Steve Milton: Hamilton Tiger-Cats lose opener for 15th time in 17 season
Was this a calamity for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats or something for them to build upon?
A lot more of the former than the latter, for sure, but mostly it was a sense of deja vu so pronounced it made you check your calendar app just to make sure it wasn't still reading 2019'.
Back then, Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros had chewed up his former team like cornflakes by halftime of a disastrous Grey Cup for the Ticats. The two-time reigning Most Outstanding Player did it again in their CFL opener Friday night in Winnipeg, constructing a 29-4 lead by the intermission of his Blue Bombers' 42-31 victory.
The first-half domination rendered the relative closeness of the final tally interesting but ultimately irrelevant, at least in the standings. They don't hand out any points for rallying to make a game out of a rout.
But after a second half that featured a little more cohesion and rhythm for Bo Levi Mitchell's offence, an incredible 63 seconds by the defence and special teams that made it a one-score game (39-31) with nine long minutes to play, the Ticats might be able to mine some momentum from what was, after all, just the first of 18 games.
Still, the Ticats couldn't close the deal, reverting to form in those nine minutes and have now lost 15 of their last 17 season openers. That's not just a stat, it's a compulsion.
Mitchell had a rough first half, unable to hit star receiver Tim White on several deep routes, underthrowing or overthrowing him when a completion or two could have made an early difference. That brings into question whether it was wise for a team with six new players on offence to use Mitchell for just two series in the first pre-season game, and not at all in the second. For now, the answer is no but it's a long season.
Exactly half of the Ticats on both sides of the ball are new starters. The experienced Bombers, with most players back, are much deeper into their playbooks and the difference showed, especially in the first two-plus quarters. Not to mention that Winnipeg is, at the moment, a better team.
After an opening four minutes when they did what they wanted to do, with one of several strong kickoff returns from Lawrence Woods, solid runs from James Butler, a catch by Duke Williams and a smashing forced fumble by the defence, they spent the next 40 minutes or so doing what they what they want to avoid.
Accepting a field goal instead of a touchdown; turnovers surrendered like an armed robbery in a bakery; punishing penalties, particularly on special teams; a couple of interceptions; a Mitchell strip sack; communication problems in the secondary and in their top pass-receiving battery; Collaros clinically dissecting them on second downs; essentially coming apart at the seams almost everywhere there is a seam.
At the end of the day we were playing against two teams," head coach Orlondo Steinauer said. We were playing against ourselves - we were shooting ourselves in the foot - and we were playing against Winnipeg. We weren't playing well collectively in the first half. We had a hard time stopping people, we got the turnover then we threw a pick. A painful first half.
We didn't get off the field ... We didn't keep the ball long enough, didn't sustain drives. That's opposite of the complementary football we like to play. Again, the penalties killed us."
The Ticats took 14 penalties for 121 yards, the Bombers three for 10 yards.
Collaros threw for 189 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter alone and at the end of the half Winnipeg had 345 yards of offence to 110 for Hamilton. After only 68 yards of completions in the first half, Mitchell had 129 yards in the second, including his first touchdown pass as a Ticat, to White, who hurt his shoulder coming down with the jump ball in the end zone.
Not good enough," Mitchell said of his play, adding that he felt his footwork was off, affecting his accuracy. Things went very, very right for them at the beginning and wrong for us. They did things right and we did things wrong. We turned the ball over ... I've gotta hang on to it."
O challenged us at halftime. In the second half we did some things well, started hitting the things we've been hitting in practice. We have to build off what the defence and special teams did."
The Ticats' first touchdown of the year was scored by receiver Omar Bayless, who scooped up a blocked punt, and nearly five minutes into the fourth quarter the Ticats were down 39-17 when Ted Laurent sacked Collaros and linebacker Chris Edwards grabbed the fumble and raced 62 yards into the end zone. On the ensuing kickoff, Ticat linebacker Kyle Wilson smashed Bomber returner Janarion Grant and the ball popped into the hands of linebacker Fraser Sopik who was tackled near the Winnipeg goal-line. Butler eventually scored, and Williams' two-point conversion catch made it an eight-point game.
But aided by the penalty yardage on Small's out-of-bounds kickoff, Winnipeg's Sergio Castillo nailed his fourth field goal and the Bombers rode defence and running back Brady Oliveiro safely home.
Up until the end I thought we were going to be going down to tie the thing up," said Steinauer who turned 50 on game day. We didn't do enough early to have that opportunity."
Cats Clauses: DB Lawrence Woods retuned six kickoffs for 154 yards ... Tim White (71 yards) and Kiondre Smith (39 yards) had four catches for Hamilton and Duke Williams (53 yards) had three ... Orlondo Steinauer had no update on injuries to White and OTS Tyrone Riley and Kyle Saxelid. ... Bo Levi Mitchell was 17-for-33 for 197 yards and a TD with two interceptions ... Bombers DE Willie Jefferson had two sacks, two knock-downs and a forced fumble ... The Ticats visit the Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts on Sunday June 18 before welcoming the Montreal Alouettes to Tim Hortons Field for their home opener just five nights later.
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com