Pre-Game Breakdown: The Battle for First in the East

Ticats.ca Staff

With a variety of different playoff scenarios on the line, the Tiger-Cats return to Tim Hortons Field on Saturday afternoon to host the Montreal Alouettes. Hamilton returns to Steel City following a 34-25 victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS last week by way of two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a 103-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown by Brandon Banks.

On Saturday afternoon, the Tiger-Cats will be welcomed by a capacity crowd of 24,000 for the first time ever, as the team looks to extend their undefeated streak to six games at new stadium. A Ticats win on Saturday will mark the first time since 1966 that the club has won six consecutive home games in a single-season.

Montreal enters the final week of the regular season on a high, having won six straight with quarterback Jonathan Crompton at the helm .The Als look to keep it moving this week after overcoming the Toronto Argonauts with a narrow 17-14 win in Montreal last week to clinch a playoff spot.  

TIGER-CATS HISTORY vs. MONTREAL ALOUETTES

In the second half of the 2014 season, Montreal has the best record in the CFL at 7-1. Hamilton is tied for #2 with Calgary at 6-2. The two clubs have alternated winning and losing in the last 10 meetings having five wins each. No team has beaten the other more than twice in a row since 2011 when Hamilton won 3 straight.  Here’s a look at the history between the two teams heading into the 197th matchup:

 
THE BULLETIN BOARD:

Saturday afternoon’s game between the Tiger-Cats and Alouettes may have varying playoff implications, but it also presents some interesting CFL facts too. Here are some interesting tidbits about Saturday’s matchup:

• East Division First Place Ties (1946-2013): There has been a tie (equal W-L records) for first place in the East on 9 previous occasions starting in 1946 and most recently in 1998, 2006 & 2011.

• East Division First Place Ties – Montreal & Hamilton: Hamilton and Montreal have finished the season with the same record atop the Division 3 times (1953, 1985 & 1998) and had the tie broken as follows:

1953: 8-6 Tied at 2 wins each (Montreal on points, 81-69)

1985: 8-8 Hamilton 2-0 season series edge

1998: 12-5-1 Hamilton 2-1-1 season series edge

A Hamilton win by exactly 7 points this week would take tie-breaking to an unprecedented level beyond head-to-head or even points (as in 1953). The tie would then be broken by Montreal’s superior Division record of 6-1 vs Hamilton at 4-3.

• 1951 “Coin Toss” in the East: Heading into Week #20 and with the #1 to #3 spots still undecided in the East, we looked back into historical tie-breakers. The 1951 season in the East stands out as Ottawa, Hamilton & Toronto all ended up at 7-5. The bye into the East Final was settled by a “draw” as it was called, a form of elaborate coin toss to settle first place. This is the only year to have gone beyond head-to-head record (by either wins or points) in league history

• The last time that Hamilton and Montreal met at all in a season-ending game was 9 years ago in 2005 with the game having no playoff significance. They also ended the 1998 season head-to-head and ended up tied but Hamilton had already secured the tie-breaker. The last time they met in the final week with playoff positioning in the balance was in 1983 when they played to a 21-21 tie to end up even in the standings (Hamilton taking the final 3rd place playoff spot via tie-breaker).

HEAD-TO-HEAD

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

QB Zach Collaros:  Heading into Saturday’s matchup with the Alouettes, Ticats QB Zach Collaros sits tied for first with Winnipeg’s Drew Willy for most 300-yard passing games this season (6). Last week vs. Ottawa, Collaros completed just 56% of his passing attempt for 225 yards.  Although, since returning from injury on Labour Day, every game that Zach Collaros has had a completion percentage under 60%, he has returned to throw for 300+ yards the following week –367 yards vs. BC in week 15 & 335 yards at TOR in week. Collaros is also ranked second in the league with a completion percentage of 65.4%.

LB Marc Beswick: Ticats linebacker and special teams ace Marc Beswick currently sits second all-time in Tiger-Cats history in special teams tackles with 120. Beswick needs three special teams tackles to surpass Ticats great Rob Hitchcock (122).

GAME NOTES:

• The last time the Tiger-Cats and Alouettes met in a game with playoff implications was October 25, 2013 in Guelph. The Ticats beat the Als 27-24, by way of a 107-yard missed field goal return by Brandon Banks with 4:43 remaining in the game, clinching an Eastern Semi-Final home playoff game.

• With an 8-point win over Montreal on Saturday, the Tiger-Cats will have the opportunity to host the Eastern Final for the first time since November 15, 1998 when they beat the Alouettes 22-20. Also, a win in this game would give Hamilton a 7-2 closing run over the second half of the season. That would give them their best second half since 1972. They started 1972 at 1-3 and then ran off 10 consecutive wins to end the regular season.

• Last week in Ottawa, the Tiger-Cats forced five turnovers, returning two interceptions for touchdowns. The Ticats defensive performance in week 18 marks the first time since October 20, 2012 that the team has recorded 3+ interceptions in a single-game.

• Ticats WR/KR Brandon Banks leads the Ticats in touchdowns with six. His 103-yard kickoff return touchdown marks the Tiger-Cats fourth return touchdown of the season and is the team’s first kickoff return TD since Lindsey Lamar in week 1 of the 2013 season.

• Defensive End Eric Norwood is tied for first in the East Division in sacks (12) with Montreal’s John Bowman.

•  Hamilton has employed 83 different players on their roster in 2014, by far the highest in the CFL and getting near the CFL record 88 they had in 2013. They have used a CFL-high 54 different starters in 2014.