Steve Milton: Ticats lose yet another lead
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats lost a lot more than a football game Saturday night in Toronto, as if the 34-20 defeat was certainly costly enough all on its own.
Not only did yet another unacceptable - there are probably more appropriately scathing words for it - second-half death spiral plunge them four points behind the CFL East-leading Argos, versatile Bralon Addison, the heartbeat of the receiving corps, suffered what appears to be an achilles tendon injury. A number of other Ticats, including key special teams player Bailey Feltmate and Canadian receiver Mike Jones were also helped off the field, leaving all kinds of roster questions for early in the week when the team does a head count of who's healthy for the Argo rematch Friday night at Tim Hortons Field.
Like the late-night TV commercials bark: wait, there's more. The Ticats, now a deserved 2-6, also lost the momentum they felt they had created from winning two of the last three games and playing well enough to win the other one. They lost serve in the tone-setting opening set of four games in five weeks against their QEW rivals, hurling them into serious catch-up mode as the 4-3 Argos also have a game in hand.
They burped up a double-digit lead (13-0) for the fourth time in eight games and although they scored on their first three possessions, two of them were Seth Small field goals (he had four on the night) and both came after Hamilton sat at first downs deep enough in the Toronto zone that the goal posts cast shadows on their huddle.
They lost the chance to beat up a decimated Toronto offensive line, which they did for the first 20 minutes or so then abruptly stopped. Three sacks in the first half, none in the second as Toronto quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson began getting rid of the ball more quickly and his coaches tweaked the blocking patterns.
And they lost the half-time adjustment war, yet again. The Ticats owned much of the first half and were owned much of the second. They were up 14-6 at intermission and 17-16 after three quarters. Outscored 18-3 coming home, during the disastrous final frame they gave up a blocked-punt touchdown return and an interception of a Dane Evans pass by the Argos' Chris Edwards which he returned for a touchdown.
And they lost any claim to this not being a recurring theme. We are not making this up: this season, Hamilton has now been outscored 134-58 in the second half and 95-29 in the fourth quarter. That's moving beyond habit and edging toward addiction.
Critical moments included Bethel-Thompson scrambling out a near-certain sack for an Argo-uplifting touchdown pass to Cam Phillips late in the third quarter; the Ticat line parting like the Red Sea to allow Trevor Hoyte's block of Michael Domagala's punt, recovered and run to paydirt by Benoit Marion; Ticat returner Lawrence Woods' misjudgment in trying to field a punt and getting pinned deep instead of allowing a single; and Hamilton's failure to score a touchdown in the final 48 minutes.
We're not a place, as far as what we put out there, to make the mistakes we make in the second half, to play undisciplined, to not play complementary football, and that's in every phase of the game," said busy Ticat running back Don Jackson, a bright light with 47 rushing yards on 10 carries and another 67 yards and a touchdown on eight pass receptions.
We just have to mature as a group. A lot of things happened, the injuries, the punt block. Even when things get crazy we have to find a way to be more sound. I know it sounds cliche but we have to stick at it. A lot of teams in this position would, I guess, start doubting themselves, but this team is really motivated. It's not any scheme that's wrong. It's that we just have to play better at big moments in the second half."
Head coach Orlondo Steinauer agreed: We were hit with some adversity, some key injuries, but it was 17-17. In the defining moments they made the play."
That's happened too often and those defining moments are starting to define this team. Eight games is not a small sample size in an 18-game season. And the serial failures in the second halves, plus the inability to put faltering opponents away early, which is what the Ticats should have done Saturday night, is becoming chronic. The team is still upbeat and speaking confidently, but it's not translating to 60 solid minutes on game day. Despite what execution failures by a rotation of individual players, this adds up to a whole-team thing and that, ultimately. must fall squarely on the coaches. They're responsible for the collective.
Notes: Dane Evans was 29-for-43 for 303 yards, one touchdown and one interception ... McLeod Bethel-Thompson was 17-for-27 for 230 yards ... the Ticats didn't allow a sack ... the Ticats had 356 net yards of offence, but 181 of those were in the first quarter ... Bralon Addison had three catches for 52 yards in the game's first 10 minutes before he was hurt ... Steven Dunbar Jr. had eight catches for 71 yards, while the Argos were led by Cam Phillips (85 yards) and DaVaris Daniels (73) ... Toronto's John Haggerty had a tremendous punting night with a 54.7 yard average ... attendance was 11,623.
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com