Introduction | Preseason Week 2
Today we cover the last of the preseason games, and look forward to what the regular season will bring.
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS @ TORONTO ARGONAUTS
Played: Friday May 31
Final Score: HAM 14 – TOR 25
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: HAM-0 TOR-6 | Q2: HAM-3 TOR-6 | Q3: HAM-8 TOR-7 | Q4: HAM-3 TOR-6
Game VOD
This Tiger-Cats team is looking very familiar in the worst possible way. Their defence remains solid, but are let down by a very anemic offence. The Cats didn’t even manage a single first down for the first 23 minutes of this game. Even when they did manage to put drives together, they frequently came up short and had to settle for field goals. Hamilton’s defence did do a good job of stopping the Argos, but they ran out of steam spending so much time on the field, and it started to show in the second half. Toronto only got two touchdowns, and one of those was a gift from Hamilton when QB Taylor Powell fumbled the ball trying to throw it at the Ticats 15 yard line. Toronto looked solid, but not at the level of the last two years.
I’m curious to see who the Argos choose to start at quarterback next week. They’ve played four different QBs for pretty significant minutes across the preseason, and I couldn’t pick out a definitive winner. I suspect Cameron Dukes will fill that role, but I could be wrong. Overall, the Argos still look like a very solid team, though I imagine the fans might be feeling a little let down given the fantastic performances of the 2022 and 2023 teams. Hamilton, despite the general poor performance, did have at least one bright spot on offence in the form of wide receiver Dezmon Patmon. While it wasn’t enough to win the game, he did put in a very solid performance, including a beautiful catch that got the Cats on the Argos 1 yard line to get Hamilton’s only touchdown of the game. This team needs to pull it together on offence if they want to win, though. Hopefully the regular season lights a fire under them and they get it together.
MONTREAL ALOUETTES @ OTTAWA REDBLACKS
Played: Friday May 31
Final Score: MTL 13 – OTT – 19
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: MTL-0 OTT-6 | Q2: MTL-3 OTT-0 | Q3: MTL-3 OTT-10 | Q4: MTL-7 OTT-3
Game VOD
This was a fun one, despite what the relatively low score may suggest. Both teams were on, and the game was fairly competitive throughout. Ottawa did play a little bit better, and that’s mostly off the back of their defence, who put in a fantastic performance. Ottawa held the lead all game, but Montreal rallied in the fourth quarter and were only one touchdown away from winning right up until the end. Though touchdowns were hard to come by this game. There were only two, and both in the second half. Ottawa defensive back Tobias Harris made the play of the night by stopping the Alouettes’ offence dead by intercepting the ball at the Ottawa 5 yard line and running it all the way back for a touchdown. By contrast, it took Montreal eight tries from the Redblacks 1 yard line to punch in their touchdown, and they only got that many attempts due to multiple pass interference penalties on Ottawa. That said, they still got the only offensive touchdown of the game, so they can at least lord that over the Redblacks.
I’m really liking what I’m seeing from this Redblacks team. The one concern I have is that while their offence was productive and moved the ball very well, they were unable to turn any of those drives into touchdowns. Their special teams squad is great, but relying on field goals for the majority of your points is not the kind of strategy that usually wins Grey Cups. I’m sure they’ll be working on finishing drives during their bye week to start the season. Montreal looked kind of rocky out there, and had a lot of difficulty getting their offence going. That said, most of the Als starters didn’t play much or any of this game, so they weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders. Ultimately we’ll see how these teams perform for real next week.
CALGARY STAMPEDERS @ WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
Played: Friday May 31
Final Score: CGY 31 – WPG 10
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: CGY-3 WPG-0 | Q2: CGY-8 WPG-7 | Q3: CGY-7 WPG-3 | Q4: CGY-13 WPG-0
Game VOD
Alright, I know it’s the preseason, but what is going on with this Winnipeg team? Even if they aren’t playing most of their starters, I’d expect a better performance than this. 10 total points, and only 3 on offence. Chris Smith put in a beautiful run in the second quarter on a punt return for a touchdown to give Winnipeg the lead, but that was really the only highlight for the blue and gold. Again, I’m sure they won’t look this bad in the regular season, but this does not inspire a great deal of confidence. Calgary for their part looked pretty solid. Despite this being a blowout, they could have made it worse if they had managed to fully capitalize on the two interceptions and a fumble they got. Instead, the Stamps mostly kicked field goals. It was good enough today, but their lack of ability to finish drives might be cause for concern.
The Bombers put together a measly combined 22 points across the preseason, only managed two touchdowns, and only one offensive touchdown. Even without running your star QB or your best receivers, that’s still a worrying set of numbers. I know the preseason is a time to practice certain scenarios you’d avoid in a game that matters and give new or less experienced players time to prove themselves, but Winnipeg didn’t really do either of those things. If this is what the Winnipeg secondary squad brings, they’d better hope their starters stay healthy. The Stampeders have to be feeling pretty good after winning both of their preseason games in blowout fashion. Only allowing 16 points from two of the best teams in not just the division, but the league is a pretty good showing. We’ll see if they can carry that momentum into next week when the games matter, but this is certainly a confidence boost to a team that was not great last year.
EDMONTON ELKS @ BC LIONS
Played: Friday May 31
Final Score: EDM 9 – BC 26
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: EDM-6 BC-6 | Q2: EDM-0 BC-17 | Q3: EDM-3 BC-0 | Q4: EDM-0 BC-3
Game VOD
This game could have been a lot closer if the Elks offence could just get out of their own way. They kept racking up penalties and spent a lot of time walking backwards. They kept it competitive for most of the first half, but just couldn’t maintain that momentum. The Edmonton defence put in a huge effort to keep them in the game, including 3 interceptions (almost 4, actually), but those 3 interceptions turned into just 3 points once the offence was handed the ball. BC looked very comfortable all game, and put together a much better performance than the dismal 6 points they scored against Calgary last week. They turned the ball over, but their defence was able to pull their asses out of the fire en route to a total rout.
Edmonton came out of this preseason looking a lot better than I was expecting. Their offence may not have been working well tonight, but they were also resting both their starting and backup QB, so I’m not surprised. They do need to work on discipline though. I’m not sure they would have won, but I think the Elks could have made this loss much more competitive if they committed fewer penalties. BC was looking much stronger this week, and put most of my concerns from last week to rest. This team still has it, and if they can tighten up a little and not throw so many interceptions, they’ll continue to be a real force in the West. Honestly, with the frankly sad showing the Blue Bombers had in the preseason, I’m inclined to give the Lions the edge on getting first place in the division.
NEXT WEEK: WEEK 1
The regular season begins! Now that the shenanigans of the preseason are done, we get to see what the teams look like when they’re playing for keeps.
Montreal @ Winnipeg – Thursday June 6 8:30PM EDT
Hamilton @ Calgary – Friday June 7 9PM EDT
Saskatchewan @ Edmonton – Saturday June 8 4PM EDT
BC @ Toronto – Sunday June 9 7PM EDT