we were going to score, we finally had momentum back on our side and we kind of lost it in a minute."

The Ticats also lost it on field position, absorbing a dozen penalties for 130 yards, many of those yards coming at critical times. Turnovers, penalties, field goals instead of touchdowns. Football's equivalent of cyanide, anthrax and strychnine at exactly the time of year good teams should be drinking an elixir. You could also add the snake venom of permitting the other team to keep possession when you've got them in trouble. On their first five possessions of the second half Montreal scored two touchdowns and two field goals.

We have to come away with touchdowns," head coach Orlondo Steinauer said. We were flat in the third quarter. We definitely need to score more points but we definitely also have to have some key stops. I felt like we had opportunities to make our own way and sometimes we couldn't get out of our own way."

Steinauer made a curious decision to go for the first down at third-and-three just inside the Montreal half of the field late in the third quarter but Evans's pass to Tim White, who had six catches for 105 yards, was incomplete. Steinauer explained later that his team hadn't done anything in the quarter and we were here to win." It didn't really affect the eventual result because the defence held Montreal to a field goal.

To this corner, the bad decision came with just five minutes to go after Evans, riding Wes Hills much of the way, marched the Ticats 97 yards to the Alouettes two-yard-line but instead of giving the ball to Hills again, there was a pass into the end zone that was well away from Smith's diving reach. Hamilton, wanting the 16-15 lead, kicked the easy field goal rather than try Hills for the touchdown. We'll always disagree with that second-down call ... and even the third-down one, although less so. Still, it wouldn't have made a difference on the scoreboard when the defence wasn't making the stops.

There was a frightening moment during an Alouettes' touchdown drive the third quarter when Hamilton cornerback Rodney Randle, injured on a tackle, was taken to hospital on a stretcher after a long delay to fit him into a neck brace. He was talking and had feeling in his fingers, but the Ticats were still waiting for more medical information after the game.

Steinauer immediately sent staff into the stands to be with Randle's wife and keep her informed.

It puts everything in perspective real quickly," Steinauer said. It's one of those things that you're' not really prepared for."

After facing Saskatchewan Oct. 7 at Tim Hortons Field, the Ticats travel to Calgary, then finish the regular season with a home-and-home against the Ottawa Redblacks.

Notes: Receiver Papi White left the game for concussion protocols, but did not have to go to hospital ... Tim White had 183 all purpose yards, 105 in receptions, 78 on three kickoff returns ... Wes Hills rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries ... as medics were treating Rodney Randle a fight broke out in the stands, appearing to involve some Ticat fans ... Trevor Harris went 26-35 for 244 yards and two touchdowns, with no picks.

Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com